Poll: your current debt load

Started by Igor4sugry
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Resident TOTAL Debt Load

  • <50k

    Votes: 20 12.3%

  • 50-100k

    Votes: 10 6.1%

  • 100-200k

    Votes: 42 25.8%

  • 200-300k

    Votes: 51 31.3%

  • 300-400k

    Votes: 29 17.8%

  • 400-500k

    Votes: 6 3.7%

  • >500k

    Votes: 5 3.1%
  • Total voters
    163
I

Igor4sugry

Junior Member
15+ Year Member
I'm in residency and wondering what some of other residents may be experiencing financially.

How much TOTAL Debt are you (your household) in. This includes Student Loans + Mortgage + Car Loan + CreditCards

mine: PGYI (wife also in residency): $643k (445K student loans)
 
Including mortgage in your figures doesn't make a lot of sense because it's resaleable physical property that has a chance of being worth more than you paid for it in the future (unlike cars, etc). Being upside down on your mortgage definitely should count, but if I have a $250k mortgage on a property worth $400k that's not the same as trying to service a $250k student loan.
 
[1] You can make the same argument if someone is electing to do PSLF.
You could say that $350k loan is really much less after 10yrs

[2] I'm more interested in the monthly expense of having this debt. If you can sell that house later for a profit, great, but you still got monthly payments today.

i.e. how much strain are you under given a meager resident salary.
 
Igor4sugry said:
[1] You can make the same argument if someone is electing to do PSLF.
You could say that $350k loan is really much less after 10yrs

[2] I'm more interested in the monthly expense of having this debt. If you can sell that house later for a profit, great, but you still got monthly payments today.

i.e. how much strain are you under given a meager resident salary.
Click to expand...

The PSLF has yet to be cashed in on. It could very well be patched as a "loop hole" prior to anyone utilizing it.
 
Aphtalyfe said:
The PSLF has yet to be cashed in on. It could very well be patched as a "loop hole" prior to anyone utilizing it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You think the public is going to tolerate "greedy" rich doctors and lawyers having their student loans erased. Think again. The bean counters are already on it and released this report in just the past week:

http://chronicle.com/article/Obamas-Loan-Repayment-Plan/135144/

The report urges policy makers to adopt several recommendations, such as limiting the scope of some of the new, more generous income-based repayment provisions and tightening the eligibility for loan forgiveness for high-income borrowers.

Loan Borrower Beware! I can easily see income caps being phased in down the road where if you make over a certain amount, like 100K a year, you no longer qualify or some other such nonsense.

By the way, these poll results are shocking. When I first began posting it was just a handful residents that carried more than 200K in debt. Now this seems to be the norm. In another 3-5 years, 300K will be the new normal. God help you all! I hope you REALLY love medicine because those golden handcuffs are going to be awfully tight.
 
Last edited:
The Chronicle also talks about policy makers being urged to get university tuition under control; same universities that get federal funding. Tuition still continues to rise unabated.

Yes we are 300k-400k in debt, and income potential for physician making 200k/yr is ($4mill over 20yrs). (7.5% of total earned)

Lets say you are an accountant or engineer maxing out at 70k/yr for 30yrs (2.1mill) with average debt of 50k (2.3% of total earned).

Because of the high income the physician over entire working life will have a much more sizable nest egg (assuming neither waste their money).

Yes, our debt loads appear scary, but only if you have a 50-70k/yr mind set.
Please look beyond this level of debt and look at things as a bigger picture.
Over long-term medical education is a GREAT investment.
 
Igor4sugry said:
The Chronicle also talks about policy makers being urged to get university tuition under control; same universities that get federal funding. Tuition still continues to rise unabated.

Yes we are 300k-400k in debt, and income potential for physician making 200k/yr is ($4mill over 20yrs). (7.5% of total earned)

Lets say you are an accountant or engineer maxing out at 70k/yr for 30yrs (2.1mill) with average debt of 50k (2.3% of total earned).

Because of the high income the physician over entire working life will have a much more sizable nest egg (assuming neither waste their money).

Yes, our debt loads appear scary, but only if you have a 50-70k/yr mind set.
Please look beyond this level of debt and look at things as a bigger picture.
Over long-term medical education is a GREAT investment.
Click to expand...

Plus if you include the debt figure in the comparison, then technically you should say you are 'making' ~20K during med school and 50K+ during residency. Part of that debt and time lost to training includes paying for necessities you would be paying for regardless if you were an accountant or med student.

Thats at least a 300K difference and is the part everyone always leaves out.
 
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