what about using PAYE or IBR? those cap at 10-15% of your income depending on the plan, right? And I hear even with changes Trump is making the 10% will just increase to 12.5% and cut back from 25yrs of repayment to just 15! So that sounds like it would keep loan repayments reasonable leaving plenty to live off of and put into practice loan, etc. Am I incorrect in this assumption? I hope so, b/c this assumption is what enables me to sleep at night!
The 15 years is only for undergrad loans. Grad school loan forgiveness under Trump's plan is getting extended to 30 years!
There's a lot of ways I can help dentists plan for their loans as that's what I do for a living. There's a bunch of things you can do with PAYE, REPAYE, minimizing taxable income, etc. However, I created this thread bc I've seen the stress firsthand and I would never recommend putting yourself into that situation prospectively.
Except they shouldn't have that choice in the first place. No private loaner would hand virtually anyone with a warm body these insane amounts of money regardless of their ability to pay it back. They are the genesis of why we are in this issue in the first place.
Also, how are loans not affecting other professions? Student loan debt is hardly exclusive to the dental field. 1.1 million people across the board defaulted on their loans last year alone.
Finally, nice try but in my case I got lucky and will not be taking too much debt (and no, my parents aren't paying for it). My personal situation doesn't change the fact that I believe dentistry is still a worthwhile career even if you go to an expensive school vs. spending your entire life working in corporate America. The other health professions have their pros and cons, but I think you have a slight case of grass is greener when analyzing them. The saturation in pharmacy and the wage limitations in RN come beckoning.
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In general, being a lawyer, chiropractor, and veterinarian is a worse decision than being a dentist from a loans perspective. Being a physician is better. Being a PA or pharmacist is better from a loan standpoint unless you get into a reasonably priced in state school. Most of my PA and pharmacist clients are either refinancing or doing PSLF. In other words, loans are a part of their lives but they aren't a dominant centerpiece like they are for my NYU dentist clients, some of whom call me literally having no idea what to do.
@Student Loan Planner you're one of my favorite posters in SDN history. Some of the breakdowns you've been generous enough to give this forum have been beyond helpful. Honestly if I hadn't stumbled on your threads when I did I probably would have gone to one of the schools you've warned against and been up to my eyeballs in debt. I just wanted to say thanks.
Thanks @Ollivander , if I saved one person it was worth it.
I would be careful about bashing any D school on this forum. Faculty and administration read it, and will not take kindly to any sort of negativity. The OP is not a dentist, nor does he have any aspirations to become one, and his risks are small. Dentistry is a very small world. It never pays to antagonize anyone.
Let's face it, no one is forcing anyone to sign off on student loans, it is a cognitive decision. If it is too much debt, don't do it. If you think you will be able to handle it, go ahead. It's like that Ferrari in the showroom.
Definitely be careful I agree. I'm giving a talk at an in state dental school in the bottom cost quartile and am really pumped about it. Will be able to give really useful tips on how to keep debt down, get into a practice, what are the biggest hurdles and opportunities my clients have said they're facing financially, etc. If NYU asked me to give the same talk, if I was honest with the students I would never be invited again anyway.
How about pharmacy vs dental? Now the better deal seems like pharmacy. Or optometry? Still dental.
Not optometry. That's like vet med, lower income, lower ceiling, and you've still got substantial debt.
Pharmacy is a good choice if you just want to work to live. Not to say you can't be passionate about it, but pharmacists are essentially choosing a less risky path by going with around 150k debt and guaranteed 100k-120k incomes that will go up at the rate of inflation. I only have a couple pharmacists above 200k while maybe 85-90% of the dentists are above that.
The primary draw of dentistry is the option to be an owner and be self employed. That route isn't really open in pharmacy.
However, if you're gonna take on $650,000 in dental school loans and another $700,000 in practice loans, why not take $50,000 and go see if you can start your own small business? Figure out some skill that's needed in society and provide the solution to it. Try a couple things and see what sticks. Charge less than you're worth then increase the price.
I'd bet that if you're smart enough to get into dental school, you could do some pretty amazing things with $1.3 million in funding for a small business idea. Probably could do some amazing things with $100k. You should look up Tim Ferriss if you haven't already. He's a big fan of taking the money you would've spent on an MBA and using it to learn from the success and failure of trying to be an entrepreneur.
