Living with parents during residency?

[osprey099]

I'm thinking ahead towards residency and how I can pay off my loans the fastest way possible. I will be attending an OOS private medical school this fall and after all four years, I'll probably end up with anywhere between 250k-300k in federal loans since my parents cannot help me out for med school. However, if I could come back to my home state to do my residency, they said I can live in the basement ( we have a bedroom + bathroom in the basement) and they would provide me meals and stuff. So I have 2 questions:

1. Is this common for residents, given that they have the option to do this, considering that med school loans are now rising through the roof

2. If you had the option of doing this, would you do it?

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[drumstix]

1. probably would be more common than not. let's see, increase debt load or ease it off a bit by having housing and some meals taken care of? i think a lot would go with easing off the debt load.
2. probably varied answers here since everyone will have different relationships with their parents. if all is well though, residents will probably say yes. how much of a life do residents have? do you plan on bringing home a "night partner" every night for a nice tumble in the woods (sheets)? because that would be embarrassing lol.

the other sting to your ego is when you're playing Call of Duty and some punk calls you out for living in your mom's basement. if you don't take that personally, you'll be fine. they say that to everyone

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

No and no.

I don't think it's worth it. You aren't going to make enough in residency to put a meaningful dent in your loans. However you will have enough to live on your own. My advice would be to wait until you are an attending to really start making big debt payments. By that time, you will make enough to live comfortably and throw a bunch at loans.

 

[DokterMom]

I'd say it depends on your relationship with your parents. Do they respect your autonomy? Would you have a private entrance? And yeah, what would it mean for your sex life? If you have a serious relationship and both s/he and your parents are OK with it -- then yeah, it's a great opportunity to sink huge chunks of debt and have all sorts of piddly home-management tasks just plain taken care of.

If your parents don't respect your adulthood and/or would give you a hard time about your social and sexual choices, then No - absolutely and plainly No. You don't want to go back to a pseudo-child relationship post medical school. How could that not mess with your head when you're learning to make life and death decisions?

 

[osprey099]

I'd say it depends on your relationship with your parents. Do they respect your autonomy? Would you have a private entrance? And yeah, what would it mean for your sex life? If you have a serious relationship and both s/he and your parents are OK with it -- then yeah, it's a great opportunity to sink huge chunks of debt and have all sorts of piddly home-management tasks just plain taken care of.

If your parents don't respect your adulthood and/or would give you a hard time about your social and sexual choices, then No - absolutely and plainly No. You don't want to go back to a pseudo-child relationship post medical school. How could that not mess with your head when you're learning to make life and death decisions?

Yea I am going to be taking all of that into consideration when the time comes. I would have my own private entrance to the outdoors and I have a great relationship with my parents. I am also not currently in any sort of relationship. The only thing I was worried about is how would potential girls I meet during my training view my living situation. Technically, I would be living in my parents' basement as a 25-28/or beyond year old and that may be pretty weird to a lot of people..

 

[snowflakes]

Yea I am going to be taking all of that into consideration when the time comes. I would have my own private entrance to the outdoors and I have a great relationship with my parents. I am also not currently in any sort of relationship. The only thing I was worried about is how would potential girls I meet during my training view my living situation. Technically, I would be living in my parents' basement as a 25-28/or beyond year old and that may be pretty weird to a lot of people..

You'd also be an MD with an obvious focus on career development, fantastic career prospects, and a good relationship with your parents. Frankly, anyone who's seriously interested in you should be relieved to find that you're being financially responsible and humble enough to do what's necessary to keep your living expenses down when you're 250k+ in debt. Typically, people are turned off by someone living in their parents' basement at 25-28 when they're coasting off their parents for living expenses with no plans to be able to support themselves. That would clearly not be you.

I think it's a good idea. No rent can add up to 10-12k per year saved if you were looking for a single apartment. Plus you don't have to worry about things like grocery shopping, home maintenance, and cooking quality food (this one seems huge to me). Personally, even the rent saved aside, these are all conveniences I'd love to have when working 80 hours a week. And it seems to me that you can easily put a good chunk of your residency stipend towards your debt and make some decent headway on it.

 

[faw20]

I don't think you really have any concept of how much debt you will have accrued. Even If I lived expense-free I wouldn't be able to pay in full on my loans. I went to in in-state medical school and took everything out in loans. I have $200K in student loans (principle only, $188K med school and $12K undergrad). My monthly payments are supposed to be around $2800 based on the last time I applied for forbearance. My take-home pay after taxes as a PGY-3 resident is $1350 per 2week pay period. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[baconshrimps]

I lived at home after having gone away for college.
It was an absolute misery living at home afterwards.
There is no way I am living at home after residency. I will probably be about $360K in debt after I graduate, but extending the repayment length is entirely worth it to have my own space and not rely on my family for anything at all.

 

[NickNaylor]

At some point you will come to a phase in life where saving money and convenience are not the #1 priorities. When that happens, it will become more desirable for you to pay the expenses of living on your own rather live continue to live with your parents. There's nothing inherently wrong with living with your parents - and I'm not trying to imply that there is - but for most it becomes unappealing. I haven't met a single resident that lives at home with their parents, but then again, I would be pretty surprised if someone actually admitted that in casual conversation.

 

[DokterMom]

I don't think you really have any concept of how much debt you will have accrued. Even If I lived expense-free I wouldn't be able to pay in full on my loans. I went to in in-state medical school and took everything out in loans. I have $200K in student loans (principle only, $188K med school and $12K undergrad). My monthly payments are supposed to be around $2800 based on the last time I applied for forbearance. My take-home pay after taxes as a PGY-3 resident is $1350 per 2week pay period. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Don't know if this means "Do it - you'll be in HUGE debt" or "Don't bother - You won't make a dent in it" -- but putting $1,000 of each $1350 paycheck would knock out $50,000 of principle and roughly $500 per month in interest off your debt load.

Yeah, the price may be too high, but that depends on you and on your parents.

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

At some point you will come to a phase in life where saving money and convenience are not the #1 priorities. When that happens, it will become more desirable for you to pay the expenses of living on your own rather live continue to live with your parents. There's nothing inherently wrong with living with your parents - and I'm not trying to imply that there is - but for most it becomes unappealing. I haven't met a single resident that lives at home with their parents, but then again, I would be pretty surprised if someone actually admitted that in casual conversation.

Lol this phase lasts a couple years until you have your first kid. I do know a resident who lives with parents (in laws, actually), he has a wife and 2 kids and is trying to pay off his debt ASAP.

 

[Jabawocky]

I'm thinking ahead towards residency and how I can pay off my loans the fastest way possible. I will be attending an OOS private medical school this fall and after all four years, I'll probably end up with anywhere between 250k-300k in federal loans since my parents cannot help me out for med school. However, if I could come back to my home state to do my residency, they said I can live in the basement ( we have a bedroom + bathroom in the basement) and they would provide me meals and stuff. So I have 2 questions:

1. Is this common for residents, given that they have the option to do this, considering that med school loans are now rising through the roof

2. If you had the option of doing this, would you do it?

Look into programs that some hospitals offer that require a commitment in terms of years of service in return for paying off your student loans. They are mostly offered in small/under served areas like where I'm from. My hometown hospital offers this to new residents for something like a 6 year commitment on top of your normal pay.

Or you know, you could join the military as a physician and they will pay all your bills for a 4-5 year commitment after residency.

 

[faw20]

Don't know if this means "Do it - you'll be in HUGE debt" or "Don't bother - You won't make a dent in it" -- but putting $1,000 of each $1350 paycheck would knock out $50,000 of principle and roughly $500 per month in interest off your debt load.

Yeah, the price may be too high, but that depends on you and on your parents.

My point was I could put 100% of my paycheck towards my loans and I still wouldn't be covering my minimum monthly payment ($2800 monthly payment>$2700 monthly salary).

 

[osprey099]

My point was I could put 100% of my paycheck towards my loans and I still wouldn't be covering my minimum monthly payment ($2800 monthly payment>$2700 monthly salary).

Well putting any money into decreasing your debt sooner rather than later must be a good thing.

 

[NickNaylor]

Lol this phase lasts a couple years until you have your first kid. I do know a resident who lives with parents (in laws, actually), he has a wife and 2 kids and is trying to pay off his debt ASAP.

Yeah, this makes sense. For some people that's big enough of a priority that the trade-offs are worth it. For me personally, though, I couldn't imagine living with my parents again. Not that I don't love them or don't enjoy spending time with them, but I enjoy having my own fiefdom and setting up my arbitrary rules within my 1100 sq ft of sanctuary as I see fit.

 

[gumdrops]

Yeah, this makes sense. For some people that's big enough of a priority that the trade-offs are worth it. For me personally, though, I couldn't imagine living with my parents again. Not that I don't love them or don't enjoy spending time with them, but I enjoy having my own fiefdom and setting up my arbitrary rules within my 1100 sq ft of sanctuary as I see fit.

Ha, same. It will not matter my age, years lived outside of the house or professional status. My parents will freak out if I'm not home at 10 PM. Ain't nobody got time for that in residency.