The average outstanding balance for a person with student loan debt is over $20,000. Paying off those loans can seem like a daunting task, and for many graduates, it takes a lifetime. But it doesn’t have to. Gary M. Stern offers five ways that anyone with student loans can pay off their debt faster and find their way to healthier finances. His first suggestion is to treat the loan like a mortgage, making larger payments to reduce the principal as long as you can afford to do it. Instead of just paying the interest and leaving the principal unchanged, as many with debt do, making larger payments will reduce the amount owed and make future payments more affordable. Click here to read the full article.