Loan Repayment from Private Practice - - advice?

Hi everyone,

Quick question. My husband and I can pay off his loans during the next four years (end of his residency, chief resident year, beginning of gastroenterology fellowship) while both maxing out our 401ks and IRAS and paying our mortgage - - although not upgrading to a bigger house, maintain our relatively frugal habits, etc. My question is that dh has heard from people that many private practices will offer 10-30k in loan repayment. The last thing I want to do is pay off a loan that someone else will pay for free!! Yet, it seems to me somewhat unlikely that my dh will get loan repayment offers from 1) a private practice; 2) in an urban center (the odds are about 80% we will stay in a metro area due to my work); and 3) in a good-paying specialty? Any thoughts on whether loan repayment is common and if so, how much is generally offered? Also, for those of you with loans do you wish you had paid them off quickly or dragged them out - - dh "only" has 90k at 3.5%. Thanks.

I don't know the answer to this. I wonder if loan repayment as a benefit of employment would be taxable income?

[Phoebe]

I am not sure who common loan repayment is in terms of private practice or the amount. My husband received a loan (signing bonus) through his job for student loan repayment. The loan is paid back over a 60 month period basically 1/60th taken out of his paycheck every month. Since it was a loan, it wasn't considered income and wasn't taxed. The payments extending over five years pretty much signs you to a 5 year contract because if you leave before the loan is repaid, you must repay the unpaid amount.

Jennifer