Loan deferment...question for residents

[txlioness]

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I recall hearing that loans for podiatry graduates will not be deferred during residency.

If that is still true, how are you new residents going about getting those deferred? I heard that you still can but I wasn't sure if that was true or rumor.

Is there a website or source I can go to, to find out some info? I will be graduating in June so I kinda want to know what my next step is.

 

[densmore22]

I recall hearing that loans for podiatry graduates will not be deferred during residency.

If that is still true, how are you new residents going about getting those deferred? I heard that you still can but I wasn't sure if that was true or rumor.

Is there a website or source I can go to, to find out some info? I will be graduating in June so I kinda want to know what my next step is.

Loans for all medical graduates can no longer be deferred. You have to meet the criteria which is based on salary and all that crapola. Basically as a resident you make too much money (you're above the poverty line essentially) and cannot defer. You can forebear your loans, but they will still acrue interest. Personally, I'm paying my loans back. My wife has a good job and it's around $1200/month (including my undergrad loans) so we can swing it. If you decide to pay them off, then call your loan servicer because there's options for graduate extended payoff that lowers your monthly cost, you can change the timing anytime with no penalty and you can pay off your loans early with no penalty. This is the option I have done which is why my payment is relatively low (considering with interest I'm well over 250K). The average single resident, however, would not be able to swing it. Your school, by federal law, has to provide you information about loan payoff/consolidation/options/etc before you graduate. You can always contact your fin aid dept or there's a government website that goes over all options. This is the website I started with, you can google and there's others out there too.

https://www.dl.ed.gov/borrower/BorrowerWelcomePage.jsp

 

[hightower]

There is a new program called something like "Income based repayment" where your payment amount is adjusted to how much income you have. As long as the scale is reasonable I think this could be even better than deferment because you will start paying some of your loan off instead of letting it accrue even more interest. And at the same time you won't be giving up half your residency paycheck to your loan payment. It seems most residencies pay in the 40-50K range which is enough to survive on in most areas of the country even with a small loan payment each month.

 

[Sig Savant]

Is salary taxed during residency? Someone told me that it is an educational stipend and is taxed less than normal salary, any truth to that?

 

[347932]

Is salary taxed during residency? Someone told me that it is an educational stipend and is taxed less than normal salary, any truth to that?

It is still taxable, although there are currently some law suits where the argument has been made that residents should not pay FICA taxes and those of us in residency between 1995 and 2005 may actually get our FICA taxes returned to us if the suit is successful.

I'm not sure what the current standard is however.

 

[Feli]

As was mentioned, you use Intern/Residency forbearance which has to be done anually. You can pay the interest or even make payments if you like, though.