Loan question

Started by nafcillin
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On one hand: A rational discussion of the relative merits of legal/valid repayment strategies.

On the other hand: ZOMG You are all doing it wrong if you have ANY debt for ANY reason, if you have debt you will be a wage slave forever, especially once the government screws you.

It is just so hard to know who to believe. 😕
 
owlegrad said:
On one hand: A rational discussion of the relative merits of legal/valid repayment strategies.

On the other hand: ZOMG You are all doing it wrong if you have ANY debt for ANY reason, if you have debt you will be a wage slave forever, especially once the government screws you.

It is just so hard to know who to believe. 😕
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Lol you have been seriously upping your game this month esp as evidenced by prepharm forums

😀👍
 
All4MyDaughter said:
I don't think you understand alimony...
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I don't think he understands the idea of hope versus preparation/hedging.

Sure I hope that forgiveness goes away and that I will be rich and retired next month.

But that is probably not likely.. so I PLAN for every possible contingency. . The fact that the time scale is so long means you don't have to rely on hope at all. You just implement a variety of hedges/backup plans.. that is called being worry-free ..

If you become rich or have the opportunity to avoid taxes or payments. . That is great.

If you stay poor either in reality or on paper.. ibr has you covered.. that is also great (compared to paying loan back in full)

There is no need for some type of mystical/improbable/possible salvation. You either pay less and get forgiveness, pay less and and leave the system before you come close to paying it all back, or you succeed in life financially and either have no worries about the loan or are able to retire and get out.
 
Wait a minute..aren't you the same guy who thought he would get in-state tuition? Aren't you the same guy who put medical bills on his student loans? Now you are telling us how to retire at 55? Keep on dreaming
 
BMBiology said:
Wait a minute..aren't you the same guy who thought he would get in-state tuition? Aren't you the same guy who put medical bills on his student loans? Now you are telling us how to retire at 55? Keep on dreaming
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Those were all choices made on my part w/ advisement by financial planner/accountant

The in state thing was due to taking some out of state internships , opportunities I would not have had near my school. (Hospital, nuclear, etc)

Putting medical bills on student loans was a decision made to keep my credit rating high for business and homebuying purposes. Getting student loan money that I never intend to pay back was a no brainer compared to a bankruptcy at the beginning of my professional career.

And my goal is to retire at age 45 .. if I had to wait to age 55 .. wouldnt be too bad but I am considering retirement to include working say, 15-20 hrs/week on my businesses.

Given my goals and plans.. and that pharmacy school debt is more or less incidental (12% additional tax on reportable US irs income) .. the out of state tuition and free medical care were solid choices. And have enabled me to have expanded job options, and looking at buying my first house already.

Considering I have non pharmacy income streams established already and am on track to retire probably decades before wage/debt slaves .. I don't regret anything at this point.
 
All4MyDaughter said:
type b... I'm more sure than ever that someone has a crush on you! :laugh:
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Well one other thing is that my accountant thinks along the same lines as me... are we both ******ed? I guess you might say that on initial observation..

Bmb is just jealous like all people who aren't mentally prepared to go it alone and make their own rules.. I am not saying I am jobs, zuckerberg, etc .. just.. you look at every financially independent person out there (many of my family and friends and no I did not get an inheritance) .. they all have something in common.. they were not afraid to think outside the box.. take large risks.. and refuse to play by the standard rulebook.

It is scary sometimes , especially when revenue is at a trickle or you are overexposed to risk .. but those are something you just deal with and move forward .. student debt was the safest way to stay solvent immediate term (colloquial definition) .. better than selling off capital investments and tanking my business when student loans have no real short or long term impact considering the ****ing situation the us govt has gotten itself into with the ludicrous lending practices. . A good way to stay financially successful is to let other entities take the losses if you don't have to.. unethical? I'm not entirely sure.. if it is then I guess I can live with that. One thing for sure though, it is the capitalistic way of life . Thankful to be born In the us but I probably won't be staying here lol. Globalization can't be stopped
 
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That's ok do w/e you want. Hope doesn't discharge your student loan, you'll pay either way whatever strategy you think you cook to outsmart the government LOL. Question is pay now or pay later.
 
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All4MyDaughter said:
Personally, I don't think California housing prices are anything to be proud of. Paying $300,000 for a little condo that looks like a student's apartment? No thanks.
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Psh, that's a bargain. I'd be happy to pay $300k for a little condo that looks like my old college dorm (disclaimer: my old college dorms/apartments were considered luxurious and won some architectural award).

http://realestate.sfgate.com/sales/...-folsom-st-south-beach-san-francisco-ca-94107

PS I didn't even pick the most expensive listing for "shock" value, harrowing...
 
off topic, but has any of you guys just got an e-mail that your directloans is being sold to another company e.g Greatlakes? These things happen with mortgages alot to free up cash to make loans to the next guy, but wouldn't think the government has that problem, especially since the current loan is at 6.8%, selling it to to another company who must charge a fee or at a discounted rate just to issue another loan at a lower interest rate?
 
xiphoid2010 said:
off topic, but has any of you guys just got an e-mail that your directloans is being sold to another company e.g Greatlakes? These things happen with mortgages alot to free up cash to make loans to the next guy, but wouldn't think the government has that problem, especially since the current loan is at 6.8%, selling it to to another company who must charge a fee or at a discounted rate just to issue another loan at a lower interest rate?
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Mine all started out at great lakes :shrug:
 
My loans are all serviced by Nelnet, everything got switched over right before graduation this year. I have been able to choose which of the accounts I pay off first so when I submit a payment, I just allocate to the higher interest and higher principal ones on my own. Not sure how it will change once I am out of my grace period and enroll in the autopay though. I had about 72k (including interest) at graduation, and have now paid down to just over 66k with almost all the interest paid off and a little off the top on the principal on some of the larger accounts. Attended state school for both undergrad and grad and had very little loans from undergrad thanks to scholarships.
 
confettiflyer said:
Psh, that's a bargain. I'd be happy to pay $300k for a little condo that looks like my old college dorm (disclaimer: my old college dorms/apartments were considered luxurious and won some architectural award).

http://realestate.sfgate.com/sales/...-folsom-st-south-beach-san-francisco-ca-94107

PS I didn't even pick the most expensive listing for "shock" value, harrowing...
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Oh my. I will take my 3500 sq foot all brick 5 Bdr/4 bath with a huge yard... for a lot less than that. Pics on FB.
 
Jibby321 said:
While in school is it better to put money towards intrest or principle?
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The short answer: it doesn't matter too much. Most likely your interest is compounded (added) to the principle daily. Whenever you can, put money towards your principle.

Just remember loans like Gradplus also have "origination fee" of 4.2% (one time fee to borrow the loan) so if you borrowed $100, only $95.8 will be disbursed to you.
 
BMBiology said:
The short answer: it doesn't matter too much. Most likely your interest is compounded (added) to the principle daily. Whenever you can, put money towards your principle.

Just remember loans like Gradplus also have "origination fee" of 4.2% (one time fee to borrow the loan) so if you borrowed $100, only $95.8 will be disbursed to you.
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Okay.

I'm not doing grad plus. Just fed unsub. And I'm taking just the minimum to cover tuition.
 
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confettiflyer said:
Psh, that's a bargain. I'd be happy to pay $300k for a little condo that looks like my old college dorm (disclaimer: my old college dorms/apartments were considered luxurious and won some architectural award).

http://realestate.sfgate.com/sales/...-folsom-st-south-beach-san-francisco-ca-94107

PS I didn't even pick the most expensive listing for "shock" value, harrowing...
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Its stuff like this that make me wonder why people want to live there. Just think about the property tax on that.... Per bankrate calculator, I would have to be paid 85% more to maintain my standard of living in San Fran. 😱
 
xiphoid2010 said:
Its stuff like this that make me wonder why people want to live there. Just think about the property tax on that.... Per bankrate calculator, I would have to be paid 85% more to maintain my standard of living in San Fran. 😱
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we're being flooded with silicon valley money... you should see the # of highrises popping up, can't drive more than a block without running into a construction zone.

this is why i take a boat!
 
confettiflyer said:
we're being flooded with silicon valley money... you should see the # of highrises popping up, can't drive more than a block without running into a construction zone.

this is why i take a boat!
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Sure, I can see the venture capital pushing up incomes of IT geeks by 85% in Cali, but unless pharmacists are paid $100/hr in San Fran, they are just being screwed over by the high cost of living. 🙁 the nice weather might be worth something but ain't THAT much in my book.
 
My total loan amount is $185k.
114k is at 6.5% (that is my new consolidated interest rate). 25year payment= $750/month
The rest is at 3%. 25year payment= $420/month

$1170 isn't actually a terrible payment for 25 years. Since this rate is locked in, we also have to consider wage inflation is going to make the payment look smaller every year. (My current job gets at least a 2.5% wage adjustment every year, it is written in the union contract). As an example, at that rate of wage increase, I will be making over $16k more after 5 years. For this reason, I don't plan on paying off my 3.0% interest loan early.

For my 6.5% interest loans, I am just doing double payments-- and throwing any bonus money/tax refunds into the principle. With double payments, the whole 25 year loan will be paid in 8 years with a total interest paid of 32k. To me, that is a reasonable number I can swallow.

In the meantime, I am still picking up extra Saturday shifts on a 2nd job and trying to save enough for a house down payment. For me, having a lot free business investment capitol is paramount.
Just by reading this thread, I think we all know that pharmacy is a great way to generate seed capitol, but a terrible way to get rich.

At some point, I want to focus on business ventures and just work a few part-time pharmacy shifts. I am not ready for that yet, however.
 
nafcillin said:
1) what year did you or will you graduate?
2) how much do you have in loans for pharm school plus undergrad?
3) if you are out of school, how much have you paid off?
4) what is your interest rate?
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So happy to be able to finally post this:

1) Spring 2014
2) $95,000 without interest when I graduate ($8-9K interest expected)
3) N/A
4) 6.8%
 
BMBiology said:
Does anybody know if you would still get interest rate deduction when you enrolled in IBR? I received 1.5% deduction (like 6% to 4.5%) with the standard 10 year program by enrolling in the electronic payment program and by paying it on time for the first 6 months.
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I vaguely remember reading something like this when I first signed up for the loans, but I can't find anything about it now (how convenient). All of my loans were switched from Direct (ACS) to Nelnet a few months back.

I also had one of the "where does the money get applied" debacles. In fall of my P2 year I suddenly had some extra money due to winning a raffle, so I figured I would get rid of the only GradPlus loan I had with the higher interest and all that stuff. Sent the check off, check came out of my account, never thought of it again. Around graduation time I look at my accounts, and lo and behold, my GradPlus loan is still there, with 2 years with of interest on top of it. After several phone calls, the answer was that they applied the cash toward the loan that came out months after making that payment (my spring p2 year loan disbursement), as an "advance cash cancellation." After quite a bit of explaining to the person that that was in no way what I wanted, and doing it that way would cost me a few grand extra, they said they'd "look into it". After 2 months (!) of "check back in 7-10 business days" they fixed it and retro'd the interests for both loans. If it wasn't for the fact that I only had 1 GradPlus and knew I got rid of it, there is no way I would have noticed that crazy balance shifting trick.
 
nafcillin said:
1) what year did you or will you graduate?
2) how much do you have in loans for pharm school plus undergrad?
3) if you are out of school, how much have you paid off?
4) what is your interest rate?
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1) 2013
2) $105k unsubsidized, $34k subsidized
3) None yet, now that the paychecks are coming in I'll probably do one sometime this week, after I finish working out my budget
4) 6.8% subsidized, 6.799% unsubsidized (weird, not sure why it's a fraction off)
 
xiphoid2010 said:
Sure, I can see the venture capital pushing up incomes of IT geeks by 85% in Cali, but unless pharmacists are paid $100/hr in San Fran, they are just being screwed over by the high cost of living. 🙁 the nice weather might be worth something but ain't THAT much in my book.
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Source: Public data, https://ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage/


But yes, it's not even VC funded companies anymore, we're talking mature .com companies like Google and Yahoo paying for housing + private transportation to the main campuses. People are bidding up rent and prepaying an entire year's worth at open houses, especially if it's within 1/2 a mile of a Google Bus stop.

So yeah, most pharmacists live in the east bay...or live in a studio/small apartment. Depends on your priorities in life, most living in SF don't care about owning a home or a car...they're all about travel, food, and all that good stuff. I'm somewhere in between.
 
I'm trying to think of ways to get loans paid off easier, and I had a somewhat decent idea that saves a few grand. Let me know if I'm missing something here:

My bank does auto loans, I can get one for 3.49%. These require a car for collateral, of course, but I don't think you have to use the money to go out and buy a car, so long as the bank has collateral on the loan they don't care. So I can put my already owned car for collateral. Then I get a 20k loan at @3.49% and use that 20k to pay off 20k worth of the 6.8% loans. It's a 5 year loan, so the interest difference over that time period is in the ballpark of 3 grand. No monumental savings, but 3k is nothing to sneeze at.
 
Ackj said:
I'm trying to think of ways to get loans paid off easier, and I had a somewhat decent idea that saves a few grand. Let me know if I'm missing something here:

My bank does auto loans, I can get one for 3.49%. These require a car for collateral, of course, but I don't think you have to use the money to go out and buy a car, so long as the bank has collateral on the loan they don't care. So I can put my already owned car for collateral. Then I get a 20k loan at @3.49% and use that 20k to pay off 20k worth of the 6.8% loans. It's a 5 year loan, so the interest difference over that time period is in the ballpark of 3 grand. No monumental savings, but 3k is nothing to sneeze at.
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Is your car worth 20K?
 
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1. 2011
2. 140k
3. -74k
4. 6.8%

hoping to pay off in another two years time. : )
 
12 months ago, my wife and I had $160k balance, now it's just under $100k. At this rate it'll be paid off mid 2015, exactly 5yr after our graduation.

Not as good as the 3yr I wanted, but given 1 yr residency, 2 babies, buying a house with 20% down and a small SUV + minivan during that he same time frame, its not the worst either.
 
xiphoid2010 said:
12 months ago, my wife and I had $160k balance, now it's just under $100k. At this rate it'll be paid off mid 2015, exactly 5yr after our graduation.

Not as good as the 3yr I wanted, but given 1 yr residency, 2 babies, buying a house with 20% down and a small SUV + minivan during that he same time frame, its not the worst either.
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That's awesome! Congrats!
 
nafcillin said:
1) what year did you or will you graduate?
2) how much do you have in loans for pharm school plus undergrad?
3) if you are out of school, how much have you paid off?
4) what is your interest rate?
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1) 2014
2) Roughly 80k
3) Not out yet, but have paid off a few thousand, in addition to my wife's 20k
4) Stafford - 6%grad (active duty military reduction), less than 4% under grad

Planning on having them paid off in 3 years (time of first active duty commitment).

whitecoatinvestor.com - lots of great advice on financials for doctors (and pharmacists).
 
1) 2013
2) ~42k, all subsidized
3) None, but I'm doing a fellowship/PhD so they can just sit there not accumulating interest while inflation eats away at them. Lucked out there.
4) mix of 6.8% and 5%
 
1. 2015
2. Undergrad: 0, Pharmacy: $8,500 (I expect this to increase substantially next year; I'll probably graduate with at least $45k more due to how our tuition is set up for P4 year and the fact that I'm running out of cash)
3. n/a
4. 6.8% (total crap rate!)
 
Those who are gonna graduate with <$60k should post how to help others. Tuition and fees were $17k/yr at a state schoo Back in 2010l, and even with scholarships and internships it will be very difficult to graduate with less than $60ks.
 
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xiphoid2010 said:
Those who are gonna graduate with <$60k should post how to help others. Tuition and fees were $17k/yr at a state schoo Back in 2010l, and even with scholarships and internships it will be very difficult to graduate with less than $60ks.
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I would if I could. Part of it is through personal choices, but a lot of it is due to the help of my parents.

How did I do it? Scholarships for undergrad. I scored really high on my high school SATs and did well, which gave me great options for college scholarships. My parents saved for college for me. I went to the cheapest "decent" college I could attend for undergrad. I worked. I saved what I could. My parents helped me a lot for pharmacy school tuition. I lived at home. I didn't take the fancy cruises my classmates took. I stayed in state. I bought gold when before it went into bubble territory. I sold it before it totally collapsed. I didn't buy a house when everybody told me I "had to get into the housing market!" Not surprisingly, they were all wrong. I didn't buy things I didn't have the cash to pay for.

Honestly, there's no other way I could be in this situation today, other than prioritizing money over a lot of other fun things. Also, had my parents not had the foresight to save for my education, I wouldn't be posting this today as I wouldn't have even attended pharmacy school in that situation.
 
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Answering for a friend, not me.

1. 2013
2. $147k + $9k capitalized interest
3. Balance is now $131k
4. $104k at 6.55%
$26k at 5%
$10k at 1.75%
$7k at 6.8% but already paid off
 
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