How much do you owe in student loans?

Join the Army, they'll repay up to $65k.

Alan

I graduated with 75k in loans, total yearly income went like this (salary bumped on roughly a 6 month basis which is why I'm using yearly gross income instead):

2013: ~25k due to graduating in May, so only 7 months of work.

2014: 50k

2015: 65k

2016: 78k

2017: Salary bumped from 73k to 98k at the end of fall 2016 so it should be somewhere in that range or just over due to another raise during the year.

Loans are now at 55k. I pay just over the minimum and put a bunch into my 401k/IRAs per year. Should have my loans paid off in 2-2.5 years while also putting a ton into 401k contributions.

If your loans are a lower rate than what you expect to make in the market, just pay the minimum and use that money to invest instead.

NYkidwithloans wrote:

Yes he is my good friend and I realize he would make a commission from what I contribute. He's starting out so I thought it'd be a nice way to help him as well as invest. Also the risk is lower in the life insurance unlike the stock market.

It may be lower risk, but putting your money in FDIC-insured 0.1% money markets is even less risky. What happens if NW Mutual goes under?

Ultimately it's up to you. It is not a good investment, and you'll be paying $100/mo minimum for whole life insurance. Your friend is just starting out? Then odds are he won't be in the business long. This is a very good article on the topic:

The risk in a 35-year mutual fund investment is minimal, anyway. Look at Vanguard if your employer doesn't offer a 401k or matching options.

Started with ~$36k with the first payment due almost exactly 2 years ago, right now I'm just under $17k, though in September I took out a $16k car loan that I'm now also making payments on.

I'm making around $30k right now but still live at home (just got hired full time last May) so almost all of my money goes towards payments (I'll probably start really looking for an apartment as soon as I get a promotion/different job as I'm currently looking at new jobs all over the place). Even though I have a pretty bleh job and wasn't employed regularly before that, I feel like I'm better off financially than a lot of my peers (even if I'm lacking in direction/specific career goals).

I've kept track of my monthly payments in Excel and here are my yearly totals since June 2013 (when I started my first full-time job after grad school):

Total student loan debt upon graduation -- $85,807.78

Private loans -- $53,285.78 (10%+ before refinancing to 3.75%)

Government loans -- $25,000.00 (5.80%-6.55%)

Accrued interest (freshman undergrad to end of grad school) -- $7,522.00

Current debt -- $52,004

Repayment start date -- June 2013 (3.5 years ago)

YEARLY PAYMENTS (Total...Principal...Interest...% Principal ... Salary)

2013 -- $2,503 ... $1,854 ... $649 ... 74.1% ... $56,500

2014 -- $6,783 ... $4,114 ... $2,669 ... 60.7% ... $58,500

2015 -- $8,927 ... $5,661 ... $2,636 ... 63.4% ... $61,500

2016 -- $8,166 ... $5,882 ... $2,334 ... 72.0% ... $67,000 (laid off for 2.5 months before new job)

SINCE JUNE 2013

Total -- $25,799

Principal -- $17,511 (67.9%)

Interest -- $8,288 (32.1%)

LOANS (before interest)

Undergrad loans -- $55,250.00

Grad school loans -- $23,035.78

Total student loans -- $78,285.78

Accrued interest (freshman undergrad to end of grad school) -- $7,522.00

Total student loan debt upon graduation -- $85,807.78

I also started making $200ish/month payments as soon as I started grad school in September 2011 with part of my small stipend so I could prevent the interest from growing while I was in grad school for 2 years. If you include those small payments plus a $3,000 lump sum payment right before I got my first job in June 2013, I've paid these amounts since May 2011:

Total -- $41,730.50

Principal -- $33,442.49

Interest -- $8,288.01

Gen X kids had loans too wrote:

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.

Agreed. Just think of it as a routine monthly expense, and you'll get used to it. Before you know it, it's gone. Don't look at it as throwing money away, as it was a sound investment.

I started with about $15k after graduation, and it hasn't taken very long to pay it off. However, I have a few friends that took on $75k+ for not very marketable degrees. They are working fairly low-paying jobs, and I feel for them because it probably seems overwhelming.

$8k is nothing, my man. It'll be gone in a couple years.

62k with a year still left in undergrad

Unwisechoices wrote:

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?"

My undergrad was 14k a yr for tuition; highest public school tuition in nation. Still highly ranked and a good value in many ways.

Medical school was a public one and I went to the least expensive school that seemed to offer the best professional opportunities. Cost 37k a yr in tuition roughly.

I declined some very expensive private medical schools that cost about 45-50k in tuition with high cost of living areas.

Living on 13-14k a yr since start of medical school; currently a resident.

Anticipate spending 30k a yr when I get out for a few yrs. I don't know how I'll be able to spend that much!!

A lot of my colleagues don't save or contribute to their retirement funds. I don't have much sympathy for docs that live on MORE than the average American and say they wish they could spend more money. But my family is from a poor country abroad.

I currently have about 200,000 in debt at 5.8% average interest.

55,000 in roth ira/roth 401k funds. Savings rate of 64% currently. Spending/net income.

4,000 cash in emergency fund.

My undergrad used to be like 9k when I attended but with most colleges it's gone up a lot.

The guys that have only 8-30k of debt should be able to pay it off a LOT faster even making 30k a year. But Americans aren't very frugal as a whole. my country's savings rate is 50%!!!!

Where are you from?

Cheepdude wrote:

4,000 cash in emergency fund.

My undergrad used to be like 9k when I attended but with most colleges it's gone up a lot.

The guys that have only 8-30k of debt should be able to pay it off a LOT faster even making 30k a year. But Americans aren't very frugal as a whole. my country's savings rate is 50%!!!!

31, out of state for undergrad and med school. Owe $407,879.21, to be exact. Not joking. Feels overwhelming at times, and I've still got another year of residency to go.

Anyone have experience with income based repayment plans?

I graduated with around 28k in debt and have paid off a little over half of it two and a half years later. I'm currently a grad student making around 30k.

I went to a 60k per year private school, but financial aid, work study, summer research, and generous parents cut down on what I needed to borrow a lot. I didn't pay much of it back the first year and didn't really care about finances at all, to be honest. When my dad was asking me about this topic a few months ago and found out how little attention I was paying it he got pissed and had me look over my finances with him. I still live the poor college student lifestyle though (I have three housemates, no car or tv, etc) and had decently over 20k in the bank, so I paid a big chunk of it off then.

$0, I didn't get drawn into the insanity of borrowing money for school. Nor the insanity of getting a degree period (for most people).

$0.

I paid for my college with cash. No loans, no debt, no scholarships. How did I do it? I started working at age 8 on my parents farm, then at 14 began framing homes. On my 18th birthday I started my own framing company and did that when I wasn't in school. This was in the 90's. Kids these days are lazy. "why oh why do I have debt?" BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WORK.

Out.

Rocky mountain high wrote:

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.

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Wait how will you only make 8k a month as an attending? Primary care, the lowest paid area od medicine, pays about 180k gross starting out.

That's about 10.5k net a month.

And a lot of people working outside cities are making 200-220k gross starting out.

I don't owe anything anymore, luckily, but as far as my current job isn't well-paid, I think that I'll get into debt soon. I already use https://paydayloan.network quite constantly because sometimes I don't even have enough money to pay my bills so soon it may become a huge problem.

elmore345 wrote:

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

Oh you millennial s, if only: you worked during your college years, skipped ski, spring break, and post college European party trips, didnt buy the latest iphone, owned a late-model car, followed Phish on tour, and took 5 years to get a useless degree.