<prompt> Human: Im in my late 20s and I have two sets of loans: 1 One in my name, the former student, comes out to 220mo 2 Parent PLUS, under my parents name, obviously, comes out to 525mo. I have a great relationship with my parents and the idea has always been that these are my loans for me to repay, so right off the bat let me say this: no longer paying my parents loan and leaving them with it is NOT AN OPTION. That said, between the two loans Im paying 750mo and its starting to really weigh on me. The feds wont let us transfer both loans under my name so I could apply for income-based repayment. Is it a good idea to privately refinance and consolidate, and would my monthly payment even go down am I correct in assuming that a private lender wont go for income-based repayment?? What are my other options, if any, other than finding a higher-paying job Im looking?  <response>: Generally speaking, refinancing a a federally backed loan into a private one is a bad idea. You lose income based repayment options, as well as deferment and forbearance protections. Whether or not it lowers your monthly payment depends on the terms of the loans, specifically length and interest rates. 