How much do you owe in student loans?

Paging Flagpole.

What is your monthly payment amount and for how long?

Think about it like this..

You want to pay them off because it's an expense, but if you pay them off early, do you get a discount?

Why not just let the money sit in your account and get you (shitty) interest versus sitting in theirs?

What are your monthly expenses other than student loans?

Have you considered putting your "commission" checks towards the student loans?

You are right though, $8K is NOT a lot at all!

tldr -- 30 years old, started with $37k, graduated 2 years ago, down to $18k. Slowed down payments to take care of other priorities.

My wife and I made $65k combined after I graduated, and we paid $16k off that first year. Then we had a baby, relocated for a new job, and bought a house. I make $85k + 10% bonus and she stays home. Had to take out $5k for a 2nd car and paid $5k in medical costs for birth. So now I am making minimum pmts. Car will be paid off in 4-6 months, and then I'll switch back to paying down student loans.

Half my loans are 3%, the other half 6-6.5%. Once I pay off the high interest ones I will make minimum pmts the rest of the way.

Also I keep a few thousand in the bank for emergencies. I could wipe out the car loan today, but then I'd be exposed if a big expense came up.

Geez. Don't complain about 8k.

I graduated law school with 216k of debt as the principal (nearly 600k with interest over the 25 year repayment plan). My first few years I was just barely making monthly payments (which were effectively paying interest and barely chipping away at the principal). I just recently started paying a little more because of increased income. I hope to pay it off in another 10 years or so (and I've been paying for 5 years). I'll be just over 40 years old.

Don't go to law school because you think it'll be lucrative. It's not. This is from someone in the top 1/3 of his class in top 20 undergrad and law schools. Go because you have a passion for something. I do and it's still worth it.

Currently have $240k left. Wife and I started with $320k. My wife finished her loans last month so just have mine left. I went to med school and Im a resident currently. Grossing $135k right now, I graduate in 1.5 years, salary will go up when Im practicing. I figure Ill make $7k-8k per month coming out and based on that and my wifes income Ill be done with my loans in 3 years. Monthly expenses about $4k per month.

The way I think of it:

To pay off my loans in 10 years Id be paying $2700 per month for 10 years! Why not get that taken care of in 2 years after I graduate and put $2700k into investments each month for the extra 8 years? Make compound interest work for me, not against me.

Ill have a similar opinion on paying off my mortgage early. When you have no payments you have more money to invest with. Seems like common sense to me. Plus im not struggling, you learn to deal with contentment. You realize materials dont make you happy, but applying goals and accomplishing them does.

Combined my wife and I have about $520k, we pay more on interest than our house mortgage per month...its depressing. We still live comfortably, just have pretend we live off one salary, the pther is mostly taxes and loans. Main thing it affected was our home loan. Had a tough time convincing the bank that our credit is good despite such a high salary to debt ratio. Future income is high and secure but there needs to be a better system then a loan officer jist puahong a button on a computer to understand someones complete credit risk.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Paging Flagpole.

What is your monthly payment amount and for how long?

Think about it like this..

You want to pay them off because it's an expense, but if you pay them off early, do you get a discount?

Why not just let the money sit in your account and get you (shitty) interest versus sitting in theirs?

What are your monthly expenses other than student loans?

Have you considered putting your "commission" checks towards the student loans?

You are right though, $8K is NOT a lot at all!

My monthly payment is only $105. You can do the math for how long that would take if I followed it, but I'm paying off more. Just paid off $450 today.

If I let the money sit in my account then yes I will make (Shitty) interest, but the loans also accrue interest (not shitty) that I also need to pay. So ultimately I'm losing money by letting the loans just sit there. Would you agree?

Monthly expenses:

Food ($250+) approximation

Rent (only $350 since I now have a roommate)

Phone (~$100)

Time Warner Cable and Electric ($100+ depending on month)

I think I answered everything.

I am interested in knowing how many people chose private or out-of-state public schools over in state public schools, or did you or your family attempt to save *anything* prior to college. I get that grad programs can be expensive, but I have come across so many examples that would fit in the thread "Why do somewhat poor people send their kids to private or out-of-state colleges?"

NYkidwithloans wrote:

I'm a recent grad and trying to pay off my loans. I have a decent job for a recent grad, making 36k a year with commission in New York State. But I still have $8,000 in student loans and it seems like it taking forever to get rid of them.

Anyways, I'm curious about other people age/loans. If you have none, at what age did you finally pay them off. Was it worth it or are your loans crippling you in life. I feel like millennials make less and have more loans so I'm interested to hear how it's personally effecting people.

*I do realize 8k is not a lot of loans compared to some.

what are the rates on the student loans? any other debt? savings?

depending on your financial situation you are most likely better paying the minimums and maximizing IRAs while youre young and poor.

This is true... in theory. OP should be putting something... anything... into retirement. But there are other reasons to pay off debt early.

Peace of mind

Risk aversion

Wants to get married some day

Etc.

When you're young and have minimal expenses, might as well knock out that debt. It'll feel great to have it off your shoulders for the rest of your life.

I went to an in state public school that is ranked top 20 in engineering.

I graduated with only 15k in student debt thanks to scholarships and working during the summer.

Currently in a PhD program at another state school with good engineering and a 30k stipend.

I was fortunate to make $25/hr as an intern this summer and now only have 9k left in debt.

Plan is to pay off my debt before I finish my PhD.

Have started an IRA too.

I'm not sure what the rates are on my student loans. I honestly just focus on paying at least the minimum every month. I know my parents helped make sure that I have the "good" loans that don't accrue as much interest or something like that.

I have no other debt. I have minimal savings of $2500 in the bank right now. So I'm not exactly living check to check but at the same time that's nothing if something bad happens. (I do have a brand new car that my Grandfather gave me last year - it's worth ~ $20,000.00) I graduated college with pretty much 0 in the bank having put most of my money towards paying off my college debt as I went.

Just trying to build the foundation right now for future success.

I finished up with about $35k in loans and it took me approximately 10 years to pay them off.

Your loan payment just becomes another monthly expense. It will always suck watching that money disappear each month, but you will get it paid down and your education was a worthy investment.

My sister in law took a different approach, she just stopped making payments because she claimed she couldn't afford them. Now, in her 40's, she still has tons of student loan debt and an astounding amount of accrued interest. Her credit is a mess and she'll still be paying on her loans well into her 50s.

The best advice I can give you younger guys is to get those loans paid off as soon as you can.

Engineer light wrote:

I went to an in state public school that is ranked top 20 in engineering.

I graduated with only 15k in student debt thanks to scholarships and working during the summer.

Currently in a PhD program at another state school with good engineering and a 30k stipend.

I was fortunate to make $25/hr as an intern this summer and now only have 9k left in debt.

Plan is to pay off my debt before I finish my PhD.

Have started an IRA too.

I have a good friend at North Western Mutual. He wants me to invest in life insurance, but I could also do an IRA I guess. What are the differences? He's my good friend so I trust him, but I'm curious if you have an opinion on this. Thanks

I think its approx £3,600 but havent heard from the loans company for 8 years so im pretty sure its void?!

Graduated undergrad in 2011 w/ $75k in loans. Lived at my parents and paid off all loans in about 2 and a half years. Didn't pay my parents rent and had minimal expenses.

Income

Year 1: 50k,

Year 2: 56k

Year 3: 75k

Live in New York. The key is to pay as much as you possibly can towards your loans. My student loan interest rates were about 6-7%, so paying them off quickly definitely saved me a lot of money.

Once I paid off my loans, I financed a 50k bmw but I also earn significantly more money now.

So sick of hearing doctors and lawyers complain about student debt. If your salary 10 years after graduating is greater than the student debt you had at graduation, you have nothing to complain about.

About 20k, but I plan on paying it off in a year after graduation. I hate interest.

waat wrote:

So sick of hearing doctors and lawyers complain about student debt. If your salary 10 years after graduating is greater than the student debt you had at graduation, you have nothing to complain about.

you need to look at the ave salaries in those professions.

they are no where near the loan obligations

NYkidwithloans wrote:

I have a good friend at North Western Mutual. He wants me to invest in life insurance, but I could also do an IRA I guess. What are the differences? He's my good friend so I trust him, but I'm curious if you have an opinion on this. Thanks

Lol you're "good friend" is using you. He'll earn 50% commission on your life insurance premium. I did an internship with NW Mutual, am familiar with their products, and even still have term life through them. They are a great company, but DO NOT use life insurance as a primary investment vehicle. Ever.

Just look at it this way: 8-10% returns in the stock market vs. 5% returns on life insurance.

Put your money in a 401k or IRA. When you're putting 15-20% into those, then you can consider life insurance. But it's still a loser vs. the open market.