Long time reader, first time poster hoping to fully understand my situation. I just matched and will begin my intern year here in a few months. Fortunately, my passions have led me into one of the higher paying specialties, and I'm not sure if future earning potential/expectations should or should not have any influence in my current decisions (my thinking is "no," be smart regardless of what I expect to earn in the future).
I have $242k in med school debt with another $29k from grad school. The loan breakdown is as follows:
Grad:
Med:
I'll spend 5yrs in residency with a 6th yr in fellowship. Some general advice I have been given is to consolidate all of the loans once I graduate this May, and sign up for PSLF (and thus IBR) and forego the grace period to get as many certified $0/mo payments as possible. However, since my fellowship yr and/or first several practicing years might not be at a 501c, I might lose eligibility at that time.
However, couldn't I still do this route (just in case I end up at a 501c for 6 years of training + 4 years of practice, and then forgiven) in order to still be on IBR during my residency years, and then if I fall out of eligibility, just refinance and aggressively pay them down over 2-3yrs?
Question 2: I'm having difficulty truly understanding if consolidating is a good move for my situation or not, can anyone shed some light on this and give a recommendation?
Question 3: Let's say I don't sign up for PSLF at all, which would be the better decision between IBR, PAYE, RePAYE, or forbearance (this screams "bad decision" to me, but the devil on my shoulder is saying "you'll make plenty of money after training, don't stress about payments during residency. But the thought of adding another $100k in interest makes me want to vomit because I'm frugal anyway). From what I gather, PAYE seems to be the best since my spouse's income is not taken into consideration (vs REPAYE) and capitalized interest is capped (vs uncapped IBR).
Worth noting: my non-medical spouse makes $45k pretax and has no undergrad/grad student loans. We have one child.
I'm leaning towards taking the advice of consolidating everything to make it concise and in one spot, while signing up for PSLF (just in case I stay at a 501c long enough), and then refinancing and aggressively paying them down if I leave a 501c. I'm just hoping my understanding of all of this is correct.
Many thanks in advance to any and all those who help, not only on my question but every question in the forums. This site is an absolute savior.
I have $242k in med school debt with another $29k from grad school. The loan breakdown is as follows:
Grad:
- Direct Sub: $17k, 6.8%
- Direct UnSub: $12k, 6.8%
Med:
- Direct UnSub: $176k, avg rate of 5.69%
- Direct Grad PLUS: $54k, avg 6.69%
- AMA-ERF: $3k, 7% with one year grace and 3 year deferment during which no interest accrues
- Institutional car loan: $9k, 6%
I'll spend 5yrs in residency with a 6th yr in fellowship. Some general advice I have been given is to consolidate all of the loans once I graduate this May, and sign up for PSLF (and thus IBR) and forego the grace period to get as many certified $0/mo payments as possible. However, since my fellowship yr and/or first several practicing years might not be at a 501c, I might lose eligibility at that time.
However, couldn't I still do this route (just in case I end up at a 501c for 6 years of training + 4 years of practice, and then forgiven) in order to still be on IBR during my residency years, and then if I fall out of eligibility, just refinance and aggressively pay them down over 2-3yrs?
Question 2: I'm having difficulty truly understanding if consolidating is a good move for my situation or not, can anyone shed some light on this and give a recommendation?
Question 3: Let's say I don't sign up for PSLF at all, which would be the better decision between IBR, PAYE, RePAYE, or forbearance (this screams "bad decision" to me, but the devil on my shoulder is saying "you'll make plenty of money after training, don't stress about payments during residency. But the thought of adding another $100k in interest makes me want to vomit because I'm frugal anyway). From what I gather, PAYE seems to be the best since my spouse's income is not taken into consideration (vs REPAYE) and capitalized interest is capped (vs uncapped IBR).
Worth noting: my non-medical spouse makes $45k pretax and has no undergrad/grad student loans. We have one child.
I'm leaning towards taking the advice of consolidating everything to make it concise and in one spot, while signing up for PSLF (just in case I stay at a 501c long enough), and then refinancing and aggressively paying them down if I leave a 501c. I'm just hoping my understanding of all of this is correct.
Many thanks in advance to any and all those who help, not only on my question but every question in the forums. This site is an absolute savior.
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