This is good advice for a certain subset of people. If your income is high enough that you won't qualify for the income-based repayment plans, it can make sense to refinance.
On the other hand, if you need IBR, or some of the other protections offered by federal loans, you are taking a risk by refinancing. You'll lose those protections, and you might need them in the future. If you are pursuing one of the public service loan forgiveness programs, you probably need to keep the federal loans.
I refinanced with Commonbond, a Sofi competitor, a few years ago. My loan balance was fairly low compared to my income, I would never qualify for income-based repayment, and my federal loan rate was something like 6.8%. I refinanced my 10-year loan to a 5-year loan with a low interest rate. My situation was ideal for this. However, if your loan balance is more than your annual salary, or you need to rely on the federal loan protections for some other reason, you shouldn't do it.
On the other hand, there seems to be no downside to refinancing private student loans.
On the other hand, if you need IBR, or some of the other protections offered by federal loans, you are taking a risk by refinancing. You'll lose those protections, and you might need them in the future. If you are pursuing one of the public service loan forgiveness programs, you probably need to keep the federal loans.
I refinanced with Commonbond, a Sofi competitor, a few years ago. My loan balance was fairly low compared to my income, I would never qualify for income-based repayment, and my federal loan rate was something like 6.8%. I refinanced my 10-year loan to a 5-year loan with a low interest rate. My situation was ideal for this. However, if your loan balance is more than your annual salary, or you need to rely on the federal loan protections for some other reason, you shouldn't do it.
On the other hand, there seems to be no downside to refinancing private student loans.