Reply to If you took out six figure student loans for a professional degree, what was your strategy

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[quote=Anonymous]Lived frugally in a group house until I met my spouse. Made bare minimum payments to my student loans on an income-driven repayment plan, didn’t touch the principal balance in anticipation of PSLF. Stay on the PAYE plan, as it does not factor in spouse’s income for minimum monthly payment. REPAYE forces you to account for spouse’s income, so if you’re dual income and get married very good chance your minimum monthly payment will double. PSLF is basically a game with rules and there’s ways to take advantage of the rules. For example, if you got laid off, you get them to recalculate minimum payment based on little to no income, then that holds for 12 months until you need to recertify income. Meanwhile, you get another PSLF qualifying job at normal salary and get PSLF month credits while paying a super low monthly interest payment.  Same thing with ensuring you are in an IDR that doesn’t count spouses income.

Meanwhile Saved for house downpayment and maxed out my Thrift & 401K. Bought house with spouse for $900K in pre-pandemic years, 15% downpayment. Refinanced 4x, keeping our 2.5% 30Y mortgage forever. Paid cash for engagement ring & wedding. Paid cash for a boring dependable new car. All of this was our own money.

Got my slate wiped clean by PSLF recently, six figures forgiven. Took advantage of $0 creditable months during COVID. All in, I paid back around $60K in interest to the Dept of Ed over 7.5 years. COVID payment pause added $30K to my net worth.

If I quit today, my pension would pay out $3500/monthly at age 62. Thrift/401K balances currently around $400K, bank accounts around $160K liquid, backdoor Roth of $60K. This is just my own accounts, spouse has their own money and has always made more than me.

I have a nicer QOL and higher current net worth than my friends who are associates in Big Law who make close to $400K. They pay $3K in student loans every month and it will take them YEARS. They also have a big lifestyle, mostly single so don’t have dual income, nice apartments they rent, etc. If they make partner, they will obviously overtake us.

I’m pretty much at the highest level in govt before I can go private sector.[/quote]

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