zoopeda Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I ask this as a prospective PA (and realizing there are quite a few variables that factor into this). Do you find most PAs nowadays are able to repay their PA school loans within the standard ten year window? What would PA-Cs out there estimate the average repayment period to be? (Loan forgiveness aside) Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 4, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 4, 2014 20 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 If working for non profit, there's a 10 yr plan. Make minimum payments and in ten yrs the loan is written off tax free. If working for profit, 20 yr plan and then the rest is written off and you take a tax hit. Third option is pay off in 5 yrs yourself with higher payments but this isn't worth it to many of us with other bills and high loan burden. Those who went into PA school without undergrad debt and lived off savings/family/spouse do have this option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitcc1 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 If working for non profit, there's a 10 yr plan. Make minimum payments and in ten yrs the loan is written off tax free. Is this true for any non-profit Hospital? How realistic is it to pursue this option? Does moon lighting at a for profit clinic negate this option? What about loan forgiveness options for working in underserved primary care? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopeda Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 Is this true for any non-profit Hospital? How realistic is it to pursue this option? Does moon lighting at a for profit clinic negate this option? What about loan forgiveness options for working in underserved primary care? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 10-year loan forgiveness, as defined by the government Income-Based Repayment plan, occurs once an applicant has made 120 payments ("in full" as determined by the IBR calculator...This is 10-15% of discretionary income.) while working FULL TIME for a non-profit organization. Full time is 40-hours or as defined by the employer. (So if the employer defines it as 38 hours, you only need to work 38 hours a week.) Working at a for-profit outside of full time non-profit work does NOT negate the forgiveness. (You can make a million dollars in the stock market in your off time and still get forgiveness.) Also, if you are contracted at two different non-profits at once, you are eligable to start racking up your 120 payments regardless of hours worked. (ie 10 hours at one, 10 hours at another, and you're in!). This is all from the IBR website. Just google Income Based Repayment 10 year forgiveness student loan, or something like that. I also work for a non-profit full time and am in loan repayment. Someone else will have to answer in regard to working with the undeserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuggy6 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 When I graduated in 2009, I had 100k in student loans. I now have 17k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paproof Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 When I graduated in 2009, I had 100k in student loans. I now have 17k. Wow. Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitcc1 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 When I graduated in 2009, I had 100k in student loans. I now have 17k. Random question is this strictly from you working? Are you a duel income household? Married? Own a house? I'm honestly thinking that is what I would like to do but I wasn't sure how realistic that time frame is. But from what you say it can be done! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuggy6 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Random question is this strictly from you working? Are you a duel income household? Married? Own a house? I've always worked in emergency medicine, and my annual salary has been around 105k/yr. Until last summer, I had about a 1000 rent. I now own and have a 2600 mortgage. I got married in 2012, but my husband makes less than a third of my salary. Our only debt is our mortgage, student loans, and one car. We have no kids but now a golden retriever puppy. With the exception of a few thousand in savings (for emergencies), I turn over almost every last cent to my loan servicer. We have made some big purchases over the years, gone on some expensive trips, etc. Had I been even more strict, I have no doubt that I'd be student loan free at this point. With a solid PA salary, a good budget, and the right situation, student loan debt can be paid down quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Is there any benefit to paying more than the minimum for the direct unsubsidized loans? I was under the assumption that one should pay the minimum for 10 years until it gets dropped. However, maybe it isn't as pretty as it sounds. If each payment is 10% of your 100k income, it sounds like 120 payments is 120k, which could be a lot more than some people's school debt (one of my top choice schools is only ~$45k). I'm interested to hear what people have to say about this since I have no experience with any of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Make 100k(more with a second or third job) and live on a 40k budget while dumping every last extra cent into your loans. You'll be surprised how fast 100k worth of loans can disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbuggy6 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Is there any benefit to paying more than the minimum for the direct unsubsidized loans? I was under the assumption that one should pay the minimum for 10 years until it gets dropped. However, maybe it isn't as pretty as it sounds. If each payment is 10% of your 100k income, it sounds like 120 payments is 120k, which could be a lot more than some people's school debt (one of my top choice schools is only ~$45k). I'm interested to hear what people have to say about this since I have no experience with any of it. If you have no intention of working a job that qualifies for loan forgiveness, I see no reason to pay only the minimum. There is a huge cost to borrowing money, and that is the interest that accrues on the unpaid balance. The faster you pay down your student loans, the less interest you will pay ultimately. Unfortunately, for those making more than 75k per year (if you file your taxes as single)--which is most PAs--the interest you pay on your student loans is non-deductible. That said, there is usually no incentive to paying only the minimum on your student loans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 If you have no intention of working a job that qualifies for loan forgiveness, I see no reason to pay only the minimum. There is a huge cost to borrowing money, and that is the interest that accrues on the unpaid balance. The faster you pay down your student loans, the less interest you will pay ultimately. Unfortunately, for those making more than 75k per year (if you file your taxes as single)--which is most PAs--the interest you pay on your student loans is non-deductible. That said, there is usually no incentive to paying only the minimum on your student loans. Is there a physician assistant job that doesn't qualify for loan forgiveness? edit: zoopeda just answered me question. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopeda Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 Is there any benefit to paying more than the minimum for the direct unsubsidized loans? I was under the assumption that one should pay the minimum for 10 years until it gets dropped. However, maybe it isn't as pretty as it sounds. If each payment is 10% of your 100k income, it sounds like 120 payments is 120k, which could be a lot more than some people's school debt (one of my top choice schools is only ~$45k). I'm interested to hear what people have to say about this since I have no experience with any of it. Interest compounds monthly. The longer it takes to repay, the more you ultimately have to pay (in interest). Quick repayment shrinks your ultimate interest burden. Click here to play around: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action Also note: remaining loans are forgiven at the 10 year (120 payment) mark if you've worked for a non-profit, full time for that period. If you work for a for-profit, forgiveness does not occur until 25 years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Just for clarification. I was only insisting on paying the minimum if you qualified for loan forgiveness, which I figured all PA jobs qualified for after 10 years. Thanks for clearing that up zoopeda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 PSLF makes the most sense once you reach a certain debt to income threshold. A high school teacher starting at 35k/year with a degree or two from a private school and 80-100k in student loan debt is an ideal candidate for this. The interest would accumulate at such a rate that the teacher would be paying on it for considerably longer than 10 years. PAs with 100-150k in debt and 100k salary are much better off paying it off as fast as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randito Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Another thing to consider is refinancing. My federal loans averaged around 7.4%, but I refinanced to a variable 3.5% and am paying them down like a mad man before interest rates go up. I hope to be done in less than 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsfelder0417 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Speaking strictly for the Army National Guard, loan repayment is currently 75K for a 3 year commitment. That is the route I am taking. Don't do it just for the money, though. If you don't want to be a soldier you will be miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriarMedic Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 i'm applying for a loan refinancing now, variable rates are great, but I may do a split because even the fixed rates offered a few points below the whopping 7.9% the feds are charging me for one of my loans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted December 8, 2014 Administrator Share Posted December 8, 2014 Is there any benefit to paying more than the minimum for the direct unsubsidized loans? Freedom? I'm paying about 6x monthly payments on my subsidized, because I want to be out of debt again. At current rates, I should be all paid off before the third anniversary of my graduation next summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Mine are massive. I had about 60k in undergrad loans, plus about 100k for PA school. My original plan was to live on a 40k/yr salary and pay them down as fast as possible, but life happens and you have to adjust course. For now I am on the IBR and not working for a nonprofit. The ultimate goal is to land a nonprofit gig I can stay at for a decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKPA Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 What is a reasonable expectation for a monthly payment on, say, 100K in loans? is the current Gradplus rate around 8%? Suppose it is, what would one be looking at? What is the term for repayment when they set up your monthly payments? I think with private loans its 15 years, like a mortgage. What about student loans? Anyone? I'm curious about the particulars of determining one's monthly payments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilso2ar Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I'm guessing about 15-20 years to pay off my loans. Borrowed my way through undergrad and grad school and also my wife works VERY part time to stay at home with the kids while they are young. She also has loans for undergrad and grad school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesr_gordon Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 This is terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LESH Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 FYI The 2015 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program application cycle is now open and will close on March 30, 2015 at 7:30 PM EST.This Program provides loan repayment assistance to licensed primary care medical, dental, and mental and behavioral health providers who serve in communities with limited access to health care. There are both full-time and half-time service options.The 2015 application cycle is expected to be competitive. On average, it can take up to three weeks to complete an application so applicants are encouraged to apply early. This year the process may improve for applicants, now that some loan information can be automatically populated by the National Student Loan Data System.Available resources include the Application and Program Guidance and instructions on how to apply.Technical assistance provided by NHSC program staff is available during the following dates:NHSC Loan Repayment Application & Program Guidelines WebinarFebruary 3, 2015 from 8:00 – 9:30 PM ESTAccess link: https://hrsaseminar.adobeconnect.com/nhsclrp2015/Dial-in Number: 1-888-391-6801Passcode: 8081979* To participate in the webinar, you will need to use both the access link and the dial-in number.NHSC Loan Repayment Technical Assistance Conference Call #1February 18, 2015 from 8:00 – 10:00 PM ESTDial-in Number: 1-888-391-6801Passcode: 8081979NHSC Loan Repayment Technical Assistance Conference Call #2March 11, 2015 from 8:00 – 10:00 PM ESTDial-in Number: 1-888-391-6801Passcode: 8081979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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