Commissioning Loans?

[fltlll]

There are a few threads about the subject, but they are 3 or so years old (so maybe out of date... severely).

Anyways, are there any Commissioning loans available through either Navy Federal or USAA? Anywhere else? I'd like to pay off some debt that has a substantially higher interest rate...

 

[navy09]

My info is about a year old, but USAA's 25K @ 2% used to be the one everyone got. I know Navy Fed has a similar loan, I've heard of someone getting 30K from them. Even better, you don't start payments until a few months after you commission.

The rates have gone up since then (obviously), but from what I remember, it's still a really good deal. USAA has been great, but shop around and see what you can get.

EDIT: Just found this fairly recent thread. It has some important gouge on a rate hike next week and restrictions on BDCP/OCS guys.

 

[Lobster]

I think USAA has the best one right now, its something like 30K at 3%??? Not sure of the specifics but its a sweet deal even though it went up...and will make for one sweet Ensign Mobile .

 

[MrsPickle]

Call both places. Talk to a REAL person. Compare rates, amounts, etc. Pickle got his for 25k at 2% in September 2006. Comes out to $440/month for 5 years. Not too bad.

PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS, then worry about Ensignmobiles (ours is a 2006 Ford Freestyle, btw. Pickle is stylin' in a red station wagon! when I let him drive it!).

 

[fltlll]

Call both places. Talk to a REAL person. Compare rates, amounts, etc. Pickle got his for 25k at 2% in September 2006. Comes out to $440/month for 5 years. Not too bad.

PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS, then worry about Ensignmobiles (ours is a 2006 Ford Freestyle, btw. Pickle is stylin' in a red station wagon! when I let him drive it!).

No worries! The money would be specifically for debts, nothing else

I actually don't even own a car at the moment... my Fit got owned by some flooding, but the insurance company paid off the entire debt! If all goes well in the Navy, I don't even play on buying a car for the next 6 years or so!

Maybe... a POCKET BIKE!

 

[RussBow6]

i know ive read the answer to this somewhere but i dont remember what the answer was exactly...

do you need to wait till you graduate ocs before you can take out loans? or can you get the loan once your sworn in and waiting to report to newport? something about 3 months before and after your commission(report)? date...??

the smart move is to wait till you are a commissioned officer before you take a loan right?... cause if you take out a loan and dont make it through ocs your rate will go up...?

 

[Lobster]

PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS, then worry about Ensignmobiles

On board with that program, getting the costs of a private school education out of the way first with the BDCP money then using the commissioning loan to get the ensignmobile...something German and fast...:tongue2_1

 

[Mavric09]

So here's the deal. The USAA loan is 25K (you don't have to get all 25), mine is at 1.74% but I hear it's gone up a little bit after the economy "crisis." The way it works is you can get the loan 18 months before you commission and you can delay paying off the loan for 3 months after you commission. I will start paying off mine in September and it's 450 a month for 60 months plus the three months delay. The catch is that you have to have a USAA checking account, but you can directly link it to any account you want and it takes 0 time to transfer the money. I have all my banking through USAA so it's even easier. I know it's been said before but USAA has awesome customer service so if you want the loan or even want information from the horses mouth about the loan they are very willing to talk to anybody.

 

[fltlll]

So here's the deal. The USAA loan is 25K (you don't have to get all 25), mine is at 1.74% but I hear it's gone up a little bit after the economy "crisis." The way it works is you can get the loan 18 months before you commission and you can delay paying off the loan for 3 months after you commission. I will start paying off mine in September and it's 450 a month for 60 months plus the three months delay. The catch is that you have to have a USAA checking account, but you can directly link it to any account you want and it takes 0 time to transfer the money. I have all my banking through USAA so it's even easier. I know it's been said before but USAA has awesome customer service so if you want the loan or even want information from the horses mouth about the loan they are very willing to talk to anybody.

Awesome! How recent is this information?

 

[BlackBearHockey]

Does anyone know what kind of credit one needs to get the loan? I have only heard of one person getting denied ever, but I'd like to not make it two.

 

[whitesoxnation]

I just got off the phone with USAA so allow me to skool you on it..

$25,000 max
Current rate is 2.99% for 60 months
Payments can begin as late as 90 days after you commission
You can apply before you receive your commission
You have to have a USAA checking account and your paycheck has to be deposited into that checking account (not savings)

The rate is changing from 2.99% to 4.99% in July
If you miss a payment, your interest rate goes to 18%

I asked if there were any other good deals for new commissions and she said there was a credit card, but I wasn't interested so I didn't get any further info on it.

 

[sanders]

I just took out the USAA commissioning loan. You can take out a 25k loan at 2.99%. I commissioned May 15 and my first payment is due august 30. You can take out UP TO 25k, I only took out 10k. There is no prepayment penalty. One trap you do NOT want to fall into is taking the loan and investing in CD's. Rates are very low right now, so if you are taking out the loan to invest, stick it in a mutual fund or something.

 

[whitesoxnation]

I just took out the USAA commissioning loan. You can take out a 25k loan at 2.99%. I commissioned May 15 and my first payment is due august 30. You can take out UP TO 25k, I only took out 10k. There is no prepayment penalty. One trap you do NOT want to fall into is taking the loan and investing in CD's. Rates are very low right now, so if you are taking out the loan to invest, stick it in a mutual fund or something.

In the other thread you said your report date for TBS (when you start getting payed) is OCT... are you sure that you aren't going to get hit for having to make payments when you aren't getting a cash deposited into your acct, even though you may have $$ lying around to cover until you start getting payed? Also, just wondering, when does your account get credited?

 

[SynixMan]

Does the 18 months before you commission also apply to OCS? Or is that only an Academy/NROTC deal?

 

[fltlll]

So... is USAA the best choice for the loan (thus, banking in general)?

I'm trying to figure this out ASAP before I have to give my OR my routing/account numbers for direct deposit.