The ones who are paying interest over a 25 year period are "donating" their hard earned money to Uncle Sam. He didn't get much interest from me.
I think you are just a dreamer. First you want to work part-time so your monthly IBR payment will be low but now you want to be PIC?
I am planning on alternating my work hours for the first few years to minimize my IBR payments. My first year IBR will be based on a $0 AGI, my second year will be based on my first year's tax return, which I will be working part time a lot of that year , intentionally pick up fewer shifts, paid as a graduate intern, etc. After that all bets are off, I dont even know if I will bring my business income into the US necessarily, or reinvest, ... maybe my business will happen to take losses during my years with highest pharmacist income!
If I became PIC , sure I would pay more for IBR but the AGI increase would more than be offset by earlier retirement, each year of which would net $20,000-$30,000 in loan payment savings.
And as far as paying interest vs principle .. Yes of course I will be paying a lot more interest (probably $100,000 more in interest than you lol) .. but if I followed IBR from start to finish, principle would never be touched. Money is money. I'm sure you get a nice warm feeling when you consider you paid up but it was principle only. But that doesnt make up for cash in your pocket.
The facts are a person who makes a typical pharmacist salary and has 300k of loans or higher will save 100-300k by using IBR and netting a $600-700k forgiveness than if they paid straight up.. .. even if they paid straight out of the gate with a $300k check, would still end up paying more than IBR.. the net difference cant be ignored. All you need is a calculator to find out it is in the hundreds of thousands. It can't be quibbled away by changing AGI, employment hours, marginal income increases, or % paid as interest.
Years during which I was PIC would more than be offset by years of early retirement with 0 or minimal AGI.
I am actually contemplating putting my loans into repayment right now to start the IBR clock.. on a $0 AGI , that is a $0-50 monthly payment, plus interest would capitalize sooner, and capitalized interest can be deducted even if you didn't pay it.
To answer directly to your attempted jibe ... yes I am contemplating vying for PIC .. also I am contemplating only working part time ... either way, I would come out ahead under IBR compared to standard repayment.
If I had 100k in loans, I would be singing a different tune. But when faced with the choice of paying back $200,000 in interest under IBR or $500,000 in interest and principle under standard repayment, this is not even an argument.. Who can argue with the prospect of putting an extra $150,000-200,000 in their pocket?
I also am interested in owning my own pharmacy, depending on how things go in the US in the next 15 years. But you can bet your butt that I wouldnt pay myself a significant salary until after IBR ends. Nor would I hold the pharmacy assets under my name.
Edit: and I will admit this to anyone, I am a risk taker and nonconventional thinker, and I admit I play devil's advocate on the internet frequently .. I also am probably vastly different from most people on this forum in the sense of my life and career and retirement goals. Remember I also am not planning on participating in 401k or US stocks (directly) for my investments. So when you consider that my ultimate career goals include moving to a less developed country and living on basically nothing for retirement ... my IBR scheme is probably among the most sound decisions that I am making with my life. Of course, there is the off chance that all my other goals will work out and I'll become rich and stay in the US for some bizarre reason .. in which case yes I will pay my student loans in full and you can laugh at me as much as you want while you are still working as an employee into your 50s.
I would also like to know ... since we are in the business of personal inquiries .. do you have kids or are you planning to have kids? If you are , I would say your perceived financial high horse is a lot lower than you make it out to be. Same goes for your "early" retirement plans ... age 55? What if you could have had an additional $100,000 invested 20 years prior? Maybe it will hit you around that time since it seems like there is no way to get it through to you presently.
