Anonymous wrote:When can we crack down on universities that are literally making a killing at the expense of creating an entire these indentured servants? There should be a limit on grad school loans otherwise schools will continue to charge people these ridiculous Monopoly money tuition amounts underwritten by fed loans so guaranteed that they can jack up their administration sizes and salaries. Any school financial aid officer that allowed someone to take out over 100K in loans should lose their job! Banks would not be loaning this money if it could be discharged in bankruptcy. It has become the new debtor's prison, and we taxpayers are underwriting it all. It's disgusting.

OP isnt the only one who got caught up in a very cynical system in our country, and we all need to look carefully at how middle class kids are being Shuffled through the it and preyed upon by these supposed 'non-profits.' As a child of middle class parents who otherwise wouldn't have made it to the ivied it breaks my heart to say this but I think we may need to do away with the federal student loan system entirely if that's what it takes to break these mafia corporations masquerading as universities.

I could not agree more with this.

It is the existing system right now however, and parents and students need to plan accordingly.

But it is a shameful system and another example of corporate interests making money off the middle class, because of money in politics. Our representatives do not represent the people.

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Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.

28K is hard to live on and get to and from work and dress professionally. In DC, I'm not even sure how you could afford rent + food + commute + clothes for two people on 28K. But they could have done it on 60K, and still made HUGE dents in those numbers.

Of course it’s hard. The point is that they should have kept their lifestyle the same as prelawschool so they could pay off the loans. No mortgage or kids.

Ok but the kids are here now. So add childcare for two kids to the list above, and you think that’s feasible on $28k? No way.

Well they shouldn’t have had them yet. Sorry truth hurts.

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Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.

28K is hard to live on and get to and from work and dress professionally. In DC, I'm not even sure how you could afford rent + food + commute + clothes for two people on 28K. But they could have done it on 60K, and still made HUGE dents in those numbers.

Of course it’s hard. The point is that they should have kept their lifestyle the same as prelawschool so they could pay off the loans. No mortgage or kids.

Ok but the kids are here now. So add childcare for two kids to the list above, and you think that’s feasible on $28k? No way.

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Anonymous wrote:What's the balance of your retirement account?

Lower six figures, combined.

Then you subtract that from your liabilities and you are in even less debt than you think. You're not doing that badly, OP.

How could someone get through law school and not understand the basics of net worth? I took Accounting I as a freshman and learned all about assets minus liabilities as an 18-year-old.

Many people - including myself - graduated from law school and passed the bar while having very few life skills.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the balance of your retirement account?

Lower six figures, combined.

Then you subtract that from your liabilities and you are in even less debt than you think. You're not doing that badly, OP.

How could someone get through law school and not understand the basics of net worth? I took Accounting I as a freshman and learned all about assets minus liabilities as an 18-year-old.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.

28K is hard to live on and get to and from work and dress professionally. In DC, I'm not even sure how you could afford rent + food + commute + clothes for two people on 28K. But they could have done it on 60K, and still made HUGE dents in those numbers.

Of course it’s hard. The point is that they should have kept their lifestyle the same as prelawschool so they could pay off the loans. No mortgage or kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.

28K is hard to live on and get to and from work and dress professionally. In DC, I'm not even sure how you could afford rent + food + commute + clothes for two people on 28K. But they could have done it on 60K, and still made HUGE dents in those numbers.

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Anonymous wrote:OP needs to be more specific. What is the house worth and what did he pay for it? What's the exact student loan amount? I don't think the OP has any idea of what "net worth" means. We need to do the math for her.

Thanks for the assistance. $310,000 mortgage and "estimated" value of $425. Combined student loans are $575,000.

Pay off loans asap the interest alone is going to take over your finances like a nasty weed. You are not UMC until you get rid of those loans?!

Do not listen to the above advice. If (a) you and/or your partner are in PSLF-eligible jobs and (b) you have been getting your PSLF certifications, stay the course until you’ve done the 10-year service and get the loans forgiven. It will suck to have tight finances, but that is the optimal outcome short of a tripling of your household income.

OP, have you done this? If yes, how many years so far? I know two people doing this; it's allowed one to buy an apartment and have two kids, and the other to save for a down payment. (I'm in NYC, BTW, so buying anything is a big financial accomplishment.)

OP, do you have an emergency fund? If not, that's the first thing you should work on building up. Then switch to paying down the loans.

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Anonymous wrote:If you have two absolutely massive loans from law school and you're making a combined $220k, something is amiss.

Earn more money.

We're at $300k HHI with no student loans and two in daycare and we feel fine.

This! Kids coming out of college are asking for 60K+ these days. This is undergrad. The two of you are making $110K each. Most computer programmers who can't speak english make more than that and that is without the Student loan debt you have. You will need to get a job that pays you commensurate with your education.

I thought all top law school lawyers start off at 180K-ish. You guys should be at 300-400K HHI with that level of student debt (assuming you went to a top school)

This.

Agree, but sounds like BigLaw is out of reach for OP. They went to T2.

OP, I have no idea if you're still around. But if you are, I'd say this -- over $500K in student loans is bonkers and needs to be your #1 priority. If you and your husband are in jobs that are PSLF-eligible, that's great; stay in those jobs until you get your loans forgiven! You will be much more comfortable at that point.

If your jobs are not PSLF-eligible (or if you refinanced your loans into a non-eligible loan), consolidate and refinance into the lowest rate possible. Stop eating out. If you are paying for a car or two, get rid of the car note however you can -- if it means going down to one car, so be it. Or sell both cars and use the cash to buy something used and reliable. (Think Honda, Toyota. I personally drive a 2002 Hyundai and it still works just fine to get me from point A to point B.) I would not even worry about saving money for your kids' college at this point -- just pay off your own student loan debt as fast as you possibly can. Is it possible for you to live off of one income and devote the other income to paying off debt, for example?

You are probably better off owning your home tax-wise, but you may want to consider whether it would be better to sell your home, take the equity and pay down some of your student loan debt, and rent in a cheaper place until you've paid things off.

I have a student loan over $100K and I am also a government lawyer. I am PSLF-eligible, though, and I'm over halfway in for loan forgiveness. My DH and I live very frugally on our HHI of $175K. Two cars that are fully paid off, a mortgage that is $1250/month, daycare that costs about the same, no eating out, having friends over for dinner and cooking meals and opening a bottle of wine instead of going out for happy hour, free museums and parks for entertainment for our toddler, no vacations. These are the costs of being in your 30s these days -- student loan payments cost the same as a mortgage cost the same as daycare. It's hard. But it will be easier once your student loan is under control or paid off. I sincerely hope you are eligible for PSLF or else you will likely be paying that student loan off for the rest of your working career.

Best of luck to you, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.

+1. This is what we did to payoff $150k in tuition in a year and a half.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have two absolutely massive loans from law school and you're making a combined $220k, something is amiss.

Earn more money.

We're at $300k HHI with no student loans and two in daycare and we feel fine.

This! Kids coming out of college are asking for 60K+ these days. This is undergrad. The two of you are making $110K each. Most computer programmers who can't speak english make more than that and that is without the Student loan debt you have. You will need to get a job that pays you commensurate with your education.

I thought all top law school lawyers start off at 180K-ish. You guys should be at 300-400K HHI with that level of student debt (assuming you went to a top school)

This.

Anonymous wrote:If you have two absolutely massive loans from law school and you're making a combined $220k, something is amiss.

Earn more money.

We're at $300k HHI with no student loans and two in daycare and we feel fine.

This! Kids coming out of college are asking for 60K+ these days. This is undergrad. The two of you are making $110K each. Most computer programmers who can't speak english make more than that and that is without the Student loan debt you have. You will need to get a job that pays you commensurate with your education.

I thought all top law school lawyers start off at 180K-ish. You guys should be at 300-400K HHI with that level of student debt (assuming you went to a top school)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
They have $575K in student loans between the two of them. There are cheaper degrees, or better jobs. But there is no argument that justifies a $300K loan that you will never pay off. They'd have been better off not going to college.

+1 there are lots of trade jobs out there that need workers, this is what the lower and middle classes should focus on for now.

If they were making a salary of 28K before law-school they should have continued living on that amount after law school to be able to pay off their debt.
It would have been a few years of deprivation but they would have been free and clear. I think their mentality was that they will should live better because they were making mega bucks. There is NO REASON that they cannot become very frugal and break the cycle. They need to be free of debt so that their children have the advantage of not having to pay for college.