Jens Schlueter/Stringer/Getty Images
Build a personal balance sheet"To quote my grandmother, 'Facts are stubborn things.' And so I think that the mistake that many people make is embarrassment, shame, bury their head in the sand.
"The best thing that anyone with any kind of debt can do is build a personal balance sheet. It doesn't have to be fancy. It can just be pencil to paper on a legal pad with your debts on one side, and your assets on another.
"And human capital is an asset, too. So, if you have a salary, if you have money coming in, certainly list that. But those facts are stubborn things, and you need to know exactly what you're facing, what your payments are, and have an idea of how you're going to approach it."
— Alison Hutchinson, senior vice president at Brown Brothers Harriman
List every loan and its terms"The biggest advice is to get organized around your student loans. Write them all down, and see what you have to tackle.
"It always seems like a bigger task at first than it really is. And once you get organized, you can kind of see the big picture a lot clearer, so you know who your loans are with, are they subsidized, are they unsubsidized, are they private loans, are they federal loans, and getting an understanding around that. And then just going and looking at your options."
— Carmen Perez, personal-finance blogger at Make Real Cents
Lean on your partner"Irrespective of whether you decide to take on your partner's debt or not, that debt is going to affect your relationship. Because it will either limit your partner's ability to do certain things or it'll limit your ability as a team to be able to go out and do future things together.
"So what I recommend to couples is to tackle debt as a team, even if you're not taking over that person's debt, or paying, or contributing to the payment of that debt. The best part about being in a relationship is you have a partner to help you navigate all that."
— Aditi Shekar, founder and CEO of Zeta
Check up on your credit"Review your credit reports regularly. They provide a complete record of your debt-related financial relationships, can be used as a resource for working with your creditors on payment planning, and are a critical tool in managing your debt through difficult financial situations.
"Keeping your debts as low as possible will put you in a better financial position when the economy emerges from this crisis."
— Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy at Experian
Read more » How to pay back your student-loan debt, no matter where you start or what type of loans you have