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Hello all,
I am a single, first-year medical student in an MD-PhD program. It takes around 8 years to complete the program, starting with completing the first 2 years of medical school, then spending 3-5 years as a graduate student completing a PhD, then finishing the last 2 years of medical school. Tuition and fees for both medical and graduate school are covered by scholarship, and in addition to that I receive a living stipend. For the medical school years, my stipend is untaxed, as it is technically considered a scholarship. During the graduate school years I will be paid more like an employee and my stipend will be taxed.
I currently have about $700/month leftover after all living expenses are accounted for and would like to start investing, either in a low-fee Roth IRA or by paying back my student loans from undergrad, which total to about $30,000. One of my loans (~$7000) has a 6.8% interest rate, while the rest of them average out to about 4.3%. I was considering paying back my 6.8% interest loan over the course of this school year and then starting a Roth IRA through Vanguard or another low-fee company afterwards, but I can't help but think that in my unusual position it might be better to invest in a Roth now, when I don't have any taxable income, and then start paying back my student loans after I can (potentially) use the interest paid on them as a tax deduction (although since they would technically still be on deferral I might not get that).
Any thoughts on which strategy would be better? High interest loan, then Roth? Roth all the way through? Roth, then loans during grad school? Any advice appreciated!
I am a single, first-year medical student in an MD-PhD program. It takes around 8 years to complete the program, starting with completing the first 2 years of medical school, then spending 3-5 years as a graduate student completing a PhD, then finishing the last 2 years of medical school. Tuition and fees for both medical and graduate school are covered by scholarship, and in addition to that I receive a living stipend. For the medical school years, my stipend is untaxed, as it is technically considered a scholarship. During the graduate school years I will be paid more like an employee and my stipend will be taxed.
I currently have about $700/month leftover after all living expenses are accounted for and would like to start investing, either in a low-fee Roth IRA or by paying back my student loans from undergrad, which total to about $30,000. One of my loans (~$7000) has a 6.8% interest rate, while the rest of them average out to about 4.3%. I was considering paying back my 6.8% interest loan over the course of this school year and then starting a Roth IRA through Vanguard or another low-fee company afterwards, but I can't help but think that in my unusual position it might be better to invest in a Roth now, when I don't have any taxable income, and then start paying back my student loans after I can (potentially) use the interest paid on them as a tax deduction (although since they would technically still be on deferral I might not get that).
Any thoughts on which strategy would be better? High interest loan, then Roth? Roth all the way through? Roth, then loans during grad school? Any advice appreciated!
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