PGY-3 thoughts on SDN and pay for podiatry

[eyeeye_captain]

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This sucks.

Yep, welcome to being an adult. @Feli and I tend to agree on a lot of things. I’m also debt averse, because when you win you usually just win, but when you lose, you’re more likely to lose big. WCI is a great resource.

Sadly it looks like the OP hasn’t been seen since around her first post, would love to know what her first year journey has been like as an attending.

 

[Hybrocure]

...you do know that all loans have a set number of years for repayment, right? And that you can't declare bankruptcy on student loans? That can doesn't get indefinitely kicked down the road, so the gub'ment will get their dough in the 15/20/30 year term or whatever you have set, minimum payments or not. Unless you're planning on dying relatively young, you're settling up at some point. Student loans are minimally to not worthwhilely tax deductible, so you're spending an awful lot extra on interest for basically no reason.

This isn't to pick on you, because basically all professional school graduates other than accountants are financially dumb (I was there). But c'mon kid, you're living in beyond a fantasy land if you think that's a thing.

Not quite.

You can pay the minimum for like 25 years or whatever it is now and the remainder is forgiven but you get taxed on it.

You make it sound like after x amount of years paying minimum they will expect you to just pay 300-500k or whatever it is at once, that’s not the case. The remainder is just taxed as income. 25 years is enough time to save up for the tax bomb.

As discussed countless times here, paying 3-4K or whatever a month for ten years with how badly most pod jobs pay is not feasible for everyone. Especially those with families or in HCOL areas. Theres only so much you can make 100-150k pre taxes stretch. (This is podiatry - not optho)

This is of course if we are discussing federal loans.

 

[Feli]

Not quite.

You can pay the minimum for like 25 years or whatever it is now and the remainder is forgiven but you get taxed on it.

You make it sound like after x amount of years paying minimum they will expect you to just pay 300-500k or whatever it is at once, that’s not the case. The remainder is just taxed as income. 25 years is enough time to save up for the tax bomb....

He's talking more about the total amount you've paid.

Eg, twenty years paying $1.5k/mo minimum pays = $360k total paid
(this is independent of any tax or no tax you'd pay on the forgive at the end... a lot can change in 20yrs)

Think of two students with $300k podiatry loans (say 7% as that's roughly where it's at now)...

• The guy paying $5k/mo pays them off in under 7 years... did $370k in total payments (then has his full earn power, good credit, all that going forward).
• The "forgiveness" guy pays $1.5k/mo for 20 years = $360k (or longer if some missed payments in that span, more if 25 years or 30 years of pays for forgive, his monthly payments and total paid would very likely go up if better job or raises anywhere in that timespan, likely a tax on 'forgive' at the end).

...The crux of it is just that you will pay the loan amounts (and more) no matter which way you go. They have you under their thumb... no bankrupting, no dodging it (disability/death is about the only way). There is no easy mode. Even people with $100k income will pay more than they borrowed over the decades as they try for forgive. Even people with PSLF still had to pay quite a bit (6-10yrs of pays in podiatry)... and limited job choice until done with that program.

It's basically a personal choice how long one wants that debt and bad credit dragging on and on.

 

[deleted1218629]

☹️☹️ well thanks for that info. I should probably start working on a Plan B.

This sucks.

Finish school and go to residency, get the best training you can. Then be completely open geographically and find the best job you can. If you don't land this at first, get started and spend the nights applying until you do. Get your loans paid off and then if you want to get out, move on at that time.

You can find positives anywhere. Even the smallest hospitals are small communities that you can build local relationships through. Get a gym membership wherever you are at and spend every night there. Live in an apartment complex, hopefully one that has other younger people if possible. If its awful, fly out to wherever you want to go every chance you can get.

 

[Hybrocure]

Finish school and go to residency, get the best training you can. Then be completely open geographically and find the best job you can. If you don't land this at first, get started and spend the nights applying until you do. Get your loans paid off and then if you want to get out, move on at that time.

You can find positives anywhere. Even the smallest hospitals are small communities that you can build local relationships through. Get a gym membership wherever you are at and spend every night there. Live in an apartment complex, hopefully one that has other younger people if possible. If its awful, fly out to wherever you want to go every chance you can get.

I don’t think the gym is going to save the crippling student loan debt. You can’t lift that away

 

[deleted1218629]

I don’t think the gym is going to save the crippling student loan debt. You can’t lift that away

you aren't lifting hard enough

 

[NeisseriaGon]

Finish school and go to residency, get the best training you can. Then be completely open geographically and find the best job you can. If you don't land this at first, get started and spend the nights applying until you do. Get your loans paid off and then if you want to get out, move on at that time.

You can find positives anywhere. Even the smallest hospitals are small communities that you can build local relationships through. Get a gym membership wherever you are at and spend every night there. Live in an apartment complex, hopefully one that has other younger people if possible. If its awful, fly out to wherever you want to go every chance you can get.

I didn’t mean leave podiatry lol I just meant find a new plan to pay off my loans.

 

[Weirdy]

you aren't lifting hard enough

Meme in here somewhere

 

[p100]

$175K would be nice to start. About half the people I know started out less than $100K.

College has become a scam and I do not ever encourage anyone to go to any college if they have to take even small loans. Imagine you finish all these years of work and want to buy a house for your family. But first have to pay off loans that are equal to a decent house. Now you are buying 2 houses at the same time; or have to buy a house before you can buy a house.

Banks are the big winners here by making money from thin air, loaning it to you, then using the fake money they just gave you to give as a loan to another person.

 

[Bluecollarmed]

If it makes you feel better my hospital just added a few "director" positions which likely make more than associate pods. Healthcare gonna healthcare.