The SAVE Plan Is Over. Here's the Student Loan Decision in Front of You.

What happened to SAVE

SAVE stands for Saving on a Valuable Education. It was an income-driven repayment plan created in 2023, and for a lot of borrowers it offered the lowest monthly payment available.

Then it got challenged in court. For a long stretch, borrowers enrolled in SAVE were placed in forbearance while the legal fight played out, which is why so many people went a long time without a bill. In March 2026, a federal court formally vacated the plan. A settlement then set the terms for moving everyone out.

At the same time, Congress passed a law in 2025 that reshaped federal student loan repayment. It created two new plans that became available on July 1, 2026: the Repayment Assistance Plan, called RAP, and a Tiered Standard Plan. It also set older plans on a path to close.

As of March, roughly 6.9 million borrowers were still enrolled in SAVE, with an average balance around $55,000. So this isn't a small group. If you're in it, you've got a lot of company.

Your deadline is personal

This is the part that confuses people. There isn't one deadline for everyone.

Notices are going out in waves, roughly every couple of weeks, through the end of 2026. Your 90 days start on the date of your own notice. So if your notice came in early July, your deadline is around the end of September. If your notice comes in December, your deadline could be as late as March 2027.

Here's what to do right now:

1. Log in to your account at your loan servicer's website.
2. Log in to StudentAid.gov.
3. Look for the notice and the date you received it.
4. Count 90 days forward. That's your deadline.

You'll also see a 2028 date floating around in some places. That's the date the older plans close for good. It is not your deadline to leave SAVE. Don't let that date lull you into waiting.

And you don't have to wait for your notice at all. You can apply for a new plan at StudentAid.gov any time. Once your new plan is processed, your forbearance ends and payments start, even if your 90 days aren't up yet.

What happens if you do nothing

If your deadline passes and you haven't chosen a plan, you'll be placed automatically into either the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan, depending on your loans. Your bills start right away.

For a lot of borrowers, a standard plan means a higher monthly payment than an income-driven plan would. And if that payment isn't affordable and you start missing it, the clock starts running toward default.

Here's how that clock works. A loan is delinquent the day after you miss a payment. After 270 days without a payment, it goes into default. After that, the government can take serious collection steps, including garnishing your wages, taking your tax refund, and offsetting Social Security benefits.

Collections on defaulted federal student loans were paused for a long time, and they're coming back. So "I'll deal with it later" carries more risk now than it has in years.

Like I said, doing nothing is a decision. It's just one somebody else makes for you.

Your options, in plain English

Coming out of SAVE, most borrowers are choosing between three paths. Here's how each one works.

The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)

RAP is the new income-driven plan. Your monthly payment is based on your income and how many dependents you claim.

• Payments run from 1% to 10% of your income, depending on how much you earn.
• There's a $10 minimum payment.
• Your payment drops by $50 a month for each qualifying dependent.
• Forgiveness comes after 30 years of qualifying payments.
• It counts toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

RAP has one feature a lot of people like. If you make your full scheduled payment on time and it doesn't cover all the interest, the government covers the unpaid interest so your balance doesn't grow. That only works if you make the full payment on time each month. Miss it, and you lose that protection for that month.

In plain terms: RAP ties your payment to your paycheck and keeps your balance from ballooning, as long as you pay on time.

Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

IBR is an older income-driven plan that's still open to existing borrowers.

• If your loans were taken out on or after July 1, 2014, your payment is generally 10% of your discretionary income, with forgiveness after 20 years.
• If your loans are older, it's generally 15% of discretionary income, with forgiveness after 25 years.
• It counts toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

"Discretionary income" is your income above a set amount tied to the poverty guideline. So IBR protects a slice of your income before the percentage kicks in. RAP doesn't work that way. It uses a percentage of your income from the first dollar, with the dependent reduction built in.

That difference matters. Depending on your income and family size, IBR can come out lower than RAP, or RAP can come out lower than IBR. Some reporting suggests IBR may be the lower payment for many borrowers earning over $100,000. But the only way to know for you is to run your own numbers.

Standard and Tiered Standard

These are fixed-payment plans. You pay a set amount every month, and the loan is paid off over a set number of years, based on how much you owe.

• Your payment doesn't change when your income changes.
• There's no income-based forgiveness at the end.
• The Standard plan can count toward PSLF in some cases, but there's a catch I'll get to below.

For borrowers with higher incomes and smaller balances, a standard plan can make sense. It usually means paying the loan off faster and paying less interest overall. For borrowers with large balances relative to their income, the payment can be steep.

What about PAYE and ICR?

Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment are still open to some eligible borrowers, but both are set to close on July 1, 2028. For most people leaving SAVE, the realistic choices are RAP, IBR, or a standard plan.

A side-by-side example

Numbers make this easier to see, so let's walk through a simplified hypothetical. This is just to show how the plans think. Your real numbers depend on your exact income, family size, loan types, and loan dates.

Let's say you're a teacher earning $58,000 a year. You're married, file taxes jointly, and claim two kids as dependents. You owe $55,000 in federal student loans, which is close to the average SAVE balance.

Under RAP, your payment starts as a percentage of your income, and then it drops by $50 for each of your two dependents. So the dependent reduction takes $100 a month off whatever the base payment would be.

Under IBR, a portion of your family's income is protected first, based on your household size. Then the 10% or 15% applies only to the income above that line. With a larger household, that protected amount goes up.

Under Standard, your payment is fixed based on the balance and the repayment term, and it doesn't care about your kids or your paycheck.

For this teacher, the income-driven plans would likely be much lower than Standard. Whether RAP or IBR comes out lower depends on the exact formulas applied to their numbers. That's why I'm not going to hand you a single answer. The Department of Education has a Loan Simulator on StudentAid.gov that runs your actual loans against each plan. It takes about 20 minutes, and it's worth every one of them.

What this means for PSLF

If you work for a government employer, including public schools, police and sheriff's offices, fire departments, and state and county agencies, you may be working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Here's the short version of how PSLF works. After 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer, the remaining balance on your eligible federal Direct Loans can be forgiven. The payments don't have to be consecutive.

For PSLF, the plan you're on matters. RAP counts. IBR counts. So if you're chasing PSLF, choosing one of those keeps your payments counting.

Now, the catch with Standard. A standard 10-year plan can technically count toward PSLF. But if you're paying enough to pay off the loan in 10 years, there's often little or nothing left to forgive by the time you hit 120 payments. For most people chasing PSLF, an income-driven plan is what makes the forgiveness meaningful.

A few PSLF things worth doing now, while you're sorting out your plan:

• Certify your employment. Use the PSLF Help Tool on StudentAid.gov to submit employment certification for your time with each qualifying employer. Don't wait until you think you're done.
• Check your count. Look at how many qualifying payments you have on record. If it looks wrong, that's worth raising now, not in year ten.
• Watch the forbearance months. Time spent in the SAVE litigation forbearance generally didn't count as qualifying PSLF payments. There have been options for some borrowers to make up certain months. If that applies to you, it's worth looking into on StudentAid.gov or with your servicer.

If you're a teacher, a deputy, a firefighter, or you work for the state or a county, you're in exactly the kind of job PSLF was built for. Getting the plan right now protects years of progress.

The autopay deadline almost nobody is talking about

Here's one that can actually save you real money, and it has its own deadline.

The Department of Education is temporarily increasing the autopay interest rate discount from 0.25% to 1.00% for borrowers enrolled in automatic payments by September 30, 2026. That lower rate runs through June 2028 on Direct Loans that were originated after July 1, 2012. If you're already on autopay, you're supposed to be upgraded automatically, but it's worth confirming with your servicer, since details vary.

A full percentage point off your interest rate isn't small. Let's say you owe $55,000. One percent of that is $550 a year in interest.

There's an order to this if you're coming out of SAVE. The discount applies to loans in active repayment. So you pick your new plan first, then enroll in autopay. If you're still sitting in the SAVE forbearance, the discount won't reach you yet.

Step-by-step: what to do this week

If you're in SAVE and haven't acted yet, here's a simple sequence.

1. Find your deadline

Log in to your servicer and StudentAid.gov. Find your notice date and count 90 days.

2. Gather your numbers

You'll need your most recent tax return or income information, your family size, and a list of your federal loans. If you're married, you'll need to know how you file taxes, because that can affect income-driven payments.

3. Run the Loan Simulator

Go to StudentAid.gov and use the Loan Simulator. Compare RAP, IBR, and Standard using your real loans and your real income. Look at three things for each plan:

• Your monthly payment now
• How your payment would change if your income goes up
• The total you'd pay over time, and whether forgiveness is part of the picture

4. Decide based on your goal

If you're chasing PSLF, focus on RAP or IBR, and on which one gives you the lower payment while keeping you eligible.

If you're not pursuing forgiveness and you can afford it, a faster payoff on a standard plan can reduce the total interest you pay.

If your budget is tight, the lowest affordable payment that keeps you out of default matters most right now.

5. Apply at StudentAid.gov

The application for an income-driven plan goes faster if you give the Department consent to pull your tax information directly from the IRS. That saves you from uploading documents by hand.

6. Turn on autopay

Once your new plan is set, enroll in autopay. If you get it done by September 30, you can lock in the larger discount.

7. Confirm, then calendar it

After you apply, check that your servicer shows the new plan. Put a reminder on your calendar for next year's income recertification, because income-driven plans generally need updated income each year.

Watch out for scams

Any time there's a big change in student loans, scammers show up. Be careful with anyone who calls, texts, or emails offering to "fix" your loans, get you forgiveness, or stop a garnishment for a fee.

Everything in this post can be done for free at StudentAid.gov or through your servicer. Nobody legitimate needs your FSA ID password. If you're not sure whether a message is real, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 yourself, using that number, not a number in the message.

Where student loans fit in the bigger picture

This is where I want to zoom out, because student loans don't exist in a vacuum.

When a loan payment that's been sitting at zero for a long time comes back, it changes your monthly budget. For a household that's gotten used to not paying it, even a modest payment can squeeze everything else. So before the first bill lands, it's worth looking at a few things:

• Your monthly cash flow. Where does the new payment come from? Is it replacing something, or stacking on top?
• Your emergency fund. If the payment strains your budget, a cushion matters more than ever.
• Your retirement savings. If you're contributing to a 457 plan or the FRS Investment Plan, don't cut those contributions on reflex without thinking it through. The trade-off between paying loans faster and saving for retirement depends on your interest rate, your forgiveness path, and your timeline.
• Other debt. If you're carrying credit card balances at 20% or more, that math may matter more than your student loan math.

For people on a PSLF path, there's a quieter point too. When you're on track for forgiveness, paying extra on the loan can mean paying off money that would have been forgiven anyway. That's a big reason to understand your forgiveness timeline before you decide how aggressively to pay.

What I'm not going to do

I'm not going to tell you which plan to pick. The right answer depends on your income, your family, your loan dates, your employer, and whether forgiveness is realistic for you. Two teachers in the same building can have completely different best answers.

I'm also not going to tell you this is simple. It isn't. The rules changed a lot in a short time, and a lot of the information out there is old.

What I will tell you is this. When it comes down to it, the worst outcome here isn't picking the second-best plan. It's missing your deadline and landing in a payment you didn't choose and can't afford.

The short version

• SAVE is over. Borrowers are being moved out in waves, each with a personal 90-day deadline. The earliest is September 29.
• If you don't choose, you're placed in a Standard or Tiered Standard plan, and bills start.
• Your main choices are RAP, IBR, or a standard plan. RAP and IBR both count toward PSLF.
• RAP payments run from 1% to 10% of income, with a $10 minimum and $50 off per dependent.
• Enroll in autopay by September 30 to get a 1% interest rate discount instead of 0.25%, through June 2028, on eligible loans.
• Use the Loan Simulator at StudentAid.gov to compare plans with your real numbers.
• Everything can be done for free. Be careful with anyone charging a fee.

If you want help seeing how your new student loan payment fits with the rest of your budget and your retirement plan, I'm happy to look at it with you.

Frequently asked questions

When is my SAVE plan deadline?

Each borrower has 90 days from the date of their own servicer notice. Notices started going out July 1, 2026, and continue in waves through the end of the year, so the earliest deadline is September 29 and the latest could be around March 2027. Check your servicer account and StudentAid.gov for your notice date.

What happens if I miss my SAVE deadline?

You'll be automatically placed in the Standard or Tiered Standard Repayment Plan, and billing starts. You can still apply for an income-driven plan afterward, but you'll be on the assigned plan until your application is processed.

Does the Repayment Assistance Plan qualify for PSLF?

Yes. Payments under RAP count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, as do payments under Income-Based Repayment, as long as you meet the other PSLF requirements.

How much is a payment under RAP?

RAP payments range from 1% to 10% of your income, with a $10 monthly minimum and a $50 monthly reduction for each qualifying dependent. The Loan Simulator at StudentAid.gov can estimate your payment.

Is RAP or IBR better?

It depends on your income, family size, and loan dates. For some borrowers RAP is lower, and for others IBR is lower. Running your numbers in the Loan Simulator is the most reliable way to compare.

What is the student loan autopay discount for 2026?

Borrowers enrolled in autopay by September 30, 2026 can receive a 1% interest rate reduction instead of the usual 0.25%, through June 2028, on Direct Loans originated after July 1, 2012. Confirm the details with your servicer.

Educational content only. Not individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. Benowitz Wealth Management is a brand of Joy Financial Group LLC, a Florida state-registered investment adviser. Joy Financial Group LLC is not a student loan servicer and does not charge fees for student loan enrollment. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation.

Neither Joy Financial Group LLC nor Benowitz Wealth Management is affiliated with, endorsed by, or employed by the Florida Retirement System, the Florida Division of Retirement, the State Board of Administration of Florida, MyFRS, or any government agency. FRS members may obtain free, unbiased guidance from the MyFRS Financial Guidance Line at 1-866-446-9377.