Is paying $4,000/month in student loans good enough?

[Prosperity8]

Currently owe $126,000. I am able to squeeze my monthly budget enough to pay $4k/month towards my student loans at 4.5% interest. Is there anyone here paying more than $4,000/month? Should I be content with paying maximum $4,000/month? The only way I can pay more than this is get a second job but I'm so exhausted from my full time retail job. On my 8 days off per month, I just sleep and rest all day to recuperate.

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[PA_dud3]

Currently owe $126,000. I am able to squeeze my monthly budget enough to pay $4k/month towards my student loans at 4.5% interest. Is there anyone here paying more than $4,000/month? Should I be content with paying maximum $4,000/month? The only way I can pay more than this is get a second job but I'm so exhausted from my full time retail job. On my 8 days off per month, I just sleep and rest all day to recuperate.

The common figures I see are in the 3.5k range, so you are doing very well in my opinion.

 

[ranger99rx]

You will be done in 3 years!

 

[BC_89]

Life endeavors like to get in the way. I’d start by getting at least a 3 month emergency savings going while contributing to meet any match your company offers on the 401k.

With all that, if 4K is what you can consistently do then your off to a good start. In the end, you can only tackle what you and your budget can allow. Best of luck.

 

[steveysmith54]

I’d pay less and enjoy life more...

Just my two cents

 

[wagrxm2000]

I’d pay less and enjoy life more...

Just my two cents

How exactly does one enjoy life more right after college? You have barely any vacation time. What exactly do you absolutely have to buy right after college that can't wait 3 to 4 years? OP will be around 27 at that point.

 

[Momus]

You are likely make what? 6500-7000 after taxes. Still leave you with plenty of $. That's 2.5-3k/mo to live on. Some techs live with less than this.

 

[mentos]

I put every last cent into my loans until they were gone and sleep better at night. That's just me.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Definitely advise 3 months emergency fund and contributing 401k to match if you aren't already.

How exactly does one enjoy life more right after college? You have barely any vacation time. What exactly do you absolutely have to buy right after college that can't wait 3 to 4 years? OP will be around 27 at that point.

Hard to believe you're not trolling here...man you must be a lot of fun. Do you never go out after work or on weekends? Also, OP never stated his age IIRC.

OP go out and have a few drinks and dinner with friends or work buddies, go see a movie, go buy yourself a TV if you need it. There's a lot of you can with little money to make your home life more enjoyable too. You're making 6 figures and paying an incredible amount towards debt. Props to you first off. Secondly, you're obviously budgeting wisely and can afford to add a little fun in your life, so budget for some entertainment in your time off. I hope you are taking care of yourself because you sound like you're heading towards being burned out. Strongly advise you to exercise often and keep a good diet, and use those 8 days off to go out and enjoy life (even if that means spending some money). Keep your mental health and physical health in check.

 

[Prosperity8]

I’d pay less and enjoy life more...

Just my two cents

With the deteriorating job market and the way pharmacist are treated by my former big chain employer, I can't honestly enjoy life until I get this monkey off my back. I predict a major job market crash for pharmacist by 2020 so I"m doing everything possible to at least get rid of the student loans debt. Even if they start laying off pharmacists or dropping salary below $50/hr like a few companies are starting to do, i'll still be ok as long as I don't have that massive debt to payoff.

 

[Prosperity8]

Definitely advise 3 months emergency fund and contributing 401k to match if you aren't already.



Hard to believe you're not trolling here...man you must be a lot of fun. Do you never go out after work or on weekends? Also, OP never stated his age IIRC.

OP go out and have a few drinks and dinner with friends or work buddies, go see a movie, go buy yourself a TV if you need it. There's a lot of you can with little money to make your home life more enjoyable too. You're making 6 figures and paying an incredible amount towards debt. Props to you first off. Secondly, you're obviously budgeting wisely and can afford to add a little fun in your life, so budget for some entertainment in your time off. I hope you are taking care of yourself because you sound like you're heading towards being burned out. Strongly advise you to exercise often and keep a good diet, and use those 8 days off to go out and enjoy life (even if that means spending some money). Keep your mental health and physical health in check.

I still set some money aside for fun. Budgeting is an amazing tool to manage life. I set aside only $50/month plus credit card rewards for fun. I pay all my bills with credit cards to earn cash. The reason I'm posting here and asking question is I'm so mentally focused and desperate to payoff my student loans, I feel guilty on my days off about not working a second job to pay even more towards my loans. I'm trying to be mentally happy with paying $4,000 monthly and enjoying my days off.

 

[Prosperity8]

You are likely make what? 6500-7000 after taxes. Still leave you with plenty of $. That's 2.5-3k/mo to live on. Some techs live with less than this.

I make $6,708 after tax. The question is should I work a second job and pay more than $4,000/month? I can't cut my expenses much more to put into my student loans. I could be wrong but I predict in 5 years by 2023, the average pharmacist salary will drop to $35-$40/hr. I'm hoping to get rid of all debts to prepare for this scenario.

 

[Prosperity8]

Life endeavors like to get in the way. I’d start by getting at least a 3 month emergency savings going while contributing to meet any match your company offers on the 401k.

With all that, if 4K is what you can consistently do then your off to a good start. In the end, you can only tackle what you and your budget can allow. Best of luck.

I"ve spent months tweaking my budget and finding discounts on utilities to cut down expenses. I came to the conclusion that I can either be happy with paying $4,000 towards student loans or if I want to pay more, I will need a second job. It's impossible to cut down my expenses any further. I'm just so exhausted on my days off. Working in retail will drain you mentally and physically.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

I still set some money aside for fun. Budgeting is an amazing tool to manage life. I set aside only $50/month plus credit card rewards for fun. I pay all my bills with credit cards to earn cash. The reason I'm posting here and asking question is I'm so mentally focused and desperate to payoff my student loans, I feel guilty on my days off about not working a second job to pay even more towards my loans. I'm trying to be mentally happy with paying $4,000 monthly and enjoying my days off.

4k is an incredible amount per month to put towards debt, and most pharmds would never dream about paying that much. I hear numbers like that from attending physicians.

Smart on you to use credit card churning wisely as well.

Curious where you're living and how COL is. You're doing very well, stay the course and be pleased with 4k/month. Don't ever feel guilty, you need to keep your mental and physical health in order to prevent burn out. That's why I advise going out to dinner and splurging on some beers every now and then.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Definitely advise 3 months emergency fund and contributing 401k to match if you aren't already.



Hard to believe you're not trolling here...man you must be a lot of fun. Do you never go out after work or on weekends? Also, OP never stated his age IIRC.

OP go out and have a few drinks and dinner with friends or work buddies, go see a movie, go buy yourself a TV if you need it. There's a lot of you can with little money to make your home life more enjoyable too. You're making 6 figures and paying an incredible amount towards debt. Props to you first off. Secondly, you're obviously budgeting wisely and can afford to add a little fun in your life, so budget for some entertainment in your time off. I hope you are taking care of yourself because you sound like you're heading towards being burned out. Strongly advise you to exercise often and keep a good diet, and use those 8 days off to go out and enjoy life (even if that means spending some money). Keep your mental health and physical health in check.

You're acting like this costs a ton of money. 48k leaves plenty of money. Again it's only three to four years. Are you telling me budgeting $500 a month strictly for "living life" is not enough.

Man do I love hearing "you must be a lot of fun". One day you will realize all the "fun" you will have if you live correctly.

 

[pezdispenser]

$4k is a pretty good amount. Stay motivated and keep attacking those loans. Once they are gone, the extra $4k in free cash flow will give you so many options and freedom.

If you only have 8 days/mo off then you don't really have time for another job anyway. Just chill and relax.

You don't need to spend money to enjoy life. There are plenty of things to do that are free or very inexpensive.

 

[BC_89]

You don't need to spend money to enjoy life. There are plenty of things to do that are free or very inexpensive.

I concur 100%

One time purchase investments worth a lifetime of memorable hobbies:

1) Fishing (abu Garcia combo rod n reel brand)

2) Hunting (one time fix buy of camos + bow n arrow and yearly stamps)

3) sleeping in on days off with music genre playing in your ears

4) Work out at home or small monthly membership at 24 hr fitness center.

5) bum off someone’s Netflix account for those relaxing evenings while eating frozen “yogurt” can’t-believe-it’s-not-ice-cream brands for $2.99 at your nearest Wal-Mart and/or HEB.

In that order if you’d like

 

[wagrxm2000]

I concur 100%

One time purchase investments worth a lifetime of memorable hobbies:

1) Fishing (abu Garcia combo rod n reel brand)

2) Hunting (one time fix buy of camos + bow n arrow and yearly stamps)

3) sleeping in on days off with music genre playing in your ears

4) Work out at home or small monthly membership at 24 hr fitness center.

5) bum off someone’s Netflix account for those relaxing evenings while eating frozen “yogurt” can’t-believe-it’s-not-ice-cream brands for $2.99 at your nearest Wal-Mart and/or HEB.

In that order if you’d like

@PharmDBro2017 , see above

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

How exactly does one enjoy life more right after college? You have barely any vacation time. What exactly do you absolutely have to buy right after college that can't wait 3 to 4 years? OP will be around 27 at that point.

I've been out of school for 5 years.

I've taken several week-long vacations to different places, averaging two to three per year.

You're only young for a very short time.

 

[wagrxm2000]

I've been out of school for 5 years.

I've taken several week-long vacations to different places, averaging two to three per year.

You're only young for a very short time.

And how much did each cost?

You are only getting one week with Walgreens anyways your first year.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

And how much did each cost?
You are only getting one week with Walgreens anyways your first year.

Oh, the way you describe Walgreens I'd expected more

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

And how much did each cost?

You are only getting one week with Walgreens anyways your first year.

How much vacation does Walgreens offer at 5 and 10 years?

 

[wagrxm2000]

Oh, the way you describe Walgreens I'd expected more

That didn't answer how much your vacations cost.

You can't possibly be taking 10k vacations are you?

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

That didn't answer how much your vacations cost.

You can't possibly be taking 10k vacations are you?

It isn't hard to rack up 10k for vacation. For 2 adults to South Africa or Tanzania for Safari/kilimanjaro and guided trek with airfair is easily 10k. It all all depends on the trip. Peru, Nepal, multiweek European trip, Australia/NZ, ski trip to Swiss Alps, etc. Try to get out of the country once a year.

Not saying you should do these things until you can afford them but just pointing out it is easy to drop 10k on international adventure trips

There are lots of fun destinations in US that make for much cheaper vacations: national parks, ski trips, NOLA, etc

 

[wagrxm2000]

It isn't hard to rack up 10k for vacation. For 2 adults to South Africa or Tanzania for Safari/kilimanjaro and guided trek with airfair is easily 10k. It all all depends on the trip. Peru, Nepal, multiweek European trip, Australia/NZ, ski trip to Swiss Alps, etc. Try to get out of the country once a year.

Not saying you should do these things until you can afford them but just pointing out it is easy to drop 10k on international adventure trips

There are lots of fun destinations in US that make for much cheaper vacations: national parks, ski trips, NOLA, etc

Exactly, you don't need to do a safari right after you graduate. It's not going to kill anyone to take cheaper vacations for three years. You guys are acting like after turning 28, your body falls apart.

 

[Modest_anteater]

With the deteriorating job market and the way pharmacist are treated by my former big chain employer, I can't honestly enjoy life until I get this monkey off my back. I predict a major job market crash for pharmacist by 2020 so I"m doing everything possible to at least get rid of the student loans debt. Even if they start laying off pharmacists or dropping salary below $50/hr like a few companies are starting to do, i'll still be ok as long as I don't have that massive debt to payoff.

. You best start believing in a pharmacy job market crash Miss Prosperity. You're in one!

 

[TerryTerry]

Did you honestly expect someone to say it`s not good enough?
You are clearly fully aware of what paying $4000 a month means to yourself and others.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Did you honestly expect someone to say it`s not good enough?
You are clearly fully aware of what paying $4000 a month means to yourself and others.

Or OP was genuinely wanting to know

 

[trailerpark]

I wish any of these "student loan payment posts", the OP would state the percentage of their income they're using for loan repayment. I'm salaried at 80 hours/60+ an hour so If I pay 4,000 a month I still have a little over 2K to live on which is plenty for a single person, but I keep hearing all these stories of new grad offers that are low 50s/max 32 hours per week floating and then a 4K loan payment seems a lot less doable, especially with kids or a stay at home partner.

 

[wagrxm2000]

I wish any of these "student loan payment posts", the OP would state the percentage of their income they're using for loan repayment. I'm salaried at 80 hours/60+ an hour so If I pay 4,000 a month I still have a little over 2K to live on which is plenty for a single person, but I keep hearing all these stories of new grad offers that are low 50s/max 32 hours per week floating and then a 4K loan payment seems a lot less doable, especially with kids or a stay at home partner.

OP stated $6708 after taxes

 

[Prosperity8]

Did you honestly expect someone to say it`s not good enough?
You are clearly fully aware of what paying $4000 a month means to yourself and others.

I personally know one friend paying $7,000/month towards his loans and another paying $6,000/month. They both worked a lot of overtime and extra shifts.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

You're acting like this costs a ton of money. 48k leaves plenty of money. Again it's only three to four years. Are you telling me budgeting $500 a month strictly for "living life" is not enough.

Man do I love hearing "you must be a lot of fun". One day you will realize all the "fun" you will have if you live correctly.

@PharmDBro2017 , see above

I'm all for fun activities that don't cost money (nature hikes, car trips to national parks, fishing, hunting (licensing though), etc.

I was making the point that the health and vitality you have when you're in the 20s/30s doesn't last forever (especially if you're burning yourself out at work), and that spending some money going to a bar with friends every few weeks is not the end of the world nor does it uproot your debt repayment plan. Just because you'll be debt free in your 40s/50s with plenty of money doesn't always mean that you can enjoy it the same way.

 

[GypsyHummus]

As someone who isn’t a pharamacist, but has student loans, if this were me, I would pay off as quickly as possible. No fun for 2-3 years until the debt is gone.

People may think “oh, I’ll just pay it off in 20 years while still going on nice vacations and such” but nobody can predict the future. What happens if something comes up and you can’t work full time anymore? Or at all? What happens if the pharmacy you worked at closes and you can’t find a job anywhere near you for a year? That interest keeps accruing.

Op, I personally think you are making a smart move. As long as you can continue to work and pay off the debt and not get burned out (40 hour workweeks ant terrible), that’s what I would do.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Debt reduction is never a bad idea. Make sure you are maxing out to 401k match at the very least. Do not give up free money!!!

I'm just curious...would anyone else like to have a separate financial subforum on here? I think it would be a good idea. We could have threads for all of the overarching subjects. I don't mean the one on SDN already, I mean one just for pharmacists.

 

[wagrxm2000]

I'm all for fun activities that don't cost money (nature hikes, car trips to national parks, fishing, hunting (licensing though), etc.

I was making the point that the health and vitality you have when you're in the 20s/30s doesn't last forever (especially if you're burning yourself out at work), and that spending some money going to a bar with friends every few weeks is not the end of the world nor does it uproot your debt repayment plan. Just because you'll be debt free in your 40s/50s with plenty of money doesn't always mean that you can enjoy it the same way.

I just feel you are overestimating the cost of going to the bar. You take out unnecessary costs like a brand new car, etc and it's not that hard

 

[Chrish]

Contribute up to your comapny’s 401k match then throw every penny toward loan if possible. Live like a hermit for 2-3 years. Buy cheap car and modest home.

You truly start making money only when you are debt free.

 

[BMBiology]

Debt reduction is never a bad idea. Make sure you are making out to 401k match at the very least. Do not give up free money!!!

I'm just curious...would anyone else like to have a separate financial subforum on here? I think it would be a good idea. We could have threads for all of the overarching subjects. I don't mean the one on SDN already, I mean one just for pharmacists.

Not a good idea. There won’t be as much traffic to a pharmacy financial subforum since most people are causal readers.

There are plenty of financial forum if you want to dig into it like boglehead. I don’t read as much there because most of them are too conservative for me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[rph3664]

At this rate, you'll get them paid off in less than 3 years. Keep it going as long as you can.

 

[shiba15]

I agree, if you can keep it up even for another year you'll be done in no time. Everything you earn after that will be yours instead of seeing the big paycheck only to have a disappear into loans month after month.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

I've been out of school for 5 years.

I've taken several week-long vacations to different places, averaging two to three per year.

You're only young for a very short time.

Same, I average one international and two domestic trips a year. Don't regret a penny I've spent. However, I churn credit cards for airline and hotel points so my costs are heavily subsidized.

 

[GrandTheftAutumn]

4K/month is pretty impressive to me.
I'm a new grad with about 145K loan and planning on paying off about 3K per month.
I'm a 64 hour/2 weeks floater but I get 80 hours or OT from time to time.
I'll slow down after a year or two; just wanna get the big chunk of loans to get the interest burden down.
Probably will refinance someday for better interest rate.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Do what you feel is right, not what people on a forum tell you to do.

I would never work hard for 3 straight years just to try and pay off my loans quickly. You can NEVER buy back your youth.

 

[sozetone]

I make $6,708 after tax. The question is should I work a second job and pay more than $4,000/month? I can't cut my expenses much more to put into my student loans. I could be wrong but I predict in 5 years by 2023, the average pharmacist salary will drop to $35-$40/hr. I'm hoping to get rid of all debts to prepare for this scenario.

why are you guys so worried? it was and still is predatory lending. Look, If they were not aware of the problem, they are now and do nothing about it? why? In 2009 the 4-5 lenders BACKED out of loaning to medical professions in Florida. Was sallie mae, Chase, BOA, and a few others. They just stopped and everything went through DIRECT GOV lending. You know why right? They didn't want the loans on them anymore, they saw the problem coming, and dumped the debt on the government......by about 2008.

My advice, defer as long as you can, do not default, enjoy your life. It's short, fast and simply put, flies by.

P.S when i realized the cost of loans in 2008 (my start year) i knew I would Never pay these off in my lifetime. Or maybe decided I wouldnt ....lol either way, they get what they get. This balloon will pop at some piont soon.

 

[sozetone]

Do what you feel is right, not what people on a forum tell you to do.

I would never work hard for 3 straight years just to try and pay off my loans quickly. You can NEVER buy back your youth.

AGREED!

 

[sozetone]

I personally know one friend paying $7,000/month towards his loans and another paying $6,000/month. They both worked a lot of overtime and extra shifts.

I'm sorry , but thats not in the cards for me. too much sacrifice.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Idk if I would not pay it off. While I think there is gonna be something down the pipeline that eases the burden (perhaps like incentives to pay it off, maybe tax credits?) I doubt the gov will fully forgive student loans. It’s non dischargeble debt that will follow you forever at 6-7% interest.

Plus, I think it depends on how much you took out. Most pharmacists working full time make around 110-120k/year (about 70-85k take home depending on taxes). I could see where 200k+ debt would be really hard to manage on that salary, but 100k or even 150k in debt a Pharmacist should be able to knock out in 5 years or less if you grind.

I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request for someone to pay off the debt they owe that they took out in their own free will.

why are you guys so worried? it was and still is predatory lending. Look, If they were not aware of the problem, they are now and do nothing about it? why? In 2009 the 4-5 lenders BACKED out of loaning to medical professions in Florida. Was sallie mae, Chase, BOA, and a few others. They just stopped and everything went through DIRECT GOV lending. You know why right? They didn't want the loans on them anymore, they saw the problem coming, and dumped the debt on the government......by about 2008.

My advice, defer as long as you can, do not default, enjoy your life. It's short, fast and simply put, flies by.

P.S when i realized the cost of loans in 2008 (my start year) i knew I would Never pay these off in my lifetime. Or maybe decided I wouldnt ....lol either way, they get what they get. This balloon will pop at some piont soon.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Do what you feel is right, not what people on a forum tell you to do.

I would never work hard for 3 straight years just to try and pay off my loans quickly. You can NEVER buy back your youth.

I agree with this. For me, it's not worth working that hard to pay off my loans ASAP.

why are you guys so worried? it was and still is predatory lending. Look, If they were not aware of the problem, they are now and do nothing about it? why? In 2009 the 4-5 lenders BACKED out of loaning to medical professions in Florida. Was sallie mae, Chase, BOA, and a few others. They just stopped and everything went through DIRECT GOV lending. You know why right? They didn't want the loans on them anymore, they saw the problem coming, and dumped the debt on the government......by about 2008.

My advice, defer as long as you can, do not default, enjoy your life. It's short, fast and simply put, flies by.

P.S when i realized the cost of loans in 2008 (my start year) i knew I would Never pay these off in my lifetime. Or maybe decided I wouldnt ....lol either way, they get what they get. This balloon will pop at some piont soon.

But I wouldn't go to this extreme either. I paid mine (~150K) of in 10 years. Highest->lowest interest. Yeah it felt great, but I'm glad I did a residency and didn't defer 2 Caribbean trips, smaller trips, having kids, funding their 529s, buying a house, remodeling said house, funding retirement accounts on target and not stressing about money. That is a hell of a lot more than most people can say, so I feel extremely fortunate to have this career.

If I had had higher interest loans I would have paid more aggressively than I did, but not at the expense of all else. I had a life threatening illness in that time (I'm better) and would have been pissed if I hadn't enjoyed myself.

 

[sozetone]

Idk if I would not pay it off. While I think there is gonna be something down the pipeline that eases the burden (perhaps like incentives to pay it off, maybe tax credits?) I doubt the gov will fully forgive student loans. It’s non dischargeble debt that will follow you forever at 6-7% interest.

Plus, I think it depends on how much you took out. Most pharmacists working full time make around 110-120k/year (about 70-85k take home depending on taxes). I could see where 200k+ debt would be really hard to manage on that salary, but 100k or even 150k in debt a Pharmacist should be able to knock out in 5 years or less if you grind.

I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request for someone to pay off the debt they owe that they took out in their own free will.

If it were 15 or so years ago when loans were a helping hand, tuition was reasonable, sure! pay it right off. I feel they have been Cashing in on pharmacy students (and others) for quite some time. They get what they get by me.

 

[wagrxm2000]

People keep talking about youth but continue to not say what OP is missing out on.

You can still take vacations and go to the bar (only examples so far) and pay that much a month.

Are people really forgetting that OP could pick up just one shift and pay for an entire months worth of rent with roommates? (Not California probably) or just live at home.

 

[PharmtoCS]

To each their own, but I would personally feel more at ease about being able to sleep at night by having my loans paid off. This would improve my quality of life far more than staying at 5 star resorts.