Ok … Here is what I am figuring. I already owe about 30K in undergraduate student loans. I figure by the time I get into medical school it will be 50K. So another 4 years at 50K a year and that makes 250K loans (Not including the interest). I am curious on how long will that take to pay it off?
Anybody know if five years sounds reasonable? I hope to be making enough as a doctor (150-200K). Making that amount,I will be able to pay 1500 – 2000K a month on the loan.
Will anyone be in the same boat?
Five years to pay off 250K is nowhere near enough. 2K a month over 5 years adds up to 120K and that’s not accounting for interest.
By my calculations, it takes approximately 20 years to pay off 250K at 6.8% interest ( http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/student s/en… ) assuming this is the correct rate for an unsubsidized loan.
Even assuming that the composite rate for a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized loans is 3.5%, it would take around 13 years to pay off 250K at 2K/month. I have a simple Excel calculator I use – send me a message if you want it. There are also tons of websites that provide such calculators. www.bankrate.com is one that comes to mind. On the front page is a list of various calculators. An auto loan calculator or mortgage payment (not refinance) calculator would work just fine to give you an idea.
Thanks for the response. Yea … After I posted that I calculated I need to pay much more than 2k a month to pay it off in that short of time.
So now I know why doctors own businesses, apartment building and do Botox on the side. It is to pay back all their loans!
I heard of programs that docs and can get into that forgives a portion of the government loans. I might have to look into that.
Keep it in perspective. Many in that income bracket cary a $400-$500K mortgage, and many docs want to live in expensive exclusive neighborhoods, etc… It depends entirely on how you manage it. At that level, you don’t need a secondary source of income to pay off debt if you have a reasonable budget and manage things well.
Good point! Even if you made 175K a year and paid 50K a year toward your loans, you still could live very comfortably off of 125K.
- thomasfx10 Said:
Good point! Even if you made 175K a year and paid 50K a year toward your loans, you still could live very comfortably off of 125K.
This is true, but be careful not to oversimplify either. 175K draws 40K in federal income tax alone. Deduct state taxes, loan repayments, malpractice ins, retirement savings, emergency savings etc etc. Know the numbers. The link below has a nice powerpoint presentation. Some of the facts may be outdated, but the overall advice is sound.
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/fina...
Edit: Not trying to be a downer. I've looked at the numbers etc for my own self and had some info to throw out there, so I did. It's possible, financially, to make it happen. One just has to be careful not to lead too extravagant a lifestyle...
What an awesome website site. Thanks for posting this. I have a much better understanding what I am getting myself into. If I make 200K a year, I can live off of 5K a month and pay off a 250K loan in 5 years.