Deferring loans during residency

[ketafol]

Hello guys,

A little background about me. I am just about to graduate and will be starting an anesthesiology residency in July. I have about 220K in loans, between med school and undergrad. About 180K is in the Federal Stafford loans, and the rest in private loans. I also just got a mortage with my fiancee for 230K, the payments will be about 1700/month.

I would really like to defer my loans if at all possible. I am consolidated pretty low in my staffords, and the private loans arent too bad either.

My question is, how easy is it to defer loans through residency? Is it just a matter of telling the lender so, or do you have to show income and other debts?

What does everyone else do? I am responsible with my cash and dont overspend, but at the same time, I do not want to have to worry about cash all the time and would like to have some decent play money each month. Any recommendations? Thanks.

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[Winged Scapula]

Your Graduate Medical Education office will be able to help you with the required forms. In general, most residents with the amount of loan debt you have are eligible for deferment for at least 3 years, after which your income as a resident is deemed enough to start payments, but when it really isn't you can put your loans into forebearance.

Yes, you do have to provide info like your income, but they dont' really care about other debt or cost of living...the have a fixed salary rate at which they (the government) decides you are able to pay the loans back. Don't worry - almost everyone is able to defer and/or forebear during all of residency.

Here are some threads you might find useful:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=372375&highlight=loan+repayment

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=369284&highlight=loan+repayment

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=367370&highlight=loan+repayment

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=273533&highlight=loan+repayment

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=268847&highlight=loan+repayment

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=267270&highlight=loan+repayment

 

[Bitsy3221]

Agree with above.

Just a thought though, which may or may not pertain to you: you mentioned that you consolidated some of your loans. I did as well, and be forwarned that these consolidated loans go into repayment immediately after graduation (i.e. May) while some others will not go into repayment until after a six month grace period (i.e. November) and still others (usually the private loans) will have an even longer grace period, often up to a few years. Since the amount that goes into immediate repayment may not be your total loan amount, you may not meet that "magic limit" that Dr. Cox alluded to above (this is also the case for me), as the monthly payment on your consolidated loans may not be higher than the fraction of your monthly salary that the federal goverment deems you able to pay. If this is the case, you will have to apply for forebearance on your consolidated loans ASAP after graduation, and then when your other loans go into repayment in six months, reapply for deferrment, since this will likely bring your total monthly repayment amount above the "magic limit."

This may not be applicable to you, but if it does, it will require some immediate action on your part immediately after graduation (I have 10 days between graduation and when my first loan payment is due). Also, you HAVE to wait until after graduation to do this since you do not qualify for forbearance as a student. You may want to sit down with a financial aid officer at your medical school to see if there is anything you need to do right now. I hope this didn't confuse you too much!

 

[MD Dreams]

Hello guys,

A little background about me. I am just about to graduate and will be starting an anesthesiology residency in July. I have about 220K in loans, between med school and undergrad. About 180K is in the Federal Stafford loans, and the rest in private loans. I also just got a mortage with my fiancee for 230K, the payments will be about 1700/month.

I would really like to defer my loans if at all possible. I am consolidated pretty low in my staffords, and the private loans arent too bad either.

My question is, how easy is it to defer loans through residency? Is it just a matter of telling the lender so, or do you have to show income and other debts?

What does everyone else do? I am responsible with my cash and dont overspend, but at the same time, I do not want to have to worry about cash all the time and would like to have some decent play money each month. Any recommendations? Thanks.

I have a similar situation (add 90K more for loans and subtract the significant other and mortgate). This is what I plan on doing:

1. As soon as I graduate I will reconsolidate all of my federal loans. The new APR will be the weighted average of my current loan interests rounded up to 1/8 percent of 1% (something like that). Once consolidated I lose my grace period for the ones that had not been consolidated before, but I then apply for economic hardship deferment. After this runs out I apply for foreberance and hopefully this will get me through residency. During deferment my loans will not accrue interest but during forebearance they will and I may pay the interest so it does not capitalize. All companies are required to use the same guidelines as to how they calculate the APR for the federal loans; they are not allowed to charge any fees, etc. However, each company throws in a little incentive to get you to consolidate with them. The best one for federal loans that I've found thus far seems to be "The Educational Loan Company."

2. Now onto those darn private loans. Again, as soon as I graduate I plan on consolidating all of my private loans. The APR on these is high, and I don't qualify for medloans because I am US IMG. Some companies will allow you to defer-I'm going with one of these. But I will be paying part or all of the interest monthly to minimize capitalization which would skyrocket due to high APR. Here, there is no regulation by federal government so you are at the mercy of the companies. The best one I've found thus far seems to be "Education Finance Partners."

I though I could relax a bit now that I have a job, but it looks like I will be counting every penny for at least another five years. Hopefully work will keep me busy enough so that I won't have to think about it too much. I hope this helped.

P.S. If anyone knows of any better consolidation companies please share