Does anyone know the answer to this question? I have called several loan servicers, but they have been mostly unhelpful. I think it will alter the "best" way to consolidate loans...
Income Based Repayment(IBR)....whats the scoop?
- Thread starter dreambig2night
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Does anyone know the answer to this question? I have called several loan servicers, but they have been mostly unhelpful. I think it will alter the "best" way to consolidate loans...
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first of all i think you will have to consolidate your subsidized and unsubsidized loans into one loan...so whatever your monthly payment will be will pay the interest that adds up per month and whatever that is left over will go to the principal....
i'm currently on the ibr plan...i consolidated all my loans into one loan and i currently pay around a thousand a month on a 158000 loan with an interest rate of 5.75%...the interest comes out to about 750 so i pay down the principal a measly 250 a month currently...but since i work for the VA hopefully after 120 payments (10 years) the remaining loan balance will be forgiven!!
How did you submit the paperwork, as my Direct Loans lender requires an "Alternative Documentation of Income" form which inherently suggests a different (and greater) income to my AGI from last year. I was planning on submitting just the IBR request form and cross my fingers that they just use my AGI which would definitely qualify. However, I don't want them to reject my application because I supplied insufficient paperwork (The "Alternative Documentation of Income"was left out) and end up on standard repayment. Thoughts?
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I qualified both ways based on my new intern salary per month. You have to calculate both ways but many times they will request the ADOI form. If they reject your last year's AGI then you will have to submit the ADOI form I'm hoping you aren't very close to the deadline. You can also call customer service.
"Technically" you are supposed to update them if at any time throughout the year your income changes.
"Technically" you are supposed to update them if at any time throughout the year your income changes.
IBR requires the person to qualify each and every year that they have a partial financial hardhsip to stay in IBR. The minute you are finished with your residency and start making real money you go to a 10 year repayment.
There is 0% chance a doctor can get to discharge their loans on IBR!!!!
No matter the residenyc is 3-4 years, after that the lender places you to repay on a 10 year repayment, so no Doctor will ever reach a loan discharge. The first year you are finished the lender can project your income and not use last years.
The lenders have an interest subsidy for 3 years, so a lender will be easy as pie for 3 years then will check all your income very very closely.
IBR is a good way to start but don't believe the hype that a doctor will get to discharge their loans under this repayment plan.
There is 0% chance a doctor can get to discharge their loans on IBR!!!!
No matter the residenyc is 3-4 years, after that the lender places you to repay on a 10 year repayment, so no Doctor will ever reach a loan discharge. The first year you are finished the lender can project your income and not use last years.
The lenders have an interest subsidy for 3 years, so a lender will be easy as pie for 3 years then will check all your income very very closely.
IBR is a good way to start but don't believe the hype that a doctor will get to discharge their loans under this repayment plan.
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Correct, a repayment plan is not a forgiveness or discharge plan. WTF?
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Does that mean that no interests accrue during the first three years of residency?
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Please don't look for good info from the confused and barely literate. Here is an official IBR page that explains things clearly: http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-based. Look for the word "interest".
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Thank you, that was helpful. It seems that the above poster has no idea what he/she is talking about. From what I skimmed, I understand that the government pays the accrued interests only on the subsidized loans (unfortunately, grad loans are not subsidized). However, I am still happy to learn that capitalization won't occur.
Is there anyone, or know of someone, who finished residency and is doing IBR or PSLF? There are many unknowns that I and my friends are trying to figure out.
Thanks for all the great info in this thread.
Here's my question - if my income qualifies me as having a $0 payment under IBR, what kind of records cam I keep to make sure that those $0 'payments' count toward both IBR and PSLF?
If I were actually making non-zero payments, I assume I could just look at my payment history, but since I'm on the $0 IBR train, there doesn't seem to be any record of 'payments' on myedaccount or any statements I've received.
Anyone have any insight into this? Been trying to figure this out for a while and lots of web searching has yielded nothing so far. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious?
Thanks!
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So i'm wondering what the pros and cons of consolidating and doing IBR versus NOT consolidating and doing IBR? I'm thinking that people would NOT want to consolidate so they can do IBR (which is based on an average of all of your interest rates anyway, similar to consolidation) but then you have the option of paying the principal and/or interest off of specific loans versus a consolidated loan where everything is the same rate. Any ideas?
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Records to keep.
[1] Each year submit an application to PSLF, they will then mail you a letter showing how many payments have qualified up to that date.
[2] Keep employment contracts for each year so you can prove you worked in a non-profit.
[3] Keep IBR application acceptance for each year you apply.
So I'm still trying to wrap my head around this information as I don't have much experience with finances.
From reading on here and other websites I'm still trying to figure my plan of action once residency starts in July.
A couple questions I had were....
If we do IBR during residency and then they put us on 10 yr repayment plan once we become attendings, does that essentially just mean we'd only be on that plan for 6-7 yrs since residency counts?
Is it better to sign up for IBR and just follow those payments till the end, or would it make more sense to pay as much as possible on top to decrease the principal? As I'm a bit skeptical as well if they will really ever forgive all my loans.
From reading on here and other websites I'm still trying to figure my plan of action once residency starts in July.
A couple questions I had were....
If we do IBR during residency and then they put us on 10 yr repayment plan once we become attendings, does that essentially just mean we'd only be on that plan for 6-7 yrs since residency counts?
Is it better to sign up for IBR and just follow those payments till the end, or would it make more sense to pay as much as possible on top to decrease the principal? As I'm a bit skeptical as well if they will really ever forgive all my loans.
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To be honest, I am not sure that anyone really knows. It is best not to confuse IBR and PSLF...you can do IBR and not qualify for PSLF if you are not a non-profit for 10 years. You can do IBR and not have your loans discharged after 10 years if you are not part of PSLF. I believe that they can change the rules in the end; if nothing else I expect them to tax any forgiven amount of loans from PSLF.
If you choose IBR you will likely not even be covering any interest that is accruing. So, if you feel strongly that no loans would ever be forgiven (or that you will not qualify at some point) you should just try to maximize payments...especially if they are at 6.8% as it would be hard to find a safe investment that would earn you the same return.
(IBRinfo is a good resource for trying to explain the most up-to-date policies).
Post edited for incorrect info.
If you choose IBR you will likely not even be covering any interest that is accruing. So, if you feel strongly that no loans would ever be forgiven (or that you will not qualify at some point) you should just try to maximize payments...especially if they are at 6.8% as it would be hard to find a safe investment that would earn you the same return.
(IBRinfo is a good resource for trying to explain the most up-to-date policies).
Post edited for incorrect info.
Last edited:
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6.8% is absolutely ridiculous. Insane. I don't understand how it can be so high...
I don't even know what the hell is going on, it is so frustrating. I'm a PGY-1, started making IBR payments. I don't even know if my intern year hospital is a non-profit, it probably is, but I didn't even know about the PSLF form.
Also how the heck am I suppose to know right now if I will be in at a non-profit after residency? If I don't end up at one, I will not be eligible for forgiveness, and my debt will have grown because IBR does not cover all the interest on my loans. But to be totally honest, how can I pay down my principle during residency without having my quality of life significantly reduced.
I have 200K in loans. THat is >900$ a month in just interest thanks to the 6.8% interest rate! So even if I throw 75% of my salary at that, almost half will just go to interest before I even touch principle. That is just ****ED UP!
We are screwed. We have golden hand cuffs. Misery enjoys company, sorry guys. Just had to vent.
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http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/sites/...service-loan-forgiveness-common-questions.pdf
When you say "PSLF form" I assume you are referring to the Employment Certification Form. According to Q59 / A59, you don't need to submit them on an annual basis or whenever you change employers. The only requirement is that all of them need to be submitted by the time you apply for loan forgiveness (after 120 qualifying payments). So it's okay that you didn't know about the PSLF form, you haven't lost any opportunities here.
I feel your frustration with the enormous loan amounts and enormous loan interest rate medical students accumulate today. As you noticed, for many residents it isn't practical to pay off principle or even all of the interest of their student loans. So there isn't really a choice here - you make small IBR or PAYE payments and you watch the amount owed grow larger each month.
The real choice comes when you are an attending - now you can pay as much as you can towards your loans to get rid of the damn 6.8% beast as quickly as possible, or you can make payments as small as allowed and hope that the loan will be forgiven someday (assuming your payments qualified, assuming your employer qualified, assuming the PSLF program still exists when you make your 120th payment, etc.).
The worst possible scenario here is that you choose the second option, make your minimum payments, and then discover after the 120th payment that the PSLF program won't forgive your loan (most likely because the PSLF program likely won't exist for doctors in 2023) - now you have an enormous 6.8% loan that you could have been paying off for several years.
http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/sites/...service-loan-forgiveness-common-questions.pdf
When you say "PSLF form" I assume you are referring to the Employment Certification Form. According to Q59 / A59, you don't need to submit them on an annual basis or whenever you change employers. The only requirement is that all of them need to be submitted by the time you apply for loan forgiveness (after 120 qualifying payments). So it's okay that you didn't know about the PSLF form, you haven't lost any opportunities here.
I feel your frustration with the enormous loan amounts and enormous loan interest rate medical students accumulate today. As you noticed, for many residents it isn't practical to pay off principle or even all of the interest of their student loans. So there isn't really a choice here - you make small IBR or PAYE payments and you watch the amount owed grow larger each month.
The real choice comes when you are an attending - now you can pay as much as you can towards your loans to get rid of the damn 6.8% beast as quickly as possible, or you can make payments as small as allowed and hope that the loan will be forgiven someday (assuming your payments qualified, assuming your employer qualified, assuming the PSLF program still exists when you make your 120th payment, etc.).
The worst possible scenario here is that you choose the second option, make your minimum payments, and then discover after the 120th payment that the PSLF program won't forgive your loan (most likely because the PSLF program likely won't exist for doctors in 2023) - now you have an enormous 6.8% loan that you could have been paying off for several years.
Good find!
I wanted to point out that the FAQ also says that forgiven loan amounts will not be taxable.
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While I don't count on the PSLF still actually being there in 10 years, I can't afford a better option and will be living in IBR land for the next several years.
My question is this:
Consolidated with Direct Loans late 2011. Finally approved early 2012. Entered "$0" repayment mid 2012. Applied for PSLF early 2013. Direct Loans then sent me info stating they were in the process of changing out lender from "Direct Loans" to "FedLoans."
Have other people been automatically switched to FedLoans upon entering PSLF? I've read horror stores of loans being "labeled" or "handled" incorrectly and thus being ineligible for PSLF at the end of 10 years.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
My question is this:
Consolidated with Direct Loans late 2011. Finally approved early 2012. Entered "$0" repayment mid 2012. Applied for PSLF early 2013. Direct Loans then sent me info stating they were in the process of changing out lender from "Direct Loans" to "FedLoans."
Have other people been automatically switched to FedLoans upon entering PSLF? I've read horror stores of loans being "labeled" or "handled" incorrectly and thus being ineligible for PSLF at the end of 10 years.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
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does the "forgiveness" after 25 years include interest and not just principle?
so, if you get punted out of ibr once you're an attending, you can sign up for another long term plan (that is not standard repayment) and still get loan forgiveness?
so, if you get punted out of ibr once you're an attending, you can sign up for another long term plan (that is not standard repayment) and still get loan forgiveness?
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Loan forgiveness applies to the principle and interest.
But you don't get kicked out of IBR when you are an attending. Instead, your salary is so enormous as an attending that the IBR payment (a payment based on income, after all) would be larger than the original terms of your 10 year standard repayment of the loan. I mean I suppose you could continue your giant-sized IBR payments and pay the loan off super quick, or you could voluntarily withdraw from IBR and make the smaller 10-year payments that originally came with the loan.
It's also possible to convert your loan to the 25-year extended payment plan, but sheesh if you are an attending and you can't afford to chip in at most 10% or 15% of your discretionary income towards paying off student loans, you have bigger problems than student loans.
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So if you're in 6 yrs of residency under IBR
and then as an attg your ibr payments are larger
than standard would be, you switch to standard but lose the
forgiveness thing and have to pay in 4 yrs is what you mean? (ie leaving
ibr for another 25 yr repayment plan will or won't
get you forgiveness?).
Forgiveness after all that interest is paid that is.
and then as an attg your ibr payments are larger
than standard would be, you switch to standard but lose the
forgiveness thing and have to pay in 4 yrs is what you mean? (ie leaving
ibr for another 25 yr repayment plan will or won't
get you forgiveness?).
Forgiveness after all that interest is paid that is.
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Were you able to change it back to Direct Consolidated Loans? Why was it automatically switched to federal loans upon entering PSLF?
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That isn't correct--you pay the IBR amount or the 10-year repayment amount, whichever is lower, not higher. And your payments continue to be eligible for PSLF/IBR forgiveness.
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Hopefully someone can correct me if this info is wrong, but my understanding is Direct Loans is the Department of Education, and they don't service your loans. At least I don't think so... (That is the part I'm not 100% on). FedLoans contracts with the government to service the direct loans. The government owns the loans, but FedLoans manages them (repayment, etc.). I believe there is another group or two the gov't contracts with, so maybe Direct Loans is one, but that's also the name of the Direct Loan program, so it'd be an odd name for a servicer in my mind...
FedLoans picked up all my government loans that weren't Direct Loans (remember loans before the 2010-2011 school year were not Direct Loans). Basically the Department of Education bought up loans from most of the other servicers (Wells Fargo, Sallie Mae, THE, Access Group, etc.) so most federal loans would be under the Dept. of Ed.
Keep in mind to be eligible for PSLF, you have to have any non-direct federal loans, (the Dept of Ed buying them doesn't make them direct loans), then you would want to get a direct consolidation loan to bring them all to the same servicer as your direct loans, and also so your old federal loans are now PSLF eligible. Also keep in mind that when you consolidate, you lose any grace period and conditions of your original loans, as you essentially pay them off with the new consolidation loan.
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That's why I said you "voluntarily withdraw from the IBR and make the smaller 10-year payments". I think we are saying the same thing.
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You don't lose the forgiveness thing. As long as you pay the minimum of (IBR/PAYE or the original standard 10-year payment) they are qualifying payments and the count towards the 10-year public service loan forgiveness and the 25/20-year standard loan forgiveness.
Let's say you were a resident for 6 years, and your IBR/PAYE payments only paid off some of the interest. Dang, you are finished with residency in 6 years and your loans are even larger. What to do???
Well, now that you are an attending, if you really started paying 15%/10% of your disposable income towards your loans, your loan payments would be absolutely enormous. So instead you switch to the monthly payments that would have existed if you had in fact been paying off the original loan at the 10-year standard rate. Of course, your loans are slightly larger now because they grew in residency, so in reality it might take you 11 or 12 years to pay off the loan.
Scenario 1: You make these original 10-year sized payments, and you work for a non-profit (and your residency was at a non-profit too, because most of them are). Four years later, you turn in all your receipts for 120 monthly qualifying payments (six years in residency, four more years as an attending), and the government forgives all of your student loans via PSLF. The end.
Scenario 2: You make these original 10-year sized payments, and you don't work for a non-profit. After maybe 11 or 12 years or however many years it takes, your loan is paid off in full. Congratulations, you just paid off your loan.
Scenario 3: For some reason you are having serious loan trouble. Maybe you had high interest rates? Maybe you went to a really expensive undergrad and medical school? Maybe you spent a very long time in residency? Maybe you got a very low paying private sector job? Anyway, even as an attending, you aren't making much progress on those student loans, but you continue to make the appropriate payments, which as always is the minimum of the IBR payment or what the original 10-year standard payment would have been. Finally, 19 years (IBR) or 14 years (PAYE) later, the government says enough is enough and forgives your student loans because you've been making qualifying loan payments for 25 (IBR) or 20 (PAYE) years. Unfortunately this kind of loan forgiveness is considered taxable income, so depending on your tax bracket approximately 2/3 of the remaining loan is really forgiven and the other 1/3 shows up as taxes the following year.
Conclusion: There is a constant undercurrent of fear in this forum that one small mistake somewhere along the way will doom people into losing all of the benefits of their student loan payment plans or forgiveness plans, when that is just not the case. What if I switch from being a resident to being an attending? What if I switch in year 9 to a private practice for a year? Will all of my loan payments and loan forgiveness options completely vanish? No, and no. The only legitimate fear is that PSLF will cease to exist before we can use it, so scenario 1 would cease to exist. But scenarios 2 and 3 aren't really catastrophic. You get loans, you get job, you pay loans. No problem!
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I think we are, sort of. I was trying to say that you don't withdraw from IBR--if your IBR monthly payment ends up being calculated as higher than the standard 10-year payment, then you are supposed to be automatically switched over to the 10-year plan--you shouldn't ever be charged more (but it is the government, so obviously people should be careful to make sure that their IBR payment is in fact equal to or smaller than their 10-year repayment amount). But I think technically you're still considered to be on the IBR plan as you're still eligible for PSLF. Which is handy if you already have 3-7 years of payments under your belt from residency.
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Well said--I completely agree with all of this. I will personally be planning as if PSLF will cease to exist to benefit me. I will make my IBR/PAYE payments while in residency and then pay as much of my loan off as quick as I can. I will finish residency in 2017--the same time the first cohort will be eligible for PSLF.
We'll see at that point how the public, and the government in turn, reacts when the media reports on stories such as "Neurosurgeon gets 600K forgiven on taxpayer dime!" (I'm sure if the neurosurgeon went to a private school and only made the minimum IBR/PAYE payment and then did a fellowship, they could probably easily have more debt, but you get the point). If the media either doesn't report, the government and/or public doesn't care, and PSLF sticks around until at least 2019, I might then pay off my loans less aggressively so I can take advantage of loan forgiveness (assuming I end up working for a non-profit of course).
I will be graduating from a private school in a few months and my wife potentially wants to be a stay-at-home mom, meaning I have to pay off her debt as well. So what do I do, especially if loan forgiveness might go away? As you said, I get a job, and I pay the loans, and try to keep living modestly. Simple as that!
Hi all, thanks for all your input. It's a confusing process but it helps to read advice from others. I am a 4th yr med student and planning on doing PSLF. I am planning on consolidating my loans as soon as I can and choosing not to have the 6 month Grace period so I can start my IBR payments earlier.
My question is this: how long does it take to get some type of documentation of my required monthly loan payment from my lender after I apply for IBR? I want to buy a house before residency starts but to get approved for a certain Resident Loan the bank offers I need documentation of my monthly repayment amount. Under IBR, I'll qualify for the mortgage because it will be a low monthly payment...I'm just not sure when I can realistically have that documentation in hand.
Perfect scenario: apply for IBR in June, be approved and have documentation from my lender in June/July. Is that possible?
Thanks!
My question is this: how long does it take to get some type of documentation of my required monthly loan payment from my lender after I apply for IBR? I want to buy a house before residency starts but to get approved for a certain Resident Loan the bank offers I need documentation of my monthly repayment amount. Under IBR, I'll qualify for the mortgage because it will be a low monthly payment...I'm just not sure when I can realistically have that documentation in hand.
Perfect scenario: apply for IBR in June, be approved and have documentation from my lender in June/July. Is that possible?
Thanks!
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Ok...is there a chance that for some people
payinG 1/3 tax of 2/3 forgiven loans may become
so expensive that it's not even worth the forgiveness?
Also, as a separate topic, when you sign up for ibr in intern year,
they can verify income in 2 ways: tax return agi
or current pay stub. If you use tax return it will
show likely no income as a med student the year before. This means lower payment.
If you use current pay stub, you'll pay more. So which is correct and how is it accounted
for if you pay more and later on turn in tax return showing you paid too much
in ibr payment??
payinG 1/3 tax of 2/3 forgiven loans may become
so expensive that it's not even worth the forgiveness?
Also, as a separate topic, when you sign up for ibr in intern year,
they can verify income in 2 ways: tax return agi
or current pay stub. If you use tax return it will
show likely no income as a med student the year before. This means lower payment.
If you use current pay stub, you'll pay more. So which is correct and how is it accounted
for if you pay more and later on turn in tax return showing you paid too much
in ibr payment??
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To answer your first question, yes. I don't think it will happen to doctors for a while, because our incomes are still quite high. But there was a recent article in the New York Times about a woman (non-doctor) who has huge student debt and very low income and is doing IBR. Her payments don't come close to the monthly interest. We estimated her loan forgiveness to be approximately $600K and there is no way she could pay the taxes on that.
Loan forgiveness is a recent phenomenon. I don't think we will see actual cases of tax bomb loan forgiveness until 2032 at the earliest.
Loan forgiveness is a recent phenomenon. I don't think we will see actual cases of tax bomb loan forgiveness until 2032 at the earliest.
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But if you probably won't get the IBR foregiveness because you will likely pay off your loan base don the 10-year repayment amount when you are an attending.
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Most likely, but it depends on how much you owe and how much you make. If you're a Pediatrician who earns $90,000 and has $400,000 in debt at the end of residency, you can stay in IBR and will be eligible for some loan forgiveness after 25 years.
Even for those eligible for forgiveness through IBR, I still think it's a really bad idea. You pay a ton more in interest. And then you pay a ton in taxes. To me, IBR forgiveness is a "last ditch" attempt--you only go for it if, say, you quit med school during fourth year and start working as a park ranger (salary ~$30,000, paid mostly in vistas and sunsets
) and will never have a chance to pay of the loans faster. But even then--as we've seen, the tax man cometh when the loans get forgiven...PSLF forgiveness, on the other hand, isn't too bad an idea if you make payments during residency and you wanted to work for a non-profit or VA anyway. The program might disappear, so I'd hedge my bets and pay the 10-year amount, if not a little more. That way if the program disappears your loans are paid off 10 years after residency. But if the program stays, you might save yourself a number of years of payments.
Personally, I'd like to work for a VA, so I'm planning on doing the above. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
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I feel like the more I read about student loan repayment the more confused I become. I have read a lot of the info pages on Nelnet and still can't figure out the best way to go about paying these bad boys back. Here's my situation, which I'm sure is similar to a lot of folks', so a little advice might go a long way:
*Debt: ~205,000, most of it is at 6.8%; about 20K is at 8.5%
*Starting Gsurg Residency in July (Salary ~50K intern year)
*Do NOT plan on working for a non-profit after finishing residency..private practice gsurg in a smaller town is most likely
So my questions are, do I or don't I consolidate?
Is IBR a good option for me?
Basically I know I will be able to make a huge dent in these things when I start practicing, but during residency what is an affordable option that allows me to pay what I can now and then kick it into high gear when I have a real income?
*Debt: ~205,000, most of it is at 6.8%; about 20K is at 8.5%
*Starting Gsurg Residency in July (Salary ~50K intern year)
*Do NOT plan on working for a non-profit after finishing residency..private practice gsurg in a smaller town is most likely
So my questions are, do I or don't I consolidate?
Is IBR a good option for me?
Basically I know I will be able to make a huge dent in these things when I start practicing, but during residency what is an affordable option that allows me to pay what I can now and then kick it into high gear when I have a real income?
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Option 1-IBR so that you are locked into a minimum payment and don't have to rely on your willpower to send payments in on your own
Options 2-Go into residency forbearance but pay what would have been your IBR payment to your 20 K loan. No great reason to consolidate since they don't have many incentives for it now besides reducing the number of lenders you have (if that is an issue) or consolidating with Direct Loans so you can try to do PSLF. With option 2 you reduce your higher interest rate loan preferentially and end up paying less interest overall (unless you have no willpower and don't sen in those checks). The more you pay it down, the more interest money you save with one caveat. During this time interest is accumulating on your other loans and will capitalize yearly. I don't know how the numbers end up to say whether you should try to pay some of that interest down or focus on getting rid of the 20K loan. I feel like stroganoff would know the answer to that.
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Apply for IBR, and then make extra payments above the IBR amount. Ask the lender how to indicate that on your check.
While in IBR your subsidized loan interest will be covered for 3 yrs.
If you do forebearance your interest is immediately capitalized and your subsidized loan interest is not covered. In that regard you will definitely pay more than if you made extra payments on top of your scheduled IBR.
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Thx for the replies! I think I'm going to apply for IBR and pay as much over the minimum per month as I can afford. One detail I am not clear on though -- say I pay $500/mo which is a bit over the minimum payment..can I put it toward the principal of any of the loans (obvi the 8.5% over the 6.8%), or is it somehow allotted automatically? Your guys' words of wisdom is invaluable, its hard to find some of these small details!
Do any of you know if it is reasonable to get these bad boys refinanced later on down the line if you have a strong credit history? That seems to make the most sense to cut down on interest, if it is do-able. Just curious if anyone has done this or heard of someone doing it.
Do any of you know if it is reasonable to get these bad boys refinanced later on down the line if you have a strong credit history? That seems to make the most sense to cut down on interest, if it is do-able. Just curious if anyone has done this or heard of someone doing it.
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You can't refinance student loans. You could use the money from a different loan (such as a home equity loan) to pay it off, but then you lose all benefits of the student loans (death and total disability discharge, in school deferment, any cancellation provisions, the fact that they can't repossess or foreclose on your education if you don't pay).
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Hey guys,
I'm in need of some advice as well. I'm a PGY-1 currently trying to figure out whether or not to file jointly vs married filing separately for taxes. I'm paying the standard repayment (~1000$/month). Our IRB would be the same ($1000/month) if we file together. Is there any benefit in filling separately and going the IRB/PSLF program route? I plan on doing fellowship and non-profit. Anyone have a similar experience? I know there are deduction penalties for filing separately.
I'm in need of some advice as well. I'm a PGY-1 currently trying to figure out whether or not to file jointly vs married filing separately for taxes. I'm paying the standard repayment (~1000$/month). Our IRB would be the same ($1000/month) if we file together. Is there any benefit in filling separately and going the IRB/PSLF program route? I plan on doing fellowship and non-profit. Anyone have a similar experience? I know there are deduction penalties for filing separately.
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As above poster mentioned.
Interest rates are fixed. There is no way to lower them unless congress changes it. Thats the entire issue today - costs are rising and yet interest rates are fixed at 3x mortgage rates.
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I think this needs further clarification. You can only deduct student loan interest if your AGI for single is < $70,000 (start to phase out at AGI between $55,000 to 70,000). For joint return < $140,000 (phase out at 110,000-140,000)
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