What were your student loans and how long did it take you to pay them off?

[juniordentist]

Trying to get an idea of what is achievable

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Don’t take out more than double the median salary

 

[cmsmith85]

It all depends on your approach. Do you want to save up for retirement while paying them off, or throw all extra money towards it?
I graduated in 2016 with 512k in loans and was on track to pay them off after 5 and a half years, but I decided to go back to specialize. I ended up saving up for living expenses instead of doing loans and started residency with 270k left and then took out more loans for residency. I'm back up to 525k now, but I don't know if I want to attack them as aggressively as I did before residency. I'll probably save up for retirement and do a 7-8 year loan payoff this time around.

 

[princeafrica]

Don’t take out more than double the median salary

sheesh...$240-300k is about to be near impossible in next few years without scholarship

 

[SirBrotherJam]

Wife had 275k. Paid it back in about 7 years. We refinanced and I was paying faster than the minimum loan. More into principal and I personally don't like to owe.

 

[Lemillion]

120-125K coming out of dental school (in-state), no loans for peds residency since it was a paid program. Took advantage of the the interest freeze during the covid and decided to go all in on paying it. Paid off in about 1.5 years.

 

[cmsmith85]

120-125K coming out of dental school (in-state), no loans for peds residency since it was a paid program. Took advantage of the the interest freeze during the covid and decided to go all in on paying it. Paid off in about 1.5 years.

That's incredible! It's good to know dental school can still be affordable for some. Good job getting into an affordable in-state school!

 

[Cold Front]

Trying to get an idea of what is achievable

Graduated in 2010. 285k, all federal. I opted for the graduated 25 years repayment plan, but focused on putting hard earned money to open 3 dental offices first 5 years out of school.

I’ve been paying the regular monthly amount for 10 years until 2020. Then POTUS froze the payments from 2020 until this summer, maybe longer - so I didn’t make payments the last 3 years. I can see them extending the current frozen payments period once again for additional 6 months, through Jan 2024. I’m pretty sure the frozen period counts towards repayment plans.

I’m at a point now where I’ve 11-12 years of my repayment period left. There are even talks that the 25 yrs repayment plan will be reduced to 20 years by current administration, so I would only have 5-6 years remaining if that goes through - and I think it will. So I will just ride it out for few more years… specially if the government continues to freeze payments. Eventually I will have to pay taxes once the debt is forgiven. Probably less than $50k at some future adjusted inflation tax bracket.

The debt is depreciating fast in value with the current high inflation, and cash today is king during recession fears. I wouldn’t recommend this path to others unless you follow the economy very closely.

 

[D1Bound]

120-125K coming out of dental school (in-state), no loans for peds residency since it was a paid program. Took advantage of the the interest freeze during the covid and decided to go all in on paying it. Paid off in about 1.5 years.

I’d be curious to know what school. I’d think this only possible living for free at a state school

 

[rotichawal]

I’d be curious to know what school. I’d think this only possible living for free at a state school

I graduated about 2 years ago with a hair less than 200k in loans from a state school. Didn't live for free, but I was in a lower cost of living city comparatively.

 

[charlestweed]

I owed $155k (DDS + ortho) and my wife owed $308k (DDS + perio). We both worked 6 days/wk right after graduation. We paid off our student loan debt in 5 years. But at the time when we paid off student loan debt, we acquired a much bigger debt…..$1.6 million (home loan + a practice loan)….and we bought the house at the wrong time, in 2006, right before the housing market crash. Our total debt later climbed to as high as $2.4 million because we took advantage of the low home prices (due to the housing market crash) to purchase 3 more properties. It took me 20 years of working non-stop to pay everything off….from age 29 to 49. I am still working at 51 but it is more enjoyable now because I don’t have to worry about the debt repayments anymore.

 

[Thehighwind87]

Trying to get an idea of what is achievable

250-300k I don’t remember. Took me about 3-4 years to pay them off. I will be totally debt free practice, house in about 3 years. Took me about 15 years give or take. Plan on working an extra 5 years maybe 10. That will be about 15-20 year dental career which I think is more than enough dentistry. I’m currently in year 10.

I mean I could theoretically pay everything off right now but I’m putting my money that this market dip is gonna make me more money in the long term. After all loans are at 3%.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

250-300k I don’t remember. Took me about 3-4 years to pay them off. I will be totally debt free practice, house in about 3 years. Took me about 15 years give or take. Plan on working an extra 5 years maybe 10. That will be about 15-20 year dental career which I think is more than enough dentistry. I’m currently in year 10.

I mean I could theoretically pay everything off right now but I’m putting my money that this market dip is gonna make me more money in the long term. After all loans are at 3%.

Market overbought atm

 

[Thehighwind87]

Market overbought atm

Def up for debate. But hey I had a positive return 7% total for 2022, and up currently up YTD 20%. When you are swing trading in the millions it adds up to alot.

Regardless I know this isn't a investing forum- but this is my opinion: My thoughts: 2022 year of fear inflation rate hikes. 2023 year of return to normalization- mild rolling recession in certain sectors with a slow climb back to ATH for 2024 election.

2024 Stock Recovery, 401k Recovery, Covid pandemic treated, Fed becomes Neutral, Perhaps treaty in Ukraine/Russia, Good economic recovery while everyone has a job with raises, and finally BEATING inflation back to 2%.


I mean this is a picture perfect win for 2024 incumbents. I'm rolling with the punches, and hope I can make some good returns. So far this year has been amazing. But of course everything could crash...and well I'll be retiring ALOT later. LOL. But I think my stop losses will be hit before that happens.

 

[charlestweed]

I am not very good at predicting the future and US economy. That's why I don't invest in the risky stock market. For me, paying off all the debts asap while putting away the maximally allowed amount in the 401k is a safer route. My cpa had repeatedly told me not to pay off my home mortgage too fast but I didn't listen to him and did the exact opposite. It's much faster to build wealth with my dental income. All of my rental investments have given me a nice passive income but it's no nowhere near what I earn from practicing ortho.

 

[Thehighwind87]

I am not very good at predicting the future and US economy. That's why I don't invest in the risky stock market. For me, paying off all the debts asap while putting away the maximally allowed amount in the 401k is a safer route. My cpa had repeatedly told me not to pay off my home mortgage too fast but I didn't listen to him and did the exact opposite. It's much faster to build wealth with my dental income. All of my rental investments have given me a nice passive income but it's no nowhere near what I earn from practicing ortho.

Yeah, trading in and out is not for everyone. I think putting away money into indexes is still the best in general but everyone wants to find the next Tesla or apple… so I’ll keep searching…

 

[Lemillion]

That's incredible! It's good to know dental school can still be affordable for some. Good job getting into an affordable in-state school!

Thank you! Very blessed to have gotten in.

 

[Lemillion]

I’d be curious to know what school. I’d think this only possible living for free at a state school

UT-Houston! Tuition was 30-35K if I recall correctly at the time? Before other fees and what not.

And to be fair, most of my classmates were in the 200-250K debt range. My parents had some discretionary income and bought a condo by the school during the down years (2012/13) as a way to save money from rent (~$1,000 a month). Living costs were just for monthly HOA/maintenance fees and utilities. Parents sold it after I graduated and made a return on their investment. Thankful that my parents were willing to do that for me during dental school.