Student loans

[Meenah]

We have them too, from when I went back to school. Any extra $$ goes to pay extra on the mortgage, not the student loans. Our financial planner told us that in case of a financial emergency it would be better to have more equity in the home than a smaller student loan debt.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Don't feel bad LadyM! We're at over $500k if you add our house. Most days I feel horrifically guilty that I pay someone to watch my child when I could do it and that the reason I'm working is that I'm scared of debt. I'm scared I'm going to really regret not saying "F*ck it" to the debt and just quitting so I don't miss her babyhood but I can't bring myself to do it.

[MarissaNicole]

I want to say I'm really really happy for you all with these really low rates but there's a little part of me that wants to cry too. I know they say school debt is "good" debt but not when it's at INSANELY high rates. And the real kicker is that DH entered school just before the recession hit but they only adjust the rates every 5 years or something. So we're stuck with these insanely high rates while rates for everything else fell. I don't know why student loan rates don't float like market rates, it's so f***ing unfair.

It kills me that mortgage rates are a third of our student loan rated. But nothing we can do about it now.

Wife to PGY3

[houseelf]

It kills me that mortgage rates are a third of our student loan rated. But nothing we can do about it now.

I know, I am so tempted to wipe out a 6.5% loan with a second mortgage, but I'm betting that we will be in this house long term if I do that. I just can't say that right now. Le sigh. I effing hate that you can't refi already consolidated loans.

[Flynn]

We are close to paying DH's student loans off but we've been very aggressive lately. I give it 6 more months to a year max. We own one vehicle and are close to owning our second. We refinanced our house so our mortgage and interest rate are well below what we could be paying. Keep in mind we are on our second job and lost some serious cash when we sold our last house...but we DID sell and have continued to pay down his loans and save like crazy in retirement. The kids' have a good chunk of college $$ in various funds and we'll be more aggressive there after student loans are paid off.

I am still sick when I think of what we sold our old house for....but this is a much better situation for us all the way around. We are lucky in that regard.

[reciprocity]

we paid off my law school loans this year (which were around $250k when I graduated), thankfully we'll get out of med school with only about $20k for her, from undergrad and M1 (before we got married.)

My thinking is that we'll pay it off immediately upon graduation. I know that might not be the optimal thing to do, but we're pretty debt averse. A lot of this depends on what the family/living situation is at that time though (can't pay rent or buy diapers by saying "look how low by student loan balance is!")

[HouseofWool]

we paid off my law school loans this year (which were around $250k when I graduated), thankfully we'll get out of med school with only about $20k for her, from undergrad and M1 (before we got married.)

My thinking is that we'll pay it off immediately upon graduation. I know that might not be the optimal thing to do, but we're pretty debt averse. A lot of this depends on what the family/living situation is at that time though (can't pay rent or buy diapers by saying "look how low by student loan balance is!")

And my takeaway from this post? OOOOOH, they are thinking about kids - good our male members are procreating often enough!

[reciprocity]

We'll see.... There's a window in M4 after prelim interviews and before graduation where she might have enough flexibility. Time will tell...

[Thirteen]

We locked in his interest rate before it went up again. He owes about 180k, all federal, and we consolidated it on a 30yr extended fixed. I know we are paying more interest in the long run, but we felt better knowing that the monthly amount would always be the same and stay affordable. Better the devil you know...
And, he doesn't make the crazy money, but he has potential to increase his salary probably by 30k (take home) within the next 2 years. Other than that, we'd have to move to BFE to get a better pay rate.

Both cars will be paid off in 4 years, and we owe a comfy amount on the house that is on a traditional 30 yr. loan, with 4% rate.
3 more months of paying, and all credit card debt will be gone.

(I owe 23k from undergrad and grad school, which is consolidated at 3%, so NBD there).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thirteen]

We'll see.... There's a window in M4 after prelim interviews and before graduation where she might have enough flexibility. Time will tell...

Not to be completely inappropriate, but if you have some time, there's definitely room for that.
The Enabler would be very pleased.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[spotty_dog]

we paid off my law school loans this year (which were around $250k when I graduated), thankfully we'll get out of med school with only about $20k for her, from undergrad and M1 (before we got married.)

My thinking is that we'll pay it off immediately upon graduation. I know that might not be the optimal thing to do, but we're pretty debt averse. A lot of this depends on what the family/living situation is at that time though (can't pay rent or buy diapers by saying "look how low by student loan balance is!")

Way to go! We also escaped med school with loans in the low-five-figures. Hubby had some Series EE bonds coming mature in about that amount that his grandfather had bought for him when he was a baby. So as soon as he graduated he cashed in the bonds and paid off the loans. No regrets here, but we're also debt averse. Even the mortgage (15 year at 2.875%) hangs ominously over my head.

Here's some Bogleheadish advice on choosing whether to pay down loans or invest.

[Vishenka69]

We finished paying all the student loans 5 yrs after being done with training. We had about $100K total and started paying them off in residency.

DH (and most of his group) are nervous that their salaries will soon significally decrease, so he wanted to cut our debt as much as possible. Right now we only have our mortgage of a little over $300K.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9360 using Tapatalk

[reciprocity]

Not to be completely inappropriate, but if you have some time, there's definitely room for that.
The Enabler would be very pleased.

Not inappropriate at all, I appreciate all the input I can get! Really just a question of the luck of the draw at this point. You can be certain I'll keep everyone posted.

(sorry for the mini-hijack!)

[reciprocity]

Way to go! We also escaped med school with loans in the low-five-figures. Hubby had some Series EE bonds coming mature in about that amount that his grandfather had bought for him when he was a baby. So as soon as he graduated he cashed in the bonds and paid off the loans. No regrets here, but we're also debt averse. Even the mortgage (15 year at 2.875%) hangs ominously over my head.

Here's some Bogleheadish advice on choosing whether to pay down loans or invest.

Woah that link is serious.

Other than bits of CC debt that we pay regularly, her loans are the only debt we have (right now). A lot will depend on where we match (NYC will probably require a bit more liquidity than Cleveland...) So much up in the air right now, I'm just trying to go with the flow.

[GrayMatterWife]

How have you conquered your beast? What is your grand master plan?

DH had no loans because he was on a full MD-PhD scholarship.

I walked away from law school owing $110K. We had no kids, no mortgage, no other debt and owned our cars outright. I took a high paying job in private practice but did not improve our lifestyle at all (it actually went down, DH would claim). I wrote two checks to the loan company every month: one in the amount of the minimum principal/interest owed, then a second on additional principal. I basically used up my entire paycheck every month paying off the loan. I paid it off in less than two years.