The Financial issue

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Do you have a source for that info on ibuprofen??? That is crazy! I wanted to check that out, so if you have the site you used let me know. Thanks!
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veridianbunny said:
Oh, and also could you please go pester the adcoms at UGA into giving us ranks, not knowing my odds of admission off the wait-list is ulcer-inducing.
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Like they'd do that for us :) They do things on their own time and that's that, from what I gather.
 
Oops! It was acetaminophen, not ibuprofen. My bad.

Just Google: "Acetaminophen birth control"
Other sources: your drug insert on your pill package.

I don't think its that serious, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a bad idea to take 'em at separate times!
 
InfiniVet said:
Oops! It was acetaminophen, not ibuprofen. My bad.

Just Google: "Acetaminophen birth control"
Other sources: your drug insert on your pill package.

I don't think its that serious, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a bad idea to take 'em at separate times!
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So it turns out having a headache IS a good reason to not have sex...

(Sorry, awful, I know, but I couldn't resist!) :D
 
Haha! *Awful Joke High Five*
 
Has anyone looked at an amoritazation schedule for their loan repayments? I was a little shocked at how much interest we'll be paying and its definitely more of a factor in my decision.

Heres a link in case anyone is curious, most loans are 6.8% over 30 years (shorter if you want a higher payment) http://www.bretwhissel.net/amortization/amortize.html
 
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GeeQued said:
Has anyone looked at an amoritazation schedule for their loan repayments? I was a little shocked at how much interest we'll be paying and its definitely more of a factor in my decision.

Heres a link in case anyone is curious, most loans are 6.8% over 30 years (shorter if you want a higher payment) http://www.bretwhissel.net/amortization/amortize.html
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You know for someone trying so hard to get me to follow her to MN, you are not helping your case! :eek:

My payments after WI: $1300.00/mo for 30 years
My payments after MN: $1700.00/mo for 30 years
Is MN worth $400.00 a month: Heck that's only $4800.00 a year for 30 years, or $144,000.00 extra total! $80,000.00 of that is just the difference in interest.

Very depressing. This also includes the 3 years from my BS/MS but still... That is only $214.00/month of the total.

Hopefully I won't live all those 30 years I guess.:idea:
 
Caninerepro said:
You know for someone trying so hard to get me to follow her to MN, you are not helping your case! :eek:

My payments after WI: $1300.00/mo for 30 years
My payments after MN: $1700.00/mo for 30 years
Is MN worth $400.00 a month: Heck that's only $4800.00 a year for 30 years, or $144,000.00 extra total! $80,000.00 of that is just the difference in interest.

Very depressing. This also includes the 3 years from my BS/MS but still... That is only $214.00/month of the total.

Hopefully I won't live all those 30 years I guess.:idea:
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Yeah Its kinda depressing and definitely put me back on the fence:( Daddy felt the need to bring that to light and someone else decided to hang it over my head that he'd pay my tuition so all I'd have to cover is living expenses if and only if I went to Davis. So thats been the story of my day.......
 
Anyone know if school loans are tax deductible?:bang:

They should be for us, they really are a requirement for the job!
 
Caninerepro said:
Anyone know if school loans are tax deductible?:bang:

They should be for us, they really are a requirement for the job!
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I believe $2500 of student loan interests in deductible a year. Other then that, nope. Enjoy not having money because it is all going to student loans and getting taxed on all that money you dont have.

I know im looking forward to it.
 
vnair2 said:
I believe $2500 of student loan interests in deductible a year. Other then that, nope. Enjoy not having money because it is all going to student loans and getting taxed on all that money you dont have.

I know im looking forward to it.
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Actually, the $2,000 or so that is deductible on your taxes is only deductible up to that limit if you make less than $50,000 or so a year. Between $50,000 and $70,000 or $75,000, it's only a percentage (a small percentage at that) that is deductible. Over the $70-75K income limit ZERO student loan interest is deductible.
 
question: is one allowed to pay more than the required monthly payment on a loan? I'd like to be able to put extra in when I can afford it, but I've heard that isn't always an option. something about a penalty for pre-payment?
 
DollyyLlama said:
question: is one allowed to pay more than the required monthly payment on a loan? I'd like to be able to put extra in when I can afford it, but I've heard that isn't always an option. something about a penalty for pre-payment?
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On the Federal Stafford loans there is no prepayment penalty. I did that with my grad school loans, no problem. I assume other Federal loans are the same, though I don't know for sure. Some private loans may have prepayment penalties...that's just something one would have to check on with the lender.
 
VAgirl said:
Actually, the $2,000 or so that is deductible on your taxes is only deductible up to that limit if you make less than $50,000 or so a year. Between $50,000 and $70,000 or $75,000, it's only a percentage (a small percentage at that) that is deductible. Over the $70-75K income limit ZERO student loan interest is deductible.
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Not entirely true. Depends on how you have things set up. I ran everything through my S-Corp and was able to deduct the interest as recently as two years ago. Now, it is possible the code has changed, but i did it for several years. I finally paid off the last of the loans last year, so I do not know how my return would have looked this year.
 
DollyyLlama said:
question: is one allowed to pay more than the required monthly payment on a loan? I'd like to be able to put extra in when I can afford it, but I've heard that isn't always an option. something about a penalty for pre-payment?
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Typically, pre-payment penalties apply to paying off the loan prior to maturity. As VAGirl said, you would need to check with the Lender, but sometimes the pre-payment penalty is only for a set amount of time. For instance, we currently do two year loans in my business and there is only a pre-payment penalty if the client pays it off prior to the first anniversary. So, you would need to check on this.

Also, making additional payments towards the principal does not normally meet the definition of pre-payment. Pre-payment generally refers to paying off the entire loan prior to maturity, not just making additional payments. A lot of Lenders have this penalty because they lose $$ in interest if you pay it off early.

Bottom line, check with your Lender.
 
flyhi said:
Not entirely true. Depends on how you have things set up. I ran everything through my S-Corp and was able to deduct the interest as recently as two years ago. Now, it is possible the code has changed, but i did it for several years. I finally paid off the last of the loans last year, so I do not know how my return would have looked this year.
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I will admit I don't know anything about an S-corporation, but I also had student loan interest payments last year, had paid interest up to the cap, had an AGI between the $50K and $70K mark, and only got to deduct $200. So I'm gonna say for most people who have a relatively straightforward tax situation, what I posted is correct.

Can you tell me more about how you did yours and what an S-corp is? Thanks. :)

EDIT: For those who want to reference the tax code on student loan interest deductions: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch04.html#en_US_publink100020911
 
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VAgirl said:
I will admit I don't know anything about an S-corporation, but I also had student loan interest payments last year, had paid interest up to the cap, had an AGI between the $50K and $70K mark, and only got to deduct $200. So I'm gonna say for most people who have a relatively straightforward tax situation, what I posted is correct.

Can you tell me more about how you did yours and what an S-corp is? Thanks. :)
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VAGirl,

A tax expert i am not, which is why i rely heavily on advisors. I will say this, i would believe that you are correct on what you have experienced - that filing as an individual has a cap.

An S-Corp is a way of organizing a company mostly for tax purposes. I am the sole owner (shareholder) and run all of my income and expenses through my company. I am not self-employed, BTW, but a lot of self-employed individuals choose to set up an S-Corp. Pretty much anyone can form an S-Corp. For me, it had large tax advantages. I work for a small business and we have a fairly large corporate accounting firm advise us and do our returns due to the nature of our business. I was fortunate enough to be with the company since start up and am able to utilize their services as well. In this way, they try and benefit both parties - employer-employee - to the fullest extent.

I simply listen to what they tell me to do and do it (like titling my vehicle in my S-Corp's name and using a business credit card for all auto related expenses - i do not drive this vehicle for 'work' either). It has worked so far and i can assure you i would have never known the difference prior to this, but i believe i have saved thousands upon thousands by utilizing them. And, i by no means have a very complicated return. It's just stuff i would not know....ever. I have already discussed with them my change in careers, moving internationally and what I can or can't do with regard to my returns. For instance, can i charge travel expenses to and from the school to my company, how about tuition, living expenses, etc. etc. BTW, all of these were a big 'No'. And the conversations will continue through school and after i graduate into opening up my own practice, hiring employees (contract or salaried?), offering retirement plans (what kind?), partnership agreements, etc. Any financial decision i make, will be run by them to make sure i am doing it correctly in a legal sense and it's the most advantageous to my bottom line.

I know i haven't been much of a help and i have preached way too much on this forum about students seeking out financial planners/accountants/estate planners/insurance agents, etc to help plan out their future, but i have seen it work wonders. It is not expensive to seek the advice of great professionals when you are able to reap such rewards. They truly can pay for themselves a hundredfold!

Sorry for the rambling everyone.....i am obviously pretty passionate about this topic and do feel that everyone in our shoes can benefit.

<closes mouth for good> :highfive:
 
flyhi said:
Not entirely true. Depends on how you have things set up. I ran everything through my S-Corp and was able to deduct the interest as recently as two years ago. Now, it is possible the code has changed, but i did it for several years. I finally paid off the last of the loans last year, so I do not know how my return would have looked this year.
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Have you been through an audit? You can't really tell if it's successful until you've survived an audit.

Often times when something is too good to be true, it is. The taxpayer is left holding the bag. Fee-based tax advisors are often not on the level.

It might change in the current administration, but under Clinton and Bush, the IRS began to focus on small fry and often left the big tax evaders alone. That means that audits of tiny businesses and the like went way up. For more info, read Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else by David Cay Johnston. You might disagree with his conclusions, but I think his reporting is on the level.
 
Please do not close your mouth for good! I asked for this, and yes "I am waiting for the I told you so's". I kind of assumed that something like what you said is what I'd have to do to deduct the costs. I too was wondering if I could run my vet career like a business -- pun intended - and say the schooling was a business expense for my practice. Without the loans I could not have participated in the business, et. Thanks for the info, it at least makes me feel better about things. Hey, as I said before, I am not ever going to have money, why worry about it.
 
GeeQued said:
Has anyone looked at an amoritazation schedule for their loan repayments? I was a little shocked at how much interest we'll be paying and its definitely more of a factor in my decision.

Heres a link in case anyone is curious, most loans are 6.8% over 30 years (shorter if you want a higher payment) http://www.bretwhissel.net/amortization/amortize.html
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Extended repayment is 25 years, unless you consolidate. IS people should be able to do it in 10 years, in my opinion.
 
projekt said:
Have you been through an audit? You can't really tell if it's successful until you've survived an audit.

Often times when something is too good to be true, it is. The taxpayer is left holding the bag. Fee-based tax advisors are often not on the level.

It might change in the current administration, but under Clinton and Bush, the IRS began to focus on small fry and often left the big tax evaders alone. That means that audits of tiny businesses and the like went way up. For more info, read Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else by David Cay Johnston. You might disagree with his conclusions, but I think his reporting is on the level.
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Projekt- No, i have not. Nor has my company. I have nothing the IRS is interested in, i can assure you. I'm not sure what part of my post made you infer that i was trying to cut corners or doing something that is not on the up and up, but everything is done completely by the book. There is always interpretation to every law - the reason why we have attorneys. I have been with a severely conservative CPA (my father) to a liberal accountant, and for the last 5 years, with a very well respected, moderately conservative firm that happens to know what they are doing and are creative. I like creative. I am not willing to give up any more $$ to the government than is required by me and if they want to allow me to form an S-Corp and take certain liberties that would not be available to me as as an individual employee, than so be it. My company and firm are upstanding and have never had any issues, nor do we expect any. We probably spend more to make sure we are NOT going to have an issue than most.

You make a rather bold statement about fee-based advisors. Are you telling me that you don't pay a 'fee' to have your return filed? I would worry more about those that use Turbo Tax and try and do it themselves than someone like myself who consults their advisors year-round to make sure things are done correctly. I made it very clear in my previous post about my desire to make sure my business was conducted correctly from a legal perspective.

There is nothing here that is 'too good to be true' - it is all found in our HUGE book of Tax Code. I welcome an audit - i have zero to hide.
 
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Caninerepro said:
Please do not close your mouth for good! I asked for this, and yes "I am waiting for the I told you so's". I kind of assumed that something like what you said is what I'd have to do to deduct the costs. I too was wondering if I could run my vet career like a business -- pun intended - and say the schooling was a business expense for my practice. Without the loans I could not have participated in the business, et. Thanks for the info, it at least makes me feel better about things. Hey, as I said before, I am not ever going to have money, why worry about it.
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Well, we all knew it was only a temporary closing :D. The unfortunate part about the schooling - is that we can't deduct it yet because we are not in the profession. It's not a business expense...YET. However, it's possible I believe that if we owned (WAIT A MINUTE....DON'T YOU........) a practice, or were a PARTNER (equity) in a practice, that perhaps you could justify the education expense?? I have not had this convo with my guys since it was not applicable, but you may have something there. This is where i would work really hard to get things set up correctly and IF the laws allowed such, i would make it happen. You may have a really interesting option based on your partnership agreement. :thumbup:
 
Much like Maddoff was above board and by the book.

I see some serious issues, and I can't tell whether that is because of your communications of what is going on or if that is because of what is going on.
 
flyhi said:
Well, we all knew it was only a temporary closing :D. The unfortunate part about the schooling - is that we can't deduct it yet because we are not in the profession. It's not a business expense...YET. However, it's possible I believe that if we owned (WAIT A MINUTE....DON'T YOU........) a practice, or were a PARTNER (equity) in a practice, that perhaps you could justify the education expense?? I have not had this convo with my guys since it was not applicable, but you may have something there. This is where i would work really hard to get things set up correctly and IF the laws allowed such, i would make it happen. You may have a really interesting option based on your partnership agreement. :thumbup:
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You know a friend of mine who is a first year here said pretty much the same thing. Hmm, that may well have truly been the best $40,000 I ever spent, on a few levels. I am going to have to look into this further... Madoff comments or not.
 
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You could always get an IRS ruling in writing. Simple easy way to insure the legality and have documented approval should any issues ever come up.
 
sumstorm said:
Much like Maddoff was above board and by the book.

I see some serious issues, and I can't tell whether that is because of your communications of what is going on or if that is because of what is going on.
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Sumstorm,

Are you on drugs? What part of Madoff was above and by the friggin book?????? If you don't know what's going on....then don't use a name like Madoff (who STOLE billions and left some destitute) when commenting on what i am doing. Wouldn't it be more prudent to ask than make completely a**inine innuendos?

Please, enlighten us all and share you "serious issues". I will be more than happy to set the record straight.
 
flyhi said:
Sumstorm,

Are you on drugs? What part of Madoff was above and by the friggin book?????? If you don't know what's going on....then don't use a name like Madoff (who STOLE billions and left some destitute) when commenting on what i am doing. Wouldn't it be more prudent to ask than make completely a**inine innuendos?

Please, enlighten us all and share you "serious issues". I will be more than happy to set the record straight.
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Another failure of sarcasm in the written word?

At least I took her statement as sarcastic.
 
sumstorm said:
You could always get an IRS ruling in writing. Simple easy way to insure the legality and have documented approval should any issues ever come up.
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Have zero need to do this. I KNOW what i'm doing is completely legal, as stated in many, many of my posts. I use highly competent professional advisors. Don't need an IRS ruling and don't need to request an audit.

How about some constructive information for the OP instead of absurd 'advice' to me when 1. I didn't ask for it 2. I think it is perhaps the worst advice i've ever received and 3. i actually pay people with much, much, much more experience in this field than you to give me advice and recommendations on how to conduct my business?
 
Caninerepro said:
You know a friend of mine who is a first year here said pretty much the same thing. Hmm, that may well have truly been the best $40,000 I ever spent, on a few levels. I am going to have to look into this further... Madoff comments or not.
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I'd be really curious to hear what you find out..... if you wouldn't mind PM'ing me.

I don't pay attention to Madoff comments from those who think they know everything about everything just to try and impress.
 
GeeQued said:
Another failure of sarcasm in the written word?

At least I took her statement as sarcastic.
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no kidding it was sarcastic, but it was written for a reason. It's the implication. Which I do not appreciate, BTW.
 
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sumstorm said:
Much like Maddoff was above board and by the book.
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What? Sorry, Sumstorm, but this is a really bad analogy.


sumstorm said:
I see some serious issues, and I can't tell whether that is because of your communications of what is going on or if that is because of what is going on.
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I don't see issues based on what Flyhi has told us but I am only an MBA and not a CPA.
 
And once again the OP shakes her weary head in amazement at the bizarre direction this thread has taken. Sigh.
 
LivestockDoc said:
And once again the OP shakes her weary head in amazement at the bizarre direction this thread has taken. Sigh.
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Actually I thought we were staying fairly on topic for us..... Finances/loans and paying for vet school. ;)
 
flyhi said:
I have nothing the IRS is interested in, i can assure you. I'm not sure what part of my post made you infer that i was trying to cut corners or doing something that is not on the up and up, but everything is done completely by the book. ...

You make a rather bold statement about fee-based advisors. ...

There is nothing here that is 'too good to be true' - it is all found in our HUGE book of Tax Code. I welcome an audit - i have zero to hide.
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You're awfully defensive. I was making a statement that regardless of what your advisors do for you, they are usually not liable for their own misinterpretations, anything beyond the fees you pay them. The rest of my comment was about documentation of the fact that the IRS made an explicit decision a 15 years or so ago to treat wealthy people with kid gloves and focus on small-time enforcement, usually of mistakes rather than actual fraud.

Personally, I wouldn't want the exposure as I went into vet school. If I have $20,000 and I have to pay $5000 in taxes, that's fine. It just means I have to take out $5000 more in loans. If I spend that $20000 and it turns out that I have to pay $7500 in taxes, penalties and interest two years later, then that's a real risk, and one I won't take. Technically, I can't take out student loans to pay that back.

So I'm just counterbalancing your advice. Your advisor might be perfect. Someone taking your advice might find an imperfect advisor and expose themselves to unmanageable risk.
 
That was pretty much my point as well: Madoff managed to get as far as he did because he was skilled at finances; he built his reputation and client trust BEFORE the Ponzi scheme. Excellent financial advisors are priceless. I would caution anyone that assuming paid financial advisor = completly ethical at all times and/or always perfectly unerring in their advice and/or willing to take responsibility (especially financially) for what a client does with their advice (or as many would put it, thier clients interpretation of their advice) may be problematic.

Advice is just that.... cost doesn't always determine value.

My advice to get an IRS ruling in writing was actually to CaninePro. If you have that, you are golden. Even if it is wrong, the fault and penalty then lies with the IRS. As far as I am currently aware (and that my financial advisors are aware) that is the only real guarantee that you can't be tripped up by the complexities of the tax law.

I don't understand why you assume my advice was to you, nor why you are so defensive. I didn't accuse you of anything.

I said I see some serious issues, and that is from experience with S corps, and having discussed similar things with our own team of advisors. I originally did not outline them because I do have other priorities including finding a house near NCSU.

So, basicly an S corp is a corporation that is taxed under Chapter 1: subchapter S of the IRS code. The big advantage is that the S corp doesn't have to pay payroll taxes....which means a lot....it is a large chunk of the cost of employment. So the income/loss are passed on to shareholders, and I believe by this description the shareholder is described as an individual, who would then report the income or loss on an individual income tax return. There are also limitations to passive income (>25% = taxation while >75% = relinquishment of S corp status.)

That also means there are variations in what different states define as a corporation, creating variations in what is eligible for consideration as an S corp. In some states corps actually face an additional tax as an S corp. Where things generally get tricky is when disbursements vs wages to a shareholder, particularly an individual shareholder. The IRS can recategorize disbursements as wages if it deems that the shareholder-employee is not paid a reasonable wage. The advantage is that S corps are not generally taxed on profits, but shareholders are taxed on shares of the profit (again the issue between disbursement/wage) and avoiding the FICA portions of the employee and employer.

In 2005 the IRS began investigations of 'failure to comply' specifically in S corps due to an ~$3 billion dollar gap in gross reports. The IRS rarely goes after anyone for what they currently have, but rather for future wages and income. The biggest gap seems to be people taking disbursements but not wages (or wages that do not meet the minimum for the work completed.) My experience with vehicles, offices, equipment, etc is that you can either depreciate them through the S corp or deduct actual expenses, not both....and that you can only do that on a percentage scale of the use of the vehicle for business purposes. Generally in a single shareholder S-corp, the single shareholder is and employee-owner...which tends to indicate a form of self employment (maybe there are ways around that but then one runs into the passive income issues.)

"To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and
necessary. An ordinary expenses one that is common and accepted in
your field of business. And necessary expenses one that is
appropriate and helpful for your business. - "Home Business Tax Deductions; Keep What You Earn." - NOLO

"Automobile expenses are deductible as a percentage of business use or
on a flat mileage basis." - "Car and Truck Expenses" pub 583, IRS p11

From form 1120: "His or her travel is for a bona fide business purpose and would otherwise be deductible by that individual."

Of course, that could all be wrong. I am just sharing my personal experiences and knowledge, the same as anyone else. I just caution anyone to back-check even the best paid advisors; there has to be enough knowledge to trust. Simply stated; trust but verify.

That is also why I said I don't know if it is because of what you said or how it was said... online leaves lots of room for misinterpretations and inability to verify interpretations quickly and efficiently. Either way, I don't care what any particular individual does, I do believe counter points are reasonable and if the information I have contradicts something, I believe that is worth mentioning. Again, I wasn't advising you to do anything, but for anyone who is reading your experience and thinking of this, call the IRS and get a writ concerning any areas that might be questionable. It makes life much easier, since the IRS is one of the few organizations where 'better to beg forgiveness than ask permission' rarely makes sense.
 
quick question... (sorry to slightly deviate from the above conversation).

so in comparing financial packages.. can i assume the next four years will all be about teh same? (i know that sometimes estimated costs increases, but then the loans will increase with it, but in terms of grants etc...)

and i was also sent a letter about a scholarship but then they didn't put it in the financial package i received. is that a fluke? aaaah so confused!

i think i want to go with a slightly pricier choice, but from what i can tell, the price discrepancy comes from a health insurance included int he estimated costs, and about a $3K difference in cost of living...
 
prevet09 said:
quick question... (sorry to slightly deviate from the above conversation).

so in comparing financial packages.. can i assume the next four years will all be about teh same? (i know that sometimes estimated costs increases, but then the loans will increase with it, but in terms of grants etc...)

and i was also sent a letter about a scholarship but then they didn't put it in the financial package i received. is that a fluke? aaaah so confused!

i think i want to go with a slightly pricier choice, but from what i can tell, the price discrepancy comes from a health insurance included int he estimated costs, and about a $3K difference in cost of living...
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I think it's more appropriate to assume that tuition will rise every year. On average, it does (and it can be quite significant...our tuition rise for next year I think will be 9%!!)

And as far as I know, Stafford loan money at least does not rise with that. You can get whatever amount of Stafford loans the federal government has set for medical professional students to get each year and no more (it's around $40K per year for stafford, some subsidized, some unsubsidized). But there are grad plus loans, too (also a federal loan). I don't know how those work...never used them...though I do know they have a higher interest rate than Stafford loans. Maybe you can just take more of the Grad plus loans to cover differences in expenses from year to year. Still, I'd check the GradPlus limits and rules before just assuming you can get the full amount of loan money you'll need.
 
ok, so here is my financial situation, and i am asking for advice. Tufts offered me loans to cover the estimated cost of attendance (about 57K), including the max for subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, and Grad Plus for the rest. Grad Plus has a higher interest rate, 7.9% i think. if their calculated cost of attendance is accurate for me, that's 240K in expenses over 4 years. i have about 40K in savings, probably will spend about 5K of that on a car. my mom is willing to explore the option of helping me buy a house.

i'm wondering what the best way is to use my savings. some options that come to mind are
-keep some as a slush fund in case of unexpected expenses, to avoid having to take out emergency loans
-use it for a down payment
-spent it my first two years instead of taking out Grad Plus loans (so take out 40K in Stafford + 17K savings)
-use it to pay off loan interest while in shool

which option(s) of these would result in the most long-term savings? or, what other information would i need to figure out the answer to that question?

thank you in advance! i know this is very specific to my circumstances, but i hope the discussion will benefit others too!
 
I think it's good to have some savings around. I keep around $3000 for emergencies. Depending on your situation (more dogs?) you may need more.

If you want to estimate your financial position at the end of four years, you have to calculate the financial flows. It's not easy to go into how to do that here, but any intro finance book will cover it. I think you can even find one online.

In general, down payments are more effective than paying interest as you go. Loan interest rates are always higher than savings rates, and unless you have a surefire way to make more than 7.9%, keeping it isn't going to pay off. On the other hand, it may be more useful to use as a down payment on your house.

Personally, I would question how much I need to live on. I currently live on less than $4200/semester. It looks like you're calculating around $10,000/semester living expenses.

Good luck!
 
Personally, from the start I would set aside a specific amount for an emergency fund. How much you will need depends a lot on you. Because we are now carrying 2 mortgages, my husband has diabetes, we have a business, and we have half a dozen pets, we have a lot held back as savings (half invested but liquidatable by the time we would progress through the other half.)

For housing, I would carefully consider whether or not I can resale when I need to. We just bought a house at 2004 prices (motivated seller) in a tight market (few houses for sale due to long term ownership) that needs minor updating (sold as is) to ensure that we will be able to sell it in 4 years. Our goal in ownership is not to make a good profit as to enable flexability so as long as we cover costs, we will be happy. It is very possible to buy then not be ble to sell. If we didn't need that flexability (working german shepherd lives with me) or have the skills to update the house before school starts, I am not sure we would have gone that route. We did consider condos/apartments/rentals as well, but the costs for what I wanted were more than the cost of our newest mortgage. So, I would need to calculate the affects a down payment would make on profit/loss selling in 4, 6, etc years. Also, renting is a possability, but can be hugely risky as well (we evicted tenants in NY 2 years ago....due to moving a pregnant GF in, against the terms of the lease, the tenants had a stay of eviction for 9 months....so they lived free for at total of a year, we were forced to cover all costs, including utilities, and they did massive damage to the house.)

I can't give much advice on grad plus loans (no experience), but paying off loan interest while in school can be very helpful. My knowledge there is limited because I haven't carried student loans in several years. If anyone you know has a trusted financial advisor, you might see if you can get a lower cost appointment. Send them all the info before hand, and ask them what is most advisable for you. Often the most time consuming part of financial advising is ferreting out all the details of the client, so if you are clear on what you have, what your options are, and what your priorities are, and send those ahead in emails, you can reduce the cost of appointments.

Sorry not able to give better, more specific advice.
 
projekt said:
You're awfully defensive. I was making a statement that regardless of what your advisors do for you, they are usually not liable for their own misinterpretations, anything beyond the fees you pay them. The rest of my comment was about documentation of the fact that the IRS made an explicit decision a 15 years or so ago to treat wealthy people with kid gloves and focus on small-time enforcement, usually of mistakes rather than actual fraud.

Personally, I wouldn't want the exposure as I went into vet school. If I have $20,000 and I have to pay $5000 in taxes, that's fine. It just means I have to take out $5000 more in loans. If I spend that $20000 and it turns out that I have to pay $7500 in taxes, penalties and interest two years later, then that's a real risk, and one I won't take. Technically, I can't take out student loans to pay that back.

So I'm just counterbalancing your advice. Your advisor might be perfect. Someone taking your advice might find an imperfect advisor and expose themselves to unmanageable risk.
Click to expand...

Yes, i was defensive. I interpreted the remarks about the audit and 'too good to be true' as a direct suggestion that i might be doing something less than appropriate. I do agree that people should so their research on advisors, just as they would do for someone providing their healthcare. Can you get burned? Absolutely. Advisors do have a fiduciary responsibility and are held accountable for certain types of advice they give. My guys have several designations behind their name - CPA, ChFC, CFP. Not that this guarantees they won't give bad/incorrect advice, but they do have licenses to lose and codes to uphold - much like a veterinarian does.

i am not so sure about the IRS treating the ultra wealthy with kid gloves anymore....seems as though we have a lot of them being indicted these days. Exposure is everywhere and there is nothing you can do to protect yourself 100%, but doing your due diligence is absolutely recommended. Your last sentence summed it up the best and would have best explained your first post.

Sorry for the out-of-norm rant...had been a pretty bad day. Lost a long time acquaintance who had been burned over 80% of his body. Was burning brush on a lot and the gas can blew up on him. The person who found him said he was begging to die. He lasted a week in the burn center in Augusta, GA. I was definitely a little touchy the other night.

Sumstorm- i appreciate your research/knowledge on the subject matter, but don't have the brain power to digest it at this point. Tax matters bore the bejesus out of me and that is exactly why i have placed my faith in my team. I hope someone here can benefit from the information.

Still not sure what your serious issues were unless it had to do with the vehicle since that is what you seemed to concentrate on. My vehicle is a minuscule deduction for me considering i work out of home and do not use my truck for work other than when i have colleagues and such in town or travel for work within driving distance.

I initially set up my S-Corp for protection. I am in a highly litigious industry (the saying is 'it's not if you will get sued, but when) and i wanted to protect my personal assets as much as possible since i am not married and everything is in my name. Nothing is foolproof, but I wanted to do as much as possible to prevent someone from piercing the corporate veil.

This conversation may be applicable to those going into private practice down the road. Your partner (or you) may make an error in surgery one day and get sued with a vengeance from a client. Being a small business owner is an exposure and i would want as much protection as legally possible in that instance.

Good info here for everyone, hopefully. At the very least, maybe it will stimulate some future consideration on some financial planning for their business.

Apologies to the OP for detour (again).
 
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WOW with the amount of debt for a 10 year repayment plan is not nearly as frightning as for a 30 year plan! I think I gagged when I saw that i would be paying more in interest that for school with a 30 year repayment schedule.

On a side note...so I have spent the last couple weeks obesessing about getting off the Davis waitlist. I kind of figured most IS people would accept, but, maybe there would be more OOSers who would decline due to finances. When I talked to admissions, apparently this year, there were only 3 OOS people who declined, but 14, IS people who have yet to respond. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!! I'm really worried that this is going to be that first freak year that they don't even take one person off the alternate list (historically they take 7-17.) And why have all these IS people not responded yet :scared:. Should I definitely go to Edinburgh if I don't get into Davis????

Ok, that was also off topic, but, this sort of seems like the thread for airing grievences. I'm stuck in the lab on a sunny Saturday waiting for an assay with a two hour incubation period (I know boo hoo), but, this thread has provided almost a full hour of entertaining reading. Thanks all :laugh:
 
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