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I'm 48...what you described happens at ALL ages of your life.  The question is, do you want to spend the next 30 debt free or still under its shackle...?

that is not true, i was talking about 40 hr work week vs 80hr work week. work to live, don't live to work

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About once every 3 months I put myself into a panic about my student loans. I went to PA school right out of college and thought the better reputation school would be better for me, even though it was significantly more expensive. I know now that that was a terrible decision. Anyways... at the end of it.. I will a little over 150k in debt. After my first panic about student loans I started living significantly cheaper but I still have the debt hanging over my head. Is this a feasible amount to pay off as a single woman after graduating? Will I ever be able to not live as cheaply as I do now... at least within 10 years?

 

Any advice would be appreciated. After looking at the cost of other schools, there has to be more people in my shoes out there and I'd love to hear some stories/advice from fellow PAs. 

 

Thank you! 

 

You might as well join the military. Great benefits and they may offer to pay some money for your loans. 

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So all it takes to qualify for the PSLF is to work for a 503C3 for 10 years?  Any 503C3??  No other requirements?? If so, then I concede that it may be very good for some people.  

 

Regarding pay - maybe these places do pay above average, but I suggested the OP chase the ABOVE average pay jobs.  Much more difficult to do if you are tied to non-profits (but, like you point out, not impossible).

 

However you ARE still shackled somewhat, because if that sweet job (at the hypothetical Derm clinic) comes open in 8 years....you're not going to go for it.

 

An additional concern:  Even in major cities there may only be one, or just a few, 503C3's in the area.  In the city that I live in there is only one...and the ED there is a flipping MESS!  Reasonable pay, but terrible working conditions, terrible quality, terrible patient mix, terrible systems, terrible mid-level autonomy (pretty much triage to beat door-to-doc time, and fast-track)...it's just a mess. If I were pursuing the PSLF, I would either have to stay there, or move more than a hundred miles away to find another non-profit ED.

 

BTW Bruce - I am in no way telling you that YOU are wrong for using the PSLF.  If you choose to trade 10 years of your time living with the restrictions you have with the loan repayment, then I hope it works out great for you.

 

Correct, any 501c3.

 

No offense taken. Like any other loan payoff scenario it comes down to individual circumstances. I really have an incredible job compensation-wise, so I don't feel I am compromising. Of course things can change, but they can change anywhere! Believe me if paying them off solo was the better financial scenario I'd be doing it, but I'd be condemning myself to working an extra 5+ years to achieve financial independence because of the opportunity cost of more total money paid and lost investing time.

 

Kinda comes down to what you want in life. Do you want to keep working into your 50's and even 60's? I dont, at least not by necessity. Anyone who HAS to work is not truly free.

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I understand your panic.

 

You will feel much better once you have a plan.

 

There is lots of good advice here. I'm about 180K in the hole. I signed up for PSLF as my "backup" and am aggressively paying down debt after spending several months binge-listening to Dave Ramsey. I don't agree with everything he says, but by God he makes you believe you can do this shit.

 

Make a plan, and get started. Even if it changes NOTHING about your current situation, you will stop having panic attacks every three months.

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I feel you!

 

if there is anything worth taking out of all of this is that...

 

Paying off your loans and credit card debts, as AGGRESSIVELY  as you can, is the BEST investment you can make on yourself and your future family!

 

I came out of PA school with 50k student loan (small, I know) but it keeps me up at night more effectively than any brand of caffeine on earth.

 

I have been working toward paying that loan for 24 months now. it's not an easy thing to do, but it is essential!

 

here is a sample of what my plan looks like:

 

 

$ 370       Car (geico + lease)

$ 125       Ezpass (for toll)

$ 80         Gas (for my car)

$ 50         Phone (the cheapest phone plan, but it meets my talk/txt/data needs)

$ 10         Spotify (who can live w/o music!?)

$ 300       Rent ( I had to live with parent so I don't have to pay too much rent, but I contribute a small portion)

 

$ 1,000    Carloan (bought my mom a used car which i'm paying until April 2017)

$ 500       Fedloan (federal loan amount I pay monthly. starting Jan 2017 it'll be 1,500/month once im done with credit card debts)

$ 500       Dadloan (borowed money from my dad during PA school which i'm paying off 'till April 2017)

$ 1,000    Credit card (aggressively paying it off)

 

$ 656       Food/pocket money

 

---

 

if you group my spending you'll see a pattern:

 

a. I spend $3,000 monthly paying off debts

b. I spend $ 935 in monthly expenses

c. I spend $ 656 for food/pocket money

d. NO saving! (risky but hey...)

 

I spend 3x as much paying off my debts vs expenses, and all this while living in NYC. 

according to my calculations, I will start to become cash flow positive mid June 2017 and it FEELS GOOD, to know life is going to be better.

I have the most amazing girlfriend, we've been dating for 4 yrs now, she is so patient! it's going to be about that time to propose but first I gotta pay off those high interest loans, and she understands that (she has student loans too).

 

---

 

Remember that 50k student loan?

 

I came to an agreement with my dad to pay 30k of it just to minimize the amount of interest I would have to pay on the lifetime of the loan.

meaning, I borrowed 30k from him INTEREST FREE and won't begin paying him 'till October 2018!! By then, I will save 17k specifically for him + my own savings (@ a rate of 2,500 monthly, which I will be putting on an online bank to gather HIGHER interest). 

 

so now, I am focused on paying off the remaining 20k + interest  (7k to go). 

 

my point: if you can have a close family member pay off parts of your loan for you and pay them back 2-3 years later by coming up with a NOTARIZED agreement, it may help you focus on tackling down those high interest loans. 

 

 

I hope this post gives you insight.

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trade off, those 3-4 years of no life are the prime years of your life, you will lose relationships, miss precious time with loved ones, watch those you love age and die

 

I joined the military to pay off my loans for this amount of time. It was a pretty bad time in my life for the most part. I was very socially isolated and extremely depressed. I gained weight and developed hyperlipidemia and prediabetes.

 

On the plus side, I learned my craft, paid off my debt, and realized that just about nothing in life will be as unpleasant as my time in the military. I would say that last part is intangible. Getting through that gave me a ton of confidence that I could basically succeed in anything I put my mind to. And I don't just think that I can. That feeling is now part of who I am.

 

And now that I'm out, the weight as been lost and, as per my most recent bloodwork, my lipid panel and HA1C have returned to pre-military levels.

 

Also, being completely financially free in my late 20s with no debt is nice too. And because I was so isolated and never really spent money, I saved up a ton, to the point that I just purchased a brand new luxury car in cash without really even dipping into my savings.

 

As far as dating "in my prime", since leaving the military, I've moved to a big city and have had no trouble finding dates. Just saying.

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Just an FYI- plenty of us stop qualifying for the PSLF as years go by and our salaries are naturally increased with experience. It changes your debt to income ratio and your payments on the IBR repayment plan just go up thus taking away whatever would be forgiveable at the end of your 10yrs. ALSO, those who are eligible for forgiveness might not realize it but the government views that "forgiven" portion as part of your annual income and you must pay taxes on it at the end of the year, and if it's a decent amount paid off expect to essentially repay 1/3 to 1/2 of whatever was forgiven when tax season rolls around. The PSLF isn't really all it's made out to be.

 

What I've done over the last few years is picked up a per diem or part time job. I take all of my earnings from per diem gig an utilize it as an extra payment towards whatever my highest interest rate loan is every month. I pay the minimum or slightly more on every other loan I have and I live pretty comfy still. I work about 40-50 hrs a week doing this. The extra payment goes a longer way than you'd think over the course of a year.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/15/2016 at 3:41 PM, BruceBanner said:

 

I'm going to call you out on this because it's just not true.

 

Here's the top 20 501©3 healthcare orgs ranked by number of hospitals (not counting outpatient clinics):

 

1. Ascension Health (St. Louis) — 76 

2. Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.) — 45 

3. Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.) — 37

4. Dignity Health (San Francisco) — 36 

5. Catholic Health Initiatives (Englewood, Colo.) — 33

6. Adventist Health System (Winter Park, Fla.) — 31

7. Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.) — 26 

7. Providence Health and Services (Renton, Wash.) — 26

8. Banner Health (Phoenix) — 20 

9. Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas) — 19  

9. CHRISTUS Health (Irving, Texas) — 19

10. SSM Health Care (St. Louis) — 18

11. Intermountain Health Care (Salt Lake City) — 17  

11. Mercy Health (Cincinnati) — 17

*Formerly Catholic Healthcare Partners

11. NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System (New York City) — 17 

12. Adventist Health (Roseville, Calif.) — 16 

12. UPMC (Pittsburgh) — 16

13. North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (Great Neck, N.Y.) — 15

13. UnityPoint Health (Des Moines, Iowa) — 15

14. Hospital Sisters Health System (Springfield, Ill.) — 14

14. Mercy (Chesterfield, Mo.) — 14 

14. Texas Health Resources (Arlington) — 14

15. Aurora Health Care (Milwaukee) — 13

15. Baptist Memorial Health Care (Memphis, Tenn.) — 13

15. Franciscan Alliance (Mishawaka, Ind.) — 13 

15. Saint Joseph Health (Orange, Calif.) — 13 

16. Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, N.C.) — 12 

17. Bon Secours Health System (Marriottsville, Md.) — 11

17. Mayo Clinic Health System (Rochester, Minn.) — 11

18. Sentara Healthcare (Norfolk, Va.) — 12 

19. Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.) — 10

20. East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System (Tyler) — 7

 

I mean come on. Not to mention almost EVERY state university system and their hospitals are non-profit. Competitive wages can be found.

 

I work for one of these and I'd put my salary up against anyone nationwide for primary care at <5 years experience. In 3 years I'll make as much as your typical experienced ER PA.

 

Opportunity costs are going to vary from person to person. For the OP, I'd say assuming she has minimal to no other debts, she should pay them off aggressively by herself.

 

For someone like me, PSLF actually puts me ahead of the game in 10 years because of the opportunity cost of lost investing years with an aggressive self-pay.

This list of hospitals is helpful, but be warned:

Even though the hospital may be a 501c3, the groups that employ physicians and PAs MAY be FOR PROFIT. This includes Kaiser and Sutter. So don't look at this list and believe you can go work for Kaiser and get PSLF. Not happening. You have to find out the EIN number on your W2, and see if they are a non profit. It's such a bummer!

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