just made my last loan payment...

[old_boy]

~$200k in debt when I finished med school, just made my last loan payment today, 17 months after finishing residency. Bittersweet. Ok, mostly sweet.

For those of you still struggling, it can be done!! Moonlighting a ton during residency and living like a resident since graduation works!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WalkingCorpse]

Congrats! Must feel good. Can't wait to be at that point in a few years.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[AlmostAnMD]

That has to feel like busting the biggest nut

congrats

 

[RustedFox]

Yep. I hate you.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Well done! Enjoy the rest of your financially awesome life! (and send me a guest post.)

 

[goodoldalky]

Very impressive. Congrats!!

 

[shoal007]

nice job. now wishing id have paid it down instead of waiting 5 more years for pslf

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[old_boy]

Thanks everyone! I considered PSLF and IBR, initial plan was IBR but with the ability to "flex up" and work more in our specialty I wanted to just get it done. I've seen too many people with debt that ties people to jobs they dislike and limits freedom. I plowed moonlighting money into loans as a resident and paid off the remaining amount month-by-month since graduation, still maxing out 401k/403b. The trick (obviously) was to keep spending low (well below $5k a month) and work lots of shifts. I've been working in the range of 180-200 clinical hours / month for the last 3 years. Too much. Plan is to cut back to a more normal level of work with this millstone around my neck gone. No house, no kids helps. For friends with mortgages and nannies to pay, this sort of aggressive loan repayment may not be feasible.

 

[bravotwozero]

Thanks everyone! I considered PSLF and IBR, initial plan was IBR but with the ability to "flex up" and work more in our specialty I wanted to just get it done. I've seen too many people with debt that ties people to jobs they dislike and limits freedom. I plowed moonlighting money into loans as a resident and paid off the remaining amount month-by-month since graduation, still maxing out 401k/403b. The trick (obviously) was to keep spending low (well below $5k a month) and work lots of shifts. I've been working in the range of 180-200 clinical hours / month for the last 3 years. Too much. Plan is to cut back to a more normal level of work with this millstone around my neck gone. No house, no kids helps. For friends with mortgages and nannies to pay, this sort of aggressive loan repayment may not be feasible.

Congrats and strong work. I'm on track to be hopefully debt free in a year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gman33]

nice job. now wishing id have paid it down instead of waiting 5 more years for pslf

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Especially since the republicans will get rid of it.

 

[SansaStarkMD]

Especially since the republicans will get rid of it.

We can only hope. How about all of those Caribbean grads not matching? We can't afford that.

 

[shoal007]

id have no problem paying the full amt. but the 6.8 % is highway robbery. might as well play the game.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[MSUSpartan642]

Just curious as to your salary to pay down your loans so aggressively? I'm going to try and do the same when I'm done.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[link2swim06]

id have no problem paying the full amt. but the 6.8 % is highway robbery. might as well play the game.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Refinance the day after you graduate from med school.

It's about 30 minutes to save about $30,000.

 

[shoal007]

Refinance the day after you graduate from med school.

It's about 30 minutes to save about $30,000.

yes i did begin the process but sofi declined as my loans were in ibr, said they couldnt do it. i ran the numbers 60k saving from refinancing, 120k savings from pslf.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[BoardingDoc]

yes i did begin the process but sofi declined as my loans were in ibr, said they couldnt do it

Maybe sofi is different, but I refinanced my loans with DRB while I was in IBR without any issue. Are you sure it was because you were in IBR and not because of other reasons (e.g. poor credit, very high debt/income ratio etc)?

 

[shoal007]

i asked them why. that is what they told me. i have a credit score over 800.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[goodoldalky]

i asked them why. that is what they told me. i have a credit score over 800.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Odd, you should be able to refinance while in IBR, you just cannot continue IBR, you will have to accept a standard plan of repayment (you basically can choose from 5/10 year fixed/variable terms). Depending on the amount of your loan, term, and interest rate this is probably a minimum payment of several thousand a month. It may be that your projected required payment and current debt to income ratio disqualify you. I certainly could not have afforded the monthly payment after a refinance in residency.

 

[link2swim06]

Odd, you should be able to refinance while in IBR, you just cannot continue IBR, you will have to accept a standard plan of repayment (you basically can choose from 5/10 year fixed/variable terms). Depending on the amount of your loan, term, and interest rate this is probably a minimum payment of several thousand a month. It may be that your projected required payment and current debt to income ratio disqualify you. I certainly could not have afforded the monthly payment after a refinance in residency.

DRB only charges you $100/mo in residency, regardless of your total balance. Which hopefully most residents could afford.

 

[old_boy]

Just curious as to your salary to pay down your loans so aggressively? I'm going to try and do the same when I'm done.

PM Sent

 

[gamerEMdoc]

I'm a big proponenet of investing as early as possible, but at an interest rate of 6.8%, priority #1 should be to pay that off as soon as possible. I'd still max out my 401k with pretax contributions, but other than that, all other extra cash flow would go to that debt until it was paid down, with a goal of 3-4 years. At 50k a year, you'd be done, and then you can move in to investing that money.

In the end, if you make 300,000-400,000, and you have a net income after taxes of like 250,000 or more, just live on 150,000-200,000. Its not hard to do. That's still a boat load of money. And invest the rest in either paying down high interest debt, and saving for retirement.

 

[old_boy]

In the end, if you make 300,000-400,000, and you have a net income after taxes of like 250,000 or more, just live on 150,000-200,000. Its not hard to do. That's still a boat load of money. And invest the rest in either paying down high interest debt, and saving for retirement.

This has been discussed ad-nauseam in previous threads, but taking the mid-range of your income, at $350k/yr, in my high-tax state take-home pay after pretax deferment/hsa and taxes is closer to 50%, call it $175k/yr not the $250k you mention. Still, I agree with your point.

 

[deleted547339]

This has been discussed ad-nauseam in previous threads, but taking the mid-range of your income, at $350k/yr, in my high-tax state take-home pay after pretax deferment/hsa and taxes is closer to 50%, call it $175k/yr not the $250k you mention. Still, I agree with your point.

So move.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

This has been discussed ad-nauseam in previous threads, but taking the mid-range of your income, at $350k/yr, in my high-tax state take-home pay after pretax deferment/hsa and taxes is closer to 50%, call it $175k/yr not the $250k you mention. Still, I agree with your point.

Yeah, it all depends where you work and what you make obviously. I was just making a generalization. Max out the 401K (17K) and then set aside 50K a year to pay down your school debt, then invest once your loans are gone in 4 years. By 60, you'll be doing well for yourself.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

So move.

Why? Everyone's situation is different. If you have no wife or kids, I'd be living in a freaking paradise regardless of taxes. When you have to account for others relying on you, investing for your kids college, etc... then living in a small town to make more money, or a state with a lower income tax, becomes a bigger attraction.

There is no one size fits all job for everyone.

 

[deleted547339]

Why? Everyone's situation is different. If you have no wife or kids, I'd be living in a freaking paradise regardless of taxes. When you have to account for others relying on you, investing for your kids college, etc... then living in a small town to make more money, or a state with a lower income tax, becomes a bigger attraction.

There is no one size fits all job for everyone.

Because working for the government 6 months out of the year is insane.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Because working for the government 6 months out of the year is insane.

Oh I agree, but everyone is different, everyone has different priorities. I agree with you though, I'm all about maximizing income and minimizing tax burden. But I acknowledge that there are some people that honestly don't care that they pay 50% of their income to the govt if it means living by the beach.

 

[link2swim06]

I'm a big proponenet of investing as early as possible, but at an interest rate of 6.8%, priority #1 should be to pay that off as soon as possible. I'd still max out my 401k with pretax contributions, but other than that, all other extra cash flow would go to that debt until it was paid down, with a goal of 3-4 years. At 50k a year, you'd be done, and then you can move in to investing that money.

In the end, if you make 300,000-400,000, and you have a net income after taxes of like 250,000 or more, just live on 150,000-200,000. Its not hard to do. That's still a boat load of money. And invest the rest in either paying down high interest debt, and saving for retirement.

Nobody should be paying this interest rate. If so...then someone else should probably be managing your money.

 

[deleted77919]

…

 

[EDParallax]

I refinanced with commonbond 250 k after I had two pay checks in hand. Maybe if you had an offer letter you could also do this.

6.8% interest on government loans was standard when many of us were in medical school.

I refinanced down to 2.5% on a 5 year variable. Not for everyone, but so far so good for me. It's even cheaper (actual 2.25%) with the 0.25% off for electronic debit.

Commonbond was easily one percentage point lower than drb, sofi and keybank. So I went with them. No cosigner. Good credit.

I was in PSLF with IBR during residency but leaving academics meant no more PSLF.

My only regret is that I forgot to use the code from Whitecoat. =) =)

10% to retirement funds, soon to be 15%. Gotta make up for lost time. I could pay my loan faster, and may do that, but was also thinking about letting it ride for the 5 years and do other things with money.

Sent from my SM-G920T using SDN mobile

 

[zyx189]

How much of your loans were you able to pay off while moonlighting as a resident? Was it worth doing that vs. spending an extra month or two as an attending to pay off loans instead? I will be graduating w/ just under 100k in loans and was thinking of possibly refinancing at a rate of 2.13-2.53% for a 5-10 year repayment plan. Loan forgiveness does not make sense given my level of debt as it will be paid off w/i 10 years so trying to find the least painful way of paying things off.

 

[woodhorse22]

I also just made my last and final payment on my $270K loan in 14 months. It was very tough but I just wanted to be done with them. Its definitely a load off my shoulders.

 

[Janders]

How much of your loans were you able to pay off while moonlighting as a resident? Was it worth doing that vs. spending an extra month or two as an attending to pay off loans instead? I will be graduating w/ just under 100k in loans and was thinking of possibly refinancing at a rate of 2.13-2.53% for a 5-10 year repayment plan. Loan forgiveness does not make sense given my level of debt as it will be paid off w/i 10 years so trying to find the least painful way of paying things off.

I think this is a very individual decision.

I believe there is a spectrum-- someone with 300k of loans at 6-7%, I would encourage to live in a low cost of living area if feasible, and hit those loans with moonlighting as a resident.
If you have 100k or LESS of loans, and have them at a loan interest rate (<3%)... well I might be understanding if you wanted to have an occasional weekend off as a resident, and/or use your moonlighting money to fund some retirement plans or even a reasonable vacation during residency. While I am a huge believer in saving and living below your means-- I think some take it too far, and miss our on opportunities to enjoy themselves /family. Strike the right balance if you can!

 

[brk81144]

I think this is a very individual decision.

I believe there is a spectrum-- someone with 300k of loans at 6-7%, I would encourage to live in a low cost of living area if feasible, and hit those loans with moonlighting as a resident.
If you have 100k or LESS of loans, and have them at a loan interest rate (<3%)... well I might be understanding if you wanted to have an occasional weekend off as a resident, and/or use your moonlighting money to fund some retirement plans or even a reasonable vacation during residency. While I am a huge believer in saving and living below your means-- I think some take it too far, and miss our on opportunities to enjoy themselves /family. Strike the right balance if you can!

Im on track to pay off 340k in 5 years. Could be doing it faster but as mentioned above I enjoy balance and my family. I'm easily able to max retirement accounts, new car, new house and save. It's doable and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything

 

[bravotwozero]

If you can live like a resident for a year or two and pay off the loans, then you can likely do so for another two and buy a house mortgage free - that would be something.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Welker]

Buy a house mortgage free? That Would be something...

 

[coachB]

Buy a house mortgage free? That Would be something...

Something incredibly stupid given current interest rates and tax law.

 

[winkleweizen]

Something incredibly stupid given current interest rates and tax law.

Yeah, says I passed and to click here to see the result. When I click there it takes me to a web page with my personal info