Need to refinance but cash is limited

[Thepoordentist]

I am about to join a practice in Texas. I am currently living in UT. I have worked as an associate here and have been on IBR since graduation due to having some undergrad FFEL loans. I had considered just paying the IBR for the 25 yrs then paying the taxes on it. Now that I will be moving and taking over that practice by the end of the year and my income will dramatically increase, I need to consider refinancing my loans. My question is after refinancing, how easy is it to get a financial forbearance for 6 months so I actually have money to make the transition to my new job?

[ArkyDore]

You probably will not qualify for financial forbearance. You have been out of school for a while. If you cannot find room in your budget to pay your loans now, you probably ever won't be able to. The first step is committing to paying down the loans regardless of the interest rate that you are paying.

[Thepoordentist]

Maybe you didn't read the part in my post where it says I am paying my loans. IBR is all I can afford with my current income. A state and job change will complicate my budget. I am currently on financial forbearance and would like to continue in that state until the transition is over to have liquidity for the short term only. I also need to refinance my 400k in 6% interest.

[ArkyDore]

I think we are coming from different perspectives because we have different baselines since my wife is currently in residency while you finished your degree and are practicing. If you have 400k in student loans, I would be expecting myself to live on income between 50-75k since 400k is a serious amount of money. My wife and I are living on less than 50k (by choice) with 350k in loans.

Since you didn't give numbers, I'll just throw a few out there.

130k income

25k taxes and social security

11-16k IBR/PAYE

Disposable income 90k

I don't see how you can't make room in your budget if you were living like a resident. Live on 40-50k while saving all additional money towards additional loan payments or transition money. It's probably not what you pictured coming out of school, but 400k is a serious number.