Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

Note the tremendous difference between IBR and PAYE: over $500/month at the $150,000 compensation level and over $700/month at the $200,000 compensation level. See how the IBR or PAYE amount does NOT change as the loan amount goes up? This is because the monthly repayment amount is primarily dependent on income. There is one significant caveat as you choose between the two programs. To qualify for PAYE, you may not have any current student debt that originated before 2007. Additionally, the higher your loans, the more beneficial it will be to enroll in PAYE. Remember that you have to work ‘full-time’ in order to qualify for these benefits. Two Doctors: Married… But Separated You and physician spouse are just getting through the final year of your residency. Practice is right ahead! You’ll finally be able to buy a house, go on vacations, and not be scraping by on a champion’s diet of apples, oranges, and ramen noodles. Then it hits you like you just ran into a brick wall: you still have $500,000 of medical school debt… Howthe heck areyou ever going to get out of that debt? Will it take 20 years? 30 years? You’ve enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) and you think it may take only another 8 years, if you are lucky. However, the payments are going to be killer in another year—almost $5,000 a month between the two of you! That will quickly derail your hopes of saving for a home. How the heck could you afford it? Then, you meet some crazy financial guy who tells you that you need to get separated. SAYWHAT? We just got married and now we have to get separated? Managing Your Student Debt 373 WWW.PHYSICIANCAREERPLANNING.COM