At what point do you get stressed about debt?

[Elbowstoopointy]

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Basically, I was crunching the numbers and have calculated I'll be in about 140k debt (this is a high estimate) by graduation)...this is freaking me the hell out. I realize some students have 300k+ etc, but that seems impossible to pay off...

Pretty much I'm taking out 30k for MS1/2, and 40k for MS3/4 since they are longer. I have a chunk of savings saved up for transport, USMLE costs, housing etc though...

Anyone else not feel very comfortable with this?

 

[SoundofSilver]

Personally, I drew the line at 200k for the maximum amount of debt I was willing to take on, and this heavily influenced where I decided to attend med school.

The best thing you can do at this point is be smart about your how you spend your loan money, and try not to stress over your debt because it is what it is and there are many people taking out a lot more debt than you are.

Just hope that our student loan interest rates don't shoot up too high if the credit agencies downgrade this country's credit rating. The consequences of the ongoing debt ceiling fiasco could end up being especially bad for students.

 

[Brachyury]

Basically, I was crunching the numbers and have calculated I'll be in about 140k debt (this is a high estimate) by graduation)...this is freaking me the hell out. I realize some students have 300k+ etc, but that seems impossible to pay off...

Pretty much I'm taking out 30k for MS1/2, and 40k for MS3/4 since they are longer. I have a chunk of savings saved up for transport, USMLE costs, housing etc though...

Anyone else not feel very comfortable with this?

Keep remembering this; it should make you feel better

Re: debt, play around with this http://www.finaid.org/calculators/ibr.phtml and this http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

Although you cannot do anything about your debt right now, understanding how you will repay it and how easy or difficult it will be should make you feel better. Unless you want to do academic pediatrics in Manhattan or unless you have/want a lot of children, 140k is an easy amount of debt to manage

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I think of it as the cost of business. Instead of worrying about the lump sum every day, I calculated the ballpark of my monthly payment...that amount is just what I will have to pay for the next 2 decades to be able to have a stable job which I enjoy doing and that pays enough to make these payments and live off the rest.

Afterthought: also there is very attractive repayment plans if you are willing to serve in the military or work in underserved communities or smaller hospitals that are in need of specialists.

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

Keep remembering this; it should make you feel better

Re: debt, play around with this http://www.finaid.org/calculators/ibr.phtml and this http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

Although you cannot do anything about your debt right now, understanding how you will repay it and how easy or difficult it will be should make you feel better. Unless you want to do academic pediatrics in Manhattan or unless you have/want a lot of children, 140k is an easy amount of debt to manage

Nah I want to do GI/Cards/Pulm if I do IM, if I don't it be to go anesthesia or rad

 

[Kalyx]

Actually 140k sounds pretty darn good! I'll probably end up just under 200k, and that's still going to an in-state school (though it ends up a little more expensive because we're required to do some rotations out-of-state).

I am also experiencing a lot of stress with going into debt. I'm extremely financially frugal and have never been in any kind of debt before, so this feels like a huge step! But as others have mentioned, if you choose a good strategy for your loan repayments, it should be fine. It's the kind of thing where it's easy to worry about, but you have to know in the back of your mind that you'll be *fine*.


~Kalyx

 

[cowme]

Not to freak you guys out more, but you should know that congress is seriously considering cutting resident education in half next year, so you will likely be making 22-30K pretax throughout residency.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230354460457643447768158908.html

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

Not to freak you guys out more, but you should know that congress is seriously considering cutting resident education in half next year, so you will likely be making 22-30K pretax throughout residency.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230354460457643447768158908.html

Doubt it would ever pass.

If it does....screw it I'm gonna go rads/anes/or spine surgery