This New Student-Loan Forgiveness Tool Wants to Make Your Financial Life a Lot Healthier

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After using endless energy to procure a higher-education degree, it's not uncommon to feel totally dumbfounded by the doozy of a student-loan bill so many grads get stuck with. But, for those who work in a way that benefits public interest (like for the government or a non-profit organization), a new tool might your finances a whole lot healthier.

According to Time, the just-launched PSLF checker from student loan wellness platform BySavi is designed to help do just that: Figure out whether you qualify for Public Service Loan Forgivenessthen how to move forward. Since the loan-forgiveness program launched 10 years ago this month, right about now is when the initial set of students should qualify, per the 10-year forgiveness window spelled out in its terms.

"It’s designed to help people who have no idea how to start. We are still getting lots of questions from people about where they are, how they should apply, or whether the program even still exists." —Tobin Van Ostern, PSLF checker entrepreneur

To see if you qualify, there are only a handful of simple steps: After entering in some information about your loans and employment history, the tool uses data from LinkedIn to provide insight about how many payments you've made and how many more remain.

"It’s designed to help people who have no idea how to start," Tobin Van Ostern, who co-launched the tool, told Time. "We are still getting lots of questions from people about where they are, how they should apply, or whether the program even still exists."

Since Van Ostern—Barack Obama's 2008-campaign student engagement director—said there are so many ways to mess up loan-forgiveness enrollment (and you thought making your own bone broth was complicated…), having an organizational guide to help you might be a major bonus. Because anything that can help get rid of even a little stress associated with finances is definitely worth taking advantage of.

Here's how to hit refresh on your finances—and get a jump start on your savings. Also, here are the surprising things you spend money on when you're stressed.

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