Dental School Debt

[UKcbk]

I am a fist year dental student and will be accumulating ~160-170 thousand in debt for dental school. I am considering a 3 yr military scholarship to help with this debt, but I am not sure whether it would be financially beneficial. The way I see it I could have little to no debt in 3-4 yrs and that extra money in my pocket from not paying loans sounds nice.
could anyone give me any info on how much of a burden loan repayment actually is.
Thanks

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[johntara04]

I am a fist year dental student and will be accumulating ~160-170 thousand in debt for dental school. I am considering a 3 yr military scholarship to help with this debt, but I am not sure whether it would be financially beneficial. The way I see it I could have little to no debt in 3-4 yrs and that extra money in my pocket from not paying loans sounds nice.
could anyone give me any info on how much of a burden loan repayment actually is.
Thanks

160-170 is a lot of money, but is still on the lower side of dental school debt. Personally, I believe that you will be better off financially not going into the military, but that is my opinion. Do what you will enjoy more. If you think military life would be enjoyable to you, then there are a lot of benefits for military service. If you don't think military life is for you, then you can do just as well in private practice. Do what you think you will be the better fit for.

 

[OceanDMD]

I am a fist year dental student and will be accumulating ~160-170 thousand in debt for dental school. I am considering a 3 yr military scholarship to help with this debt, but I am not sure whether it would be financially beneficial. The way I see it I could have little to no debt in 3-4 yrs and that extra money in my pocket from not paying loans sounds nice.
could anyone give me any info on how much of a burden loan repayment actually is.
Thanks

I financed similar debt with monthly payments of about 700/month. If you stay away from unsecured CC debt, its very manageable. I dont know what the military pays, Im assuming <75k/year. Your first year out, if you search hard, you can find an opportunity to make 120-140k. If you are really bold, look to buying a practice. Of course you take on a loan with more debt, but often you can get graduated payments which as your practice grows, you can afford the payments. remember that interest of this type of debt is tax deductuble. Feel fortunate to have <200k in loans.

 

[Cold Front]

I financed similar debt with monthly payments of about 700/month.

The interest on that must have been a bargain!

 

[OceanDMD]

The interest on that must have been a bargain!

somewhere around 3% over 30 years. The year I graduated was the lowest all time. They have infact changed some of the consolidation policies since.

 

[johntara04]

somewhere around 3% over 30 years. The year I graduated was the lowest all time. They have infact changed some of the consolidation policies since.

Lucky.

 

[DrJeff]

somewhere around 3% over 30 years. The year I graduated was the lowest all time. They have infact changed some of the consolidation policies since.

That's right about where my consolidated interest rates were. Even though the 30 yr consoldation basically cut my payments monthly expected payments by a third, once the cash flow was solid, I just kept paying them off at the non consolidated rate.

Best way(and often the realistic way) to look at your debt management is that for many folks within 5 years of graduating d-school, you'll have 3 mortgage payments - school loans, your house, and your practice(if you choose to buy/buy-in). While sounding daunting, its not as bad as it may seem. They key is some fiscal restraint early on.

 

[KOM]

In my case, a 3 year scholarship with the AF made a lot of sense. Instead of 275 thousand in debt, I'll be about 50 G in debt if that. With the recent stipend increase to ~1900 it turned out even better. I can live off of about 1 grand a month and put the rest ~500 or so towards my 1st year loan. The 3 years of active duty will be a great time to develop speed, not worry about malpractice insurance, travel a bit to get a better idea of other places I may want to practice, and save up a chunk to buy into a private practice. Those benefits outweighed the cons for me.

On the other hand, debt is going to happen one way or another. Buy a house, practice, etc. I just want to live more comfortably now rather than worrying about making a heftier loan payment every month in the future.

 

[OceanDMD]

In my case, a 3 year scholarship with the AF made a lot of sense. Instead of 275 thousand in debt, I'll be about 50 G in debt if that. With the recent stipend increase to ~1900 it turned out even better. I can live off of about 1 grand a month and put the rest ~500 or so towards my 1st year loan. The 3 years of active duty will be a great time to develop speed, not worry about malpractice insurance, travel a bit to get a better idea of other places I may want to practice, and save up a chunk to buy into a private practice. Those benefits outweighed the cons for me.

On the other hand, debt is going to happen one way or another. Buy a house, practice, etc. I just want to live more comfortably now rather than worrying about making a heftier loan payment every month in the future.

Does the Airforce provide long term disability insurance, life insurance, car insurance, free food, etc..etc... I wish I could live off 1k/ month. That doesn't even cover all of my insurance plans. My cable, gas, internet, and phone are close to 1k/month. Good for you if you can do it.

 

[Cold Front]

The 3 years of active duty will be a great time to develop speed, not worry about malpractice insurance, travel a bit to get a better idea of other places I may want to practice, and save up a chunk to buy into a private practice.

I am of the opinion that there are so many loan forgiveness programs available to graduates, as much as $30K/year for upto 4 years or more (on top of the regular salary and benefits) in many states, to work at community healthcare centers that can expose you to a wide variety of general dentistry, while boosting your confidence and clinical experience. In addition to that, you get to live wherever you want in the country.

I understand AF pays while you are still in school, but so as the NHSC.

It's all relative.

 

[KOM]

I am of the opinion that there are so many loan forgiveness programs available to graduates, as much as $30K/year for upto 4 years or more (on top of the regular salary and benefits) in many states, to work at community healthcare centers that can expose you to a wide variety of general dentistry, while boosting your confidence and clinical experience. In addition to that, you get to live wherever you want in the country.

I understand AF pays while you are still in school, but so as the NHSC.

It's all relative.

I believe most loan forgiveness programs will usually offer about 20k/year and starting salaries from the few I've seen in some of those programs, aren't too much higher than a salary in the AF. Strictly speaking, from a financial perspective, the AF is a better deal for me.

The NHSC is a great program as well, it is relatively competitive, and yes...will grant one lots of clinical exposure. No one said otherwise.

 

[KOM]

Does the Airforce provide long term disability insurance, life insurance, car insurance, free food, etc..etc... I wish I could live off 1k/ month. That doesn't even cover all of my insurance plans. My cable, gas, internet, and phone are close to 1k/month. Good for you if you can do it.

This is while I'm in dental school. I'm currently a D1. I'm assuming you're now licensed in which case, yeah, I don't think 1K a month would cut it.

And yes, I do believe the AF has disability insurance, life insurance, very cheap car insurance (which I have now through my father), living allowances etc.