Help paying off student loans

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i don't mean to hijack here, just looking for a bit of advice myself. I plan on doing two years of residency... how would you all approach managing debt/interest during that time period? I will be graduating with $110,000 in loans and the programs I applied to pay ~$45K for PGY-1 and $50K for PGY-2.

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I would prefer a Roth IRA over the 401k
 
$6,000/mo take home pay is about right for a pharmacist
- $2,000 expenses if you run a nice and lean budget like the OP.
======
$4,000/mo towards your loans
x 36 mo = $144,000

So keep that up for around 3 years and you will easily knock out $115k + interest in student loans.
Awesome.

I live at home now so I am able to save a lot that way. My parents said I can stay at home until my loans are paid off so thinking that will help me to pay them off quicker.
 
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On the flip side you have me, >200k of debt and happily paying my artificially deflated $190/mo IBR payment.

Hats off to you, though. I'm taking a completely different tack on the financial front.

But I do agree with BMB, pity the people who work and pour all their money into debt. That's true modern slavery.

How did you get it to $190/month IBR? Calculator came out to more for me.
 
Lesson today: everyone's #'s are going to be different. I have a lot of weird crap on my tax returns that may not necessarily apply to the average person on here. But I do work about ~50hrs/week (5 days) between two jobs, but on a crazy stretch I've worked 140 hours straight over 14 days doing my normal gigs + pulling favors/covering shifts and call outs.

But then I take random vacations/stretches off so it all kind of evens out.

So my advice for those seeking advice, do what the original thread starter did and just give us all the gritty details for discussion.
 
How did you get it to $190/month IBR? Calculator came out to more for me.

Schedule C loss incurred for 2012. Calculator doesn't take that into account. Even I didn't see this one coming. I didn't have to mail anything in, just a few clicks and my tax return info was automatically transferred over.
 
Why would you rise to full payment can't you keep the reduced payments for the life of your IBR plan?

Poor choice of words on my part. "Full payment" to me means "what I will pay when I'm a full fledged pharmacist (not a resident) for the entire year such that my servicer will take an entire year's worth of full pharmacist pay into account when determining my payment."

But like A4M mentioned, it gets capped at the "normal 10 year payment" rate such that if I suddenly start making $10B/yr, my payment will be no different from if I make $5M/yr.

Technically my "full payment" is still less than the normal 10yr payment therefore I'm technically still paying a "reduced rate" with IBR.

Ya dig?
 
Poor choice of words on my part. "Full payment" to me means "what I will pay when I'm a full fledged pharmacist (not a resident) for the entire year such that my servicer will take an entire year's worth of full pharmacist pay into account when determining my payment."

But like A4M mentioned, it gets capped at the "normal 10 year payment" rate such that if I suddenly start making $10B/yr, my payment will be no different from if I make $5M/yr.

Technically my "full payment" is still less than the normal 10yr payment therefore I'm technically still paying a "reduced rate" with IBR.

Ya dig?

I dig, just was wondering why your payment would ever go higher than $1500 on IBR, but apparently they pay really high in San Fran so if you were making 200k AGI that would make sense. I'd do everything possible to lower that AGI though; that is way to high to be paying on IBR
 
Also remember that you aren't locked into IBR forever. I'm going to leave IBR next year, and go with the extended repayment plan. I've paid down quite a bit of my balance by making extra payments on IBR, so my payment won't be that much higher under 25 year than the IBR payment has been. My strategy all along has been to minimize my required monthly payment and focus on sending larger bulk payments when I have extra money.
 
to whoever asked about $6k/month - I do put a fair amount to my 401k, and have my withholdings at zero...I'm going to see what sort of return I'm going to get this year and adjust my withholdings to minimize my tax return

I also started reading "millionaire next door"...not really a book about loans, but it says:
1.) millionaires typically live well below their means - this is important because the book compares an MD that as $1.2 million in net worth, but lives an extravagant lifestyle, so his savings would only sustain him 2-3 years without a job. This is in comparison to a secretary & fireman who live below their means...and with their $250,000 in savings, can live 20 years without a job - this I do.
2.) millionaires allocate time, energy, and money efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth - this I do not do. On my days off, I waste it watching tv online instead of researching finance...budgeting better...finding out cheap ways to cook for myself
3.) they believe financial independence is more important than displaying high social status. - I got this down. I remember when a church deacon that wanted to do some bible study with me and said.."so...you're like, a pharmacy tech, right?" - "no, I'm a pharmacist" - "like an assistant to a pharmacist?" - "no, just a pharmacist." - "do you work under a pharmacist?" - "no, I am the pharmacist."
4.) their parents did not provide economic outpatient care - oh I know...my student loans remind me of this daily.
5.) their adult children are financially independent - N/A
6.) they are proficient in targeting market opportunities - this is where I have no ideas - where the F do I invest once I'm debt free?
7.) they chose the right occupation - holla @ pharmacists!!

edit: found this link - targeted towards moms, really good for anyone!

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/finance/
 
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to whoever asked about $6k/month - I do put a fair amount to my 401k, and have my withholdings at zero...I'm going to see what sort of return I'm going to get this year and adjust my withholdings to minimize my tax return

I also started reading "millionaire next door"...not really a book about loans, but it says:
1.) millionaires typically live well below their means - this is important because the book compares an MD that as $1.2 million in net worth, but lives an extravagant lifestyle, so his savings would only sustain him 2-3 years without a job. This is in comparison to a secretary & fireman who live below their means...and with their $250,000 in savings, can live 20 years without a job - this I do.
2.) millionaires allocate time, energy, and money efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth - this I do not do. On my days off, I waste it watching tv online instead of researching finance...budgeting better...finding out cheap ways to cook for myself
3.) they believe financial independence is more important than displaying high social status. - I got this down. I remember when a church deacon that wanted to do some bible study with me and said.."so...you're like, a pharmacy tech, right?" - "no, I'm a pharmacist" - "like an assistant to a pharmacist?" - "no, just a pharmacist." - "do you work under a pharmacist?" - "no, I am the pharmacist."
4.) their parents did not provide economic outpatient care - oh I know...my student loans remind me of this daily.
5.) their adult children are financially independent - N/A
6.) they are proficient in targeting market opportunities - this is where I have no ideas - where the F do I invest once I'm debt free?
7.) they chose the right occupation - holla @ pharmacists!!

edit: found this link - targeted towards moms, really good for anyone!

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/finance/

Number 7 is questionable...
 
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My situation: graduated in May from NYC, moved right after to central FL in with my parents. My monthly expenses are: car payment-200/mo, car ins 80/mo, and I pay for my families cell phone bill- 250/mo. All credit cards are paid off and are not in use. I have close to 250k in loans. Took $1 paycut from NY to FL (offered PIC job). I currently work about 65-75 hours a week and after taxes make about 7800-8400 a month. Is it better to pay minimum until I can just pay off a huge chunk every 3 months? I saved up 25k in 3 months and going to completely pay off the highest interest rate loan I have- discover at 11.75% mid Jan when it comes out of grace.
Currently selling all my louboutins because I hate living this country living middle of no where life. My question is, is there any point to invest my money or should I just focus on bringing down my loans? any advice is helpful!
 
My situation: graduated in May from NYC, moved right after to central FL in with my parents. My monthly expenses are: car payment-200/mo, car ins 80/mo, and I pay for my families cell phone bill- 250/mo. All credit cards are paid off and are not in use. I have close to 250k in loans. Took $1 paycut from NY to FL (offered PIC job). I currently work about 65-75 hours a week and after taxes make about 7800-8400 a month. Is it better to pay minimum until I can just pay off a huge chunk every 3 months? I saved up 25k in 3 months and going to completely pay off the highest interest rate loan I have- discover at 11.75% mid Jan when it comes out of grace.
Currently selling all my louboutins because I hate living this country living middle of no where life. My question is, is there any point to invest my money or should I just focus on bringing down my loans? any advice is helpful!

Why did you go to school in NY? And not FL if you are a resident.
 
to whoever asked about $6k/month - I do put a fair amount to my 401k, and have my withholdings at zero...I'm going to see what sort of return I'm going to get this year and adjust my withholdings to minimize my tax return

I also started reading "millionaire next door"...not really a book about loans, but it says:
1.) millionaires typically live well below their means - this is important because the book compares an MD that as $1.2 million in net worth, but lives an extravagant lifestyle, so his savings would only sustain him 2-3 years without a job. This is in comparison to a secretary & fireman who live below their means...and with their $250,000 in savings, can live 20 years without a job - this I do.
2.) millionaires allocate time, energy, and money efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth - this I do not do. On my days off, I waste it watching tv online instead of researching finance...budgeting better...finding out cheap ways to cook for myself
3.) they believe financial independence is more important than displaying high social status. - I got this down. I remember when a church deacon that wanted to do some bible study with me and said.."so...you're like, a pharmacy tech, right?" - "no, I'm a pharmacist" - "like an assistant to a pharmacist?" - "no, just a pharmacist." - "do you work under a pharmacist?" - "no, I am the pharmacist."
4.) their parents did not provide economic outpatient care - oh I know...my student loans remind me of this daily.
5.) their adult children are financially independent - N/A
6.) they are proficient in targeting market opportunities - this is where I have no ideas - where the F do I invest once I'm debt free?
7.) they chose the right occupation - holla @ pharmacists!!

edit: found this link - targeted towards moms, really good for anyone!

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/finance/

I love that book, as well as other books by Dr. Stanley. I recently finished Stop Acting Rich by the same author, and it was quite illuminating to me that I have been "acting rich" without even knowing it. Hopefully, I'll be a member of the PAW group one day - it's hard to be a PAW, but it's definitely worth the effort in my opinion.
 
yup...I have a lot of reading to do...I calculated by "worth" based on my age and income, and I am really in bad shape because of the loans, haha

but it's on like Donkey Kong -
today's paycheck was ~$2.700 (~it's short 2 days of work because I forgot to punch out 2 days)
-$975 for rent for Jan
-$308 - 2 weeks worth of gas/food/all expenses
-$200 - new rear tire for motorcycle ($100) + installation ($40) + oil change ($40) +/- tools/rags/supplies/gaskets ($20)
----------------------------------
~$1,200 left over: went straight to loans (on my bday too)

$76,107 left to go!!

the good thing is we get paid 3x in January - 1/3, 1/17, and 1/31...and since my rent is squared away, the only thing I have to pay are car insurance & monthly expenses (food, gas, etc.)...so pretty much 90% of 2 more paychecks (roughly $6,000) will go towards the loans...I should be down to the high 60's by Feb
 
Happy birthday! :)

The wealth equation that you mentioned using age and income is extremely difficult to achieve if you're under a certain age (~35). That's because it's a bit skewed and was designed to calculate mid-careered individuals. For someone who is barely starting out, it's much more difficult to be considered a PAW using that equation, especially with the burden of student loans.

That's pretty sweet plan you put together to get out of debt. Financial freedom is just around the corner if you stick with it. I'm a bit younger than you and I'm about to start pharmacy school this June. I've worked as a technician for a while as I was doing my pre-pharmacy stuff, and have squared away enough investments to make a dent on my student loan once I'm done with school. After that, I'll follow a similar plan that you got here.
 
Happy birthday! :)

The wealth equation that you mentioned using age and income is extremely difficult to achieve if you're under a certain age (~35). That's because it's a bit skewed and was designed to calculate mid-careered individuals. For someone who is barely starting out, it's much more difficult to be considered a PAW using that equation, especially with the burden of student loans.

That's pretty sweet plan you put together to get out of debt. Financial freedom is just around the corner if you stick with it. I'm a bit younger than you and I'm about to start pharmacy school this June. I've worked as a technician for a while as I was doing my pre-pharmacy stuff, and have squared away enough investments to make a dent on my student loan once I'm done with school. After that, I'll follow a similar plan that you got here.

Not that hard to be PAW... $130k salary X 29 yo / 10 = $377k is your networth based on age. I have over twice that amount now... If I didn't make any mistake financially (gamble here and there trying to get rick quick), I'd be a millionaire right about now...
 
My situation: graduated in May from NYC, moved right after to central FL in with my parents. My monthly expenses are: car payment-200/mo, car ins 80/mo, and I pay for my families cell phone bill- 250/mo. All credit cards are paid off and are not in use. I have close to 250k in loans. Took $1 paycut from NY to FL (offered PIC job). I currently work about 65-75 hours a week and after taxes make about 7800-8400 a month. Is it better to pay minimum until I can just pay off a huge chunk every 3 months? I saved up 25k in 3 months and going to completely pay off the highest interest rate loan I have- discover at 11.75% mid Jan when it comes out of grace.
Currently selling all my louboutins because I hate living this country living middle of no where life. My question is, is there any point to invest my money or should I just focus on bringing down my loans? any advice is helpful!

1. Max out your 401k, invest in low cost index fund offered by your employer, expense ratio <0.5% at least.
2. Kill the loan ASAP
Get the best of both worlds (stock and student loans), moderation is key. Forget back door Roth now.
 
Not that hard to be PAW... $130k salary X 29 yo / 10 = $377k is your networth based on age. I have over twice that amount now... If I didn't make any mistake financially (gamble here and there trying to get rick quick), I'd be a millionaire right about now...

Congratulations on being a PAW. You are well on your way to being an actual "millionaire next door." However, being a PAW is not as easy as you seem to have led on. Let's break it down a bit to see why it's difficult for someone under 30 (and under 35) to reach that milestone.

Say a person graduates from pharmacy school at 24 with $150k in student loans and receives zero economic outpatient care (EOC). Now, let's see what it takes for that person to reach PAW status by 30. Assuming $130k salary as you did: $130k X 30 yo / 10 = $390k. If this person has $390k, s/he would be an AAW (average accumulator of wealth) according to the wealth equation. To be a PAW, the 30 year-old in question needs to have twice that amount, $780k. This gives the newly-graduated 24 yo 6 years to pay off $150k in loans plus interest while amassing $780k in net worth. That's no easy task, as it would take the person at least 2 years to pay off that $150k loan, and I'm being very optimistic with 2 years. That leaves 4 years to obtain $780k in net worth on a $130k income before tax. I understand the power of compound interest and reinvestment... But let's be realistic here, income taxes takes a HUGE bite out of that income, then there's living expenses, mortgage/rent, car/bike payment, travel expenses, and a whole host of other miscellaneous expenses that life often throws at you. Is it doable? Yes, but one needs to have 4 extremely lucky years in risk-laden investments to barely make the mark. As for reaching the PAW milestone by 35, the person would need a net worth of $910k. This is a more realistic, albeit, still a very difficult goal to achieve. In reality, many 35 yo pharmacists in the scenario given above would not have nearly half the amount to be a PAW. In fact, most would be UAW (under accumulator of wealth), having net worth less than $227k. I would even wager that many would still have negative net worth by then due to overspending on "things" that will end up in landfills one day.

Also, people tend to inflate their true net worth and incorrectly assume that they are wealthier than they actually are. Net worth is all assets minus all liabilities (including the primary home of residence, as a primary home is not an asset).
 
My situation: graduated in May from NYC, moved right after to central FL in with my parents. My monthly expenses are: car payment-200/mo, car ins 80/mo, and I pay for my families cell phone bill- 250/mo. All credit cards are paid off and are not in use. I have close to 250k in loans. Took $1 paycut from NY to FL (offered PIC job). I currently work about 65-75 hours a week and after taxes make about 7800-8400 a month. Is it better to pay minimum until I can just pay off a huge chunk every 3 months? I saved up 25k in 3 months and going to completely pay off the highest interest rate loan I have- discover at 11.75% mid Jan when it comes out of grace.
Currently selling all my louboutins because I hate living this country living middle of no where life. My question is, is there any point to invest my money or should I just focus on bringing down my loans? any advice is helpful!

not sure if anyone addressed your first question, but:

1.) I'm no expert but the way I see it - the time you're saving up a chunk of money, your loans are accruing interest. So why pay off a huge chunk while it's not earning you any money? With each paycheck, make a payment. Minimize the interest accrual. But Again, I'm no expert, so I don't know if that's accurate

2.) Investments - I think that depends on how much of a return you get. My friend says he gets 20%...I tried trading and consistenly posted a loss every year. I gave up trying to "beat" the high interest loan...I never did. So if you find out a way to earn money > than the interest on your loan, do it (and please post to tell me how??)...if not, just knock out the loan

401k's are pretty similar to investment accounts, so if you're not already maxing that out, make sure you do it. Then loans, then start investing.

I had to google louboutins...


MOMUS - what did you do to make it to over $700k??!?!?!
 
Congratulations on being a PAW. You are well on your way to being an actual "millionaire next door." However, being a PAW is not as easy as you seem to have led on. Let's break it down a bit to see why it's difficult for someone under 30 (and under 35) to reach that milestone.

Say a person graduates from pharmacy school at 24 with $150k in student loans and receives zero economic outpatient care (EOC). Now, let's see what it takes for that person to reach PAW status by 30. Assuming $130k salary as you did: $130k X 30 yo / 10 = $390k. If this person has $390k, s/he would be an AAW (average accumulator of wealth) according to the wealth equation. To be a PAW, the 30 year-old in question needs to have twice that amount, $780k. This gives the newly-graduated 24 yo 6 years to pay off $150k in loans plus interest while amassing $780k in net worth. That's no easy task, as it would take the person at least 2 years to pay off that $150k loan, and I'm being very optimistic with 2 years. That leaves 4 years to obtain $780k in net worth on a $130k income before tax. I understand the power of compound interest and reinvestment... But let's be realistic here, income taxes takes a HUGE bite out of that income, then there's living expenses, mortgage/rent, car/bike payment, travel expenses, and a whole host of other miscellaneous expenses that life often throws at you. Is it doable? Yes, but one needs to have 4 extremely lucky years in risk-laden investments to barely make the mark. As for reaching the PAW milestone by 35, the person would need a net worth of $910k. This is a more realistic, albeit, still a very difficult goal to achieve. In reality, many 35 yo pharmacists in the scenario given above would not have nearly half the amount to be a PAW. In fact, most would be UAW (under accumulator of wealth), having net worth less than $227k. I would even wager that many would still have negative net worth by then due to overspending on "things" that will end up in landfills one day.

Also, people tend to inflate their true net worth and incorrectly assume that they are wealthier than they actually are. Net worth is all assets minus all liabilities (including the primary home of residence, as a primary home is not an asset).

I was going to write a similar response, but you covered most of it. That equation stacks the cards heavily against younger individuals, especially in the age of degree/education inflation and the excessive student loans that tend to accompany it. It would seem that AAW status under age 30 using that equation would be a pretty substantial accomplishment.

If I recall correctly from previous posts, in addition to graduating at 23 (? correct me if I'm wrong here) and starting to invest when the stock market was near the bottom, Momus' "economic outpatient care" resulted in a student loan balance of $0. That being said, the amount he has accumulated thus far is no doubt impressive. However, my guess is that few others would be able to replicate his success (no matter how shrewd the investment strategy) unless several uncontrollable factors fell into place.
 
1.) I'm no expert but the way I see it - the time you're saving up a chunk of money, your loans are accruing interest. So why pay off a huge chunk while it's not earning you any money? With each paycheck, make a payment. Minimize the interest accrual. But Again, I'm no expert, so I don't know if that's accurate
You are correct that there will be some savings, but I'm not sure that it's significant without crunching the numbers. Some people like to pay off a big chunk at a time because it has a bigger psychological impact, feels like you really made a major dent, rather than throwing a mere $1k at a $200k monster. If you feel better doing that, it is probably worth the minimal difference in overall loan payment.

The other method also gets rid of the temptation to do something else with that accumulating money: vacation, shopping spree, etc. If you throw it toward the loan immediately, you won't have that possibility. That said, you should still have a SHTF emergency fund and not throw every last cent into your payoff.
 
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How are you guys calculating that intrest? At 144k paying off in 8 years instead of 10 saves me ~$10k. I did this using the fedloan calculator, at 10 years payments I spend $55k in intrest and at 8 years its $45k. $10k isnt chump change but it isnt $5k a year either.....
 
I was going to write a similar response, but you covered most of it. That equation stacks the cards heavily against younger individuals, especially in the age of degree/education inflation and the excessive student loans that tend to accompany it. It would seem that AAW status under age 30 using that equation would be a pretty substantial accomplishment.

I absolutely agree with the above.

If I recall correctly from previous posts, in addition to graduating at 23 (? correct me if I'm wrong here) and starting to invest when the stock market was near the bottom, Momus' "economic outpatient care" resulted in a student loan balance of $0. That being said, the amount he has accumulated thus far is no doubt impressive. However, my guess is that few others would be able to replicate his success (no matter how shrewd the investment strategy) unless several uncontrollable factors fell into place.

That certainly puts things into perspective. Money is often much easier to come by when one receives a nice hearty dose of OPM à la EOC. However, that's not to discredit the still very impressive amount that Momus has accumulated - assuming no parts of the accumulated wealth are from EOC as well. Regardless, it points to the fact that the wealth equation is indeed stacked heavily against individuals under 35 yo.
 
ackj - yeah, I guess it doesn't matter. As long as she has the discipline not to blow her large chunk on stiletto heels, and use the large chunk to charge the motivation to pay off the loans, then go for it. I personally would not like that money in my account...if it's not there, I don't spend it.

I have $296 more than my emergency fund...I'm going to make that $296 last until my next paycheck.

sakigt - I didn't bother with a calculator. It doesn't matter if it's 8, or 7, or 6 years....in any case, the soonest you can pay off your loans, the more you'll save...so the limiting factor doesn't become what you come up with a loan calculator, but rather how much of your income you can contribute to the loans. Figure that out first, discipline yourself to hit that amount consistently over a few years, and that...my friend, is what's important.

and to pharmer/homeslice - I personally don't care about EOC - that depends entirely on your parents' wealth, which is out of your control...and honestly doesn't matter. Millionaire next door says 80% of millionaires are 1st generation anyways...they learn the values of hard work, frugality, and smart investing to become rich. Those that inherit wealth usually aren't smart enough to keep it anyways because they've been living as such high consumers their whole life anyways. I'm not saying the latter is momus, I'm saying EOC isn't important. And after everyone pays off their loans here, they'll be the equivalent of Momus @ 23 anyways...

the question is - from 23->29, Momus made it to $700k+...- HOW?

which investments was he, and other people here making??
 
Not taking anything away from Momus but he didn't have student loans like most of us.

I had less than 150 k in student loans and I paid most of it within the first 3 years. If I had invested that money I would have made a killing especially since the market was doing so poorly in 2008-2009.
 
ok, so we missed out on the great wave of investment...

but where do we invest going forward?

I won't be able to invest anything until my loans are paid off...but unless it's real estate, I have zero clue where else to put it.

Number 7 is questionable...

I disagree - why is picking pharmacy questionable as a good career choice?

when you accrue wealth, you need a way to generate income in addition to living frugally to make sure you save it. What other ways can you have a consistently high income coming in?
 
pharmer/homeslice - I personally don't care about EOC - that depends entirely on your parents' wealth, which is out of your control...and honestly doesn't matter. Millionaire next door says 80% of millionaires are 1st generation anyways...they learn the values of hard work, frugality, and smart investing to become rich. Those that inherit wealth usually aren't smart enough to keep it anyways because they've been living as such high consumers their whole life anyways. I'm not saying the latter is momus, I'm saying EOC isn't important. And after everyone pays off their loans here, they'll be the equivalent of Momus @ 23 anyways...

the question is - from 23->29, Momus made it to $700k+...- HOW?

which investments was he, and other people here making??

Of course EOC is important, especially when it comes to calculating one's true net worth. Receiving EOC is akin to typing in the "motherload"
cheat in a life simulation video game and moving along more quickly via the fast lane. Unfortunately for me and a few of us on this forum, our versions of life came with the cheat code disabled, so we will have to move along the wealth scale the old fashion way: hard work, savings, and fastidious investing.

As I stated above, getting $700k+ within a few short years is no easy task and will require some elements of luck or a nice hearty dose of EOC to be involved . Luck is not something that the prototypical "millionaire next door" type rely heavily on. We a lucky to live in a country that gives us a chance at economic upward mobility if we have what it takes to persevere and overcome. Despite what everyone else is saying, we are lucky that we live in America, and that's about all the luck many of the people in the Millionaire Next Door book had.
 
... Unfortunately for me and a few of us on this forum, our versions of life came with the cheat code disabled, so we will have to move along the wealth scale the old fashion way: hard work, savings, and fastidious investing.

... Luck is not something that the prototypical "millionaire next door" type rely heavily on. We a lucky to live in a country that gives us a chance at economic upward mobility if we have what it takes to persevere and overcome. Despite what everyone else is saying, we are lucky that we live in America, and that's about all the luck many of the people in the Millionaire Next Door book had.

the first sentence is why I don't care to compare EOC...I can't do anything about it anyways, so why worry?

next paycheck this friday: ~$4,000
-$49 parking ticket
+$81 - sold my gopro
--------------------------------
$4,032 to apply to loans

Friday estimated loan balance: $76,252 - $4,032 = $72,220 - (monthly autopay) = $71,620

my daily expenditures on gas/food/petty cash is roughly $17.68/day, so I'm under my budget for expenditures

because of where the friday's land in January, I have 1 more paycheck this month (probably ~$3k)...

so I should be in the high 60k range by the end of the month! :)

now when do we get those darn w2's so I can start doing my taxes?? by March my smallest loan of $12,282 will be done, so I want to use the full tax return to make a dent in the $31,468 loan that I'll be starting next...
 
just got $1,000 back from my friend because I paid for her sister's car up front...instead of holding onto the cash for now, then spending it eventually, I just made an early payment

$75,280 to go...
 
sakigt - I didn't bother with a calculator. It doesn't matter if it's 8, or 7, or 6 years....in any case, the soonest you can pay off your loans, the more you'll save...so the limiting factor doesn't become what you come up with a loan calculator, but rather how much of your income you can contribute to the loans. Figure that out first, discipline yourself to hit that amount consistently over a few years, and that...my friend, is what's important.

I agree it should be paid off fast, but at the expense of what? If its the expensive of buying things or living an expensive lifestyle, ok. But at the expense of investing in a roth, saving up a decent EF, delaying kids if youre a non-trad like me? Mehhhhh.... They can have my 5k in intrest.......
 
the first sentence is why I don't care to compare EOC...I can't do anything about it anyways, so why worry?

The only reason why I said it matters is because some people we meet (especially online) might claim that they were able to pay off their $150k student loans and have $1 million in investments within 3 years of graduating from pharmacy school, all the while running across America naked for the past 36 months. I know that's a bit of a hyperbole, but I hope you get my point. With a massive enough dose of EOC, even people who have never worked a single day in their life could be millionaires... It matters because it tells us who is self-made and who is hooked up to the EOC machine.
 
MOMUS - what did you do to make it to over $700k??!?!?!

Graduated at 24. 0 student loans. I had a good 2 years run where my gross income was 200kish+ a year. No more of that, of course, too many pharmacists in CA. Other than that, I am very frugal, monthly expense of <$1000. Very hard to achieve this unless you live at home with your parents which I don't do also. Every penny I have is thrown at my portfolio 90% stocks/10% bond. I count my investment property equity also (DP + increased value so far) around $260k equity of $660k property value. Taxable stock investment, 401k and cash are ~$600k. I am looking to have a net worth of at least $1M at 31-32 yo, taking it slow and easy. Three more years just to get $140k. Should be doable if stocks doesn't crash too hard in the next 3 years.
 
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pharmerjohn - point taken, especially about perception for being self made vs. EOC...

momus - so you didn't even do anything crazy...just buy an investment property, then put money into stocks/bonds...thanks for the motivation! glad to see you're also applying some of the basic principles of frugal living...where do you make your investments? a long while ago, I tried to research stocks online, and the consensus on the boglehead forums is "open a vanguard account"...I was thinking of investing there after my loans are paid off

2 hours until midnight and my next paycheck...I can't wait to use the full $4,000 to chip away more of that loan!

now that I'm using most income sources (mostly paychecks, but also selling useless junk on ebay), I'm starting to feel good about it...like I'm in control and making a difference
 
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You are on the right track. Open a Vanguard Account when you are done with your loan and set up an investment plan. Automate everything from credit cards, all bills, direct deposit, investing and forget about it. That will take out emotion and decision making that tend to wreck your bank account. Do not ever mess with an individual stock, you will under perform the market 90% of the time in the long run.
 
ditto...lost too much money buying individual stocks...def. want to finish the loans first, then let the pro's @ vanguard get me a return

also - $4k payment was made on Friday....& after tomorrow's $1,088 auto-debit payment (only $720 is principle...rest is interest)

$70,592 to goooo00000....

I also got a little trigger happy after living super cheap the last 1-1/2 months...bought a mini race bike for a few hundred bucks:

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going to do about 10 track days with this...then sell it for what I paid for it!

here's my friend's bike...now he has the hot setup!

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btw, I'm forgoing the Roth - I have until April 2015 to contribute for this year (2014)...

my goal: finish my loans by the beginning of next year...so between Feb-April of 2015, I'll squeeze in my $5,500 for a 2014 Roth contribution

then throughout 2015, I'll also contribute another $5,500 for 2015....so now I have the best of both worlds: pay off the loans right away, then STILL contribute $11,000 into roth between 2014-2015...
 
oops...somehow I miscalculated how much to contribute and how much the autopay principle/interest amounts are...plus the bike purchase (now looking a bit sour!) chipped a little bit into my emergency fund...to compensate, I'm keeping the full paycheck on 1/31...

but I BROKE THE 70K MARK!!!

$69,764 to go!

since I started this thread less than 1 month ago...I've paid off $7,423 of loan principle...
 
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6 days from my last payment and I've accrued $49 in interest....

why do I care?

because since I broke the $70k mark, I don't want the interest to push me BACK above $70k, so that I have to break it again, hahaha
 
according to my employer's website...the W2's will be available after February 3rd...I used a tax refund calculator and I'm estimating about $8,800 from federal and about $700 from state...the whole thing goes towards my loans

I'm also going to change my withholdings...I'm currently set to "zero" and I'm going to try 1 (or 2) for 2014 to decrease my tax return and give me more throughout the year to pay into my loans...

anyone know anything about starting an LLC/consulting to help with taxes?
 
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according to my employer's website...the W2's will be available after February 3rd...I used a tax refund calculator and I'm estimating about $8,800 from federal and about $700 from state...the whole thing goes towards my loans

I'm also going to change my withholdings...I'm currently set to "zero" and I'm going to try 1 (or 2) for 2014 to decrease my tax return and give me more throughout the year to pay into my loans...

anyone know anything about starting an LLC/consulting to help with taxes?

Assuming you have been pay regular taxes throughout the year and don't have much tax deduction except your 401 k, I doubt you will get 9 k in tax return. More like 3 k
 
I also tithed over $13,000 to church last year...

I think you get roughly 25% back of charitable donations, and in 2012 (without much tithing) I got ~$5k (claiming zero)...so this time I think the $8k figure might be right

I am going to change the withholdings to 2 though...
 
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stupid interest...$84 increase in 1 week...in 2 more weeks, it's going to total my loans to $70,000 again....arghhhh!

well, I sold that racebike I posted before...got all my money back and going to make a $300 payment today from there to battle some of that interest...

getting paid this Friday (~$3,000), but $975 goes to rent on Saturday, $150 goes to the CA board for license renewal, and the rest of it are for gas/food expenses & bringing my "E-fund" back up to an acceptable level...so I can't chip away more of the loans until Feb 14th paycheck :(

good news is that my employer is mailing out my W2...should be here by today or tomorrow so I can file my return...
 
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Got my W2, 2013 grad so under 1/2 year of RPh income, made around 55k.

I had my withholdings increased, as per recommendations on here, so hopefully I won't get a gigantic return. Whatever return I get I'll just throw at the loans. Unfortunately I believe this will be the only year where I can deduct the interest, because I'll be above the income cap for next year.
 
Got my W2, 2013 grad so under 1/2 year of RPh income, made around 55k.

I had my withholdings increased, as per recommendations on here, so hopefully I won't get a gigantic return. Whatever return I get I'll just throw at the loans. Unfortunately I believe this will be the only year where I can deduct the interest, because I'll be above the income cap for next year.

That's still a bit more than my entire year's worth of tech pay. I hope to get a decent return this year and roll it into my pharmacy school budget.

Btw, what's the income cap for deducting interest off of student loans? Anyone know?
 
That's still a bit more than my entire year's worth of tech pay. I hope to get a decent return this year and roll it into my pharmacy school budget.

Btw, what's the income cap for deducting interest off of student loans? Anyone know?
Wow, well paid tech. 40 hours and 52 weeks thats like 26/hr. I believe the cap is 75k.
 
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