Wage garnishment is a lender's last resort, and should be yours as well. If you simply cannot pay off your loans, the Department of Education will begin taking a small percentage your paycheck to pay off your loan. Here's figure out the maximum percentage allowed for wage garnishment for failure to pay a student loan.
Instructions
1. Figure out your disposable income. This is what's left of your income (including grants from the government or transfers from friends or family) after deducting taxes.
2. Understand the norms of garnishment. Generally, the DoE will require employers to garnish 10% of your wages, but they have the ability to garnish up to 15% of your wages.
3. Know the limits of garnishment. The agency will not deduct the full 15% if your disposable income falls under 30 times the federal minimum wage. So no matter what happens you'll have at least $154.40 (30 times $5.15) of your wages left over after garnishing.
4. Pay attention to deductions on your pay stub. The agency will garnish what is left after Medicare, taxes, social security and pension contributions are deducted.
5. Consider other garnishments. Wage garnishment for child support takes priority over student loans.
6. Understand the max percentage that can be lawfully garnished. The total maximum amount your wages can be garnished is 25% of disposable income. That includes other reasons why your wages might be garnished.
Tags: your wages, disposable income, agency will, garnish your, garnish your wages, what left, your disposable