Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

[ides]

Dh and I hope to qualify for this loan forgiveness program. So far their hasn't been a ton of information on how to go about it, make sure you are eligible, etc, however today I was looking into it again on the Dept of Ed website and found a page dedicated to it with forms to complete and send in to start tracking your eligibility (they suggest it be done each year and for each new employer) over the 10 year period. It will also confirm if and what loans are eligible for this plan. This program was started in 2007 so the first people to get loan forgiveness will be in 2017. Part of me thinks in 10 years from now the program will be gone so I shouldn't pay the minimum but another part of me hopes it will last cause, heck we'd save around 50k. We just started paying back our loans a couple of months ago. For others interested below is the link to the webpage with all the info:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans...what-must-i-do

[SuzySunshine]

My FSIL is doing this, she is an attorney and works for the government. She was with DOD and is now with FEMA. How much is the fee? I think it's worth a try.

[ides]

No fee. It's a federal program. I think its worth it for anyone with loans in medicine or other public services, as long as its still around after you've made 10 years of payments on your loans.

[oceanchild]

Thanks for finding that link!

We're hoping to do PSLF and have been making IBR payments since DH started residency in 2009. He doesn't think it'll end up saving us much money (our IBR payments are fairly high since I work), but hopefully some.

[Bittersweet]

We're hoping to do PSLF and have been making IBR payments since DH started residency in 2009.

Ditto. In fact, we specifically file our tax returns as "married filing separately" in order to qualify for IBR. It would be so nice if PSLF works out.

[ides]

We don't qualify for IRB but dhs consolidated loans are huge and scheduled to be paid off over 30yrs. I need to send in the form to verify his federal loans qualify, just to be certain.

[OrionGrad]

This might be old news, but I just noticed this article (linked on the White Coat Investor's blog) that says Public Service Loan Forgiveness is now being capped at $57,000. So, even if you make all your IBR payments and choose to work in a qualifying attending job after training, the government will only forgive up to $57,000 worth of your loan (versus everything that's left) after 10 years. They're also changing the way IBR works for married couples who've been filing taxes separately, but I'm not exactly sure how that is playing out now. Like I said, this might be old news, but I'd never heard of these changes before. Here's the article, in case anyone is interested:
http://www.edcentral.org/obama-admin...sed-repayment/

[WolfpackWife]

This might be old news, but I just noticed this article (linked on the White Coat Investor's blog) that says Public Service Loan Forgiveness is now being capped at $57,000. So, even if you make all your IBR payments and choose to work in a qualifying attending job after training, the government will only forgive up to $57,000 worth of your loan (versus everything that's left) after 10 years. They're also changing the way IBR works for married couples who've been filing taxes separately, but I'm not exactly sure how that is playing out now. Like I said, this might be old news, but I'd never heard of these changes before. Here's the article, in case anyone is interested:
http://www.edcentral.org/obama-admin...sed-repayment/

Even before DH started school he'd researched extensively loan repayment programs, etc. We had been counting on this since he got accepted because our ideal area for residency/fellowship/beyond has a nice concentration of non-profit hospitals in a small area. It just made sense to try to take advantage of this. Great, another dream bites the dust, it seems. I guess we could always just die and then not have to worry about debt, right?

Ah medicine. It becomes more and more worth it every day!! Where the fuck is the wine...

[WolfpackWife]

I did just find this in the comments of that article, if anyone feels this is worth signing (I never know if these really do anything but, it's worth a shot, I suppose)

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...udent/wkqnqBCH

[MAPPLEBUM]

all of these changes have passed??? i JUST qualified for IBR based solely on my income.


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[scrub-jay]

IBR still has some perks, we like that the govt pays for 3 years of interest on any subsidized loans unless I missed that being impacted too.

[WolfpackWife]

MB, I read it as a proposal, so I'm not sure if it's set in stone yet. Still, just the fact that it's proposed is so incredibly disappointing. Where's the incentive to dissuade new docs from running straight to private practice? Why is it even reasonably acceptable to expect doctors to remain in school loan debt until retirement? It's all so fucking sad and disheartening. Why oh WHY couldn't he have been an engineer??? Hell, even an MD/PhD at this point looks great because at least he could have gone to school for free.

[WolfpackWife]

IBR still has some perks, we like that the govt pays for 3 years of interest on any subsidized loans unless I missed that being impacted too.

I'll be honest, I am not great with this stuff so I may be understanding incorrectly but I think the IBR things that are changing is now dual income households are not allowed to file taxes separately - which led me to believe that currently, you ARE allowed to file separately so the IBR payments are based on the physician salary alone, instead of the entire household?

[OrionGrad]

I'll be honest, I am not great with this stuff so I may be understanding incorrectly but I think the IBR things that are changing is now dual income households are not allowed to file taxes separately - which led me to believe that currently, you ARE allowed to file separately so the IBR payments are based on the physician salary alone, instead of the entire household?

Yep. That's what I got out of the article, too.

[MAPPLEBUM]

Yes, I just went through this. C and I were married last May and I recently applied for IBR. As the law stands right now (or as of January 2014....I'll be calling the loan company this week for sure) If he and I file taxes separately they only consider my income. Since we had just moved across the country 2012 My income was paltry so without DH's resident salary being considered I qualified for a monthly loan payment of $0. I'm a musician, so my income will always be less than his. Especially when he finishes training. It's an incredible loophole I was looking forward to in 25 years.