Quick SSL Questions: When to pay down

[Anonymous]

Hey All,

(Posted here because the "Quest for SSL" post is here, please move if in the wrong section)

I have been holding off on opening a SSL with Navy because I have been waiting for a big chunk of change to come my way for a project I completed.  The client is very slow to pay to the point I am not sure if the money will ever come in...  How quickly can I pay down the principal on the SSL?  If I open the account on Monday (theoretically) can I pay down to under 9% on Tuesday or should I wait for a period of time to the full amount of the outstanding principal to post?  I tried researching this but was not 100%.

If I can get access to the money quickly I will just use other funds.

Thank you all for your help with this.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey All,

(Posted here because the "Quest for SSL" post is here, please move if in the wrong section)

I have been holding off on opening a SSL with Navy because I have been waiting for a big chunk of change to come my way for a project I completed.  The client is very slow to pay to the point I am not sure if the money will ever come in...  How quickly can I pay down the principal on the SSL?  If I open the account on Monday (theoretically) can I pay down to under 9% on Tuesday or should I wait for a period of time to the full amount of the outstanding principal to post?  I tried researching this but was not 100%.

If I can get access to the money quickly I will just use other funds.

Thank you all for your help with this.

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I don't know what the text in blue means.  Can you try phrasing that a different way?

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if I needed to wait for a billing cycle, so the full amount of the loan is reported to the CRAs.  Now that I think about it, the amount of the loan is not important for any reason other than having a longer term (Navy requires $3K+ for 60 months I believe) so it should not matter, correct?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey All,

(Posted here because the "Quest for SSL" post is here, please move if in the wrong section)

I have been holding off on opening a SSL with Navy because I have been waiting for a big chunk of change to come my way for a project I completed.  The client is very slow to pay to the point I am not sure if the money will ever come in...  How quickly can I pay down the principal on the SSL?  If I open the account on Monday (theoretically) can I pay down to under 9% on Tuesday or should I wait for a period of time to the full amount of the outstanding principal to post?  I tried researching this but was not 100%.

If I can get access to the money quickly I will just use other funds.

Thank you all for your help with this.

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You can pay it down right away.

The looming question is whether they will leave the payment date out there. So far so good but I've only had mine a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was wondering if I needed to wait for a billing cycle, so the full amount of the loan is reported to the CRAs.  Now that I think about it, the amount of the loan is not important for any reason other than having a longer term (Navy requires $3K+ for 60 months I believe) so it should not matter, correct?

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The full amount of the loan (aka the original loan amount) vs. the current balance owed are separate fields and both get reported every time that the lender reports the loan.

Thus as SouthJ says you can pay it down right away. 

Bear in mind that paying it down to a tiny amount can cause any lender (depending on its internal policies) to forgive the remaining balance and close the loan.  Multiple people have reported that happening, and a very helpful rep at my student loan handler told me the same thing.  My personal advice to people is to keep the balance above $20 and also above whatever one of the original monthly payments would have been.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, both!  In a funny coincidence I got the check I was waiting on today!  Will update you all as to how this goes.

Thanks again.