Loan repayment advice. Please help.

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FattySlug

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So the situation is I will be around 350k in the red by graduation. Interest rate of the loan is about 6-7 %. I will make about 50k a year as a resident. So the loan will keep accumulating as I go through residency. Does anyone have any financial advice how to best manage this loan? It looks impossible as things are. I am thinking about asking my father to help out a bit. He obviously can't foot the whole bill but what do you think is a reasonable amount I should ask that would make a meaningful difference? Thank you very much.

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So the situation is I will be around 350k in the red by graduation. Interest rate of the loan is about 6-7 %. I will make about 50k a year as a resident. So the loan will keep accumulating as I go through residency. Does anyone have any financial advice how to best manage this loan? It looks impossible as things are. I am thinking about asking my father to help out a bit. He obviously can't foot the whole bill but what do you think is a reasonable amount I should ask that would make a meaningful difference? Thank you very much.
If it is all federal debt, the best you can do is IBR/PAYE. You'll be liable for 10-15% of your discretionary income at most, and if you keep it up for 20-25 years, the remainder is forgiven. 10 years if you work for the government/a nonprofit, though that may be phased out eventually.

If there's private debt in there, it's a whole nother problem.
 
What specialty? How long will your residency take? Will you do a fellowship? Private vs academic when you are an attending? Do you have a good credit score?

This is going to decided if you will end up better with IRB/PAYE/nonprofit leading to loan forgiveness at some point in time in the future.

If you will end up paying them off like most of us then I'd say refinance them now and bring that interest rate way down.
 
link2swim do you know of any refinance companies that would bring that rate down? i was under the impression they dont touch direct loan interest rates?
 
What specialty? How long will your residency take? Will you do a fellowship? Private vs academic when you are an attending? Do you have a good credit score?

This is going to decided if you will end up better with IRB/PAYE/nonprofit leading to loan forgiveness at some point in time in the future.

If you will end up paying them off like most of us then I'd say refinance them now and bring that interest rate way down.

Sorry for the lack of details in OP. I am doing IM and thinking of Pul /CC for fellowship. I think I will have to do PP considering the loan I am carrying. How does this whole refinancing the loan work? What is the first step? Thank you so much.
 
Find a lender like DRB and apply to refinance. That's about it. But it becomes a private loan then and you lose all the loan forgiveness options.

You gotta run the numbers yourself and decide which option is better for you.
 
Yes, DRB will refinance your federal student loans if you have good credit.

I won't qualify for loan forgiveness program. So if I understand correctly I have 2 options:
1) Refinance the loan which will turn it into private loan.
OR
2) Apply for IBR/PYE

I will have to explore both options and see which offers me the better deal?
 
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