Leahannah Taylor graduated from Rutgers University with a master’s degree in biomedical sciences – and $59,000 in student debt – in 2019. She’s now debt-free. It took her less than two years to wipe out her student loan balances, she said, thanks to an enticing incentive offered by her employer.
“My strategy was to attack the debt,” said Taylor, 27, a clinical specialist for the medical devices company Abbott. “I wanted to be in the black as soon as possible.”
She tackled her debt while enrolled in Abbott’s “Freedom 2 Save” program. An employee must use at least 2% of their eligible pay to whittle down student loans. Then, “the company kicks in a 5% contribution to the employee’s 401(k) account, without them having to contribute a dime,” according to Abbott’s website.
“I understand the importance of compound interest,” said Taylor. “So contributing to retirement sooner rather than later was very important to me.”
Abbott’s program, which started in 2018, has attracted 1,800 employee participants. It increased in popularity during the pandemic, with a 50% rise in the monthly average number of employee sign-ups in the past two years, according to Mary Moreland, Abbott’s executive vice president of human resources.Continue reading