Student loan payments: get advice and actual numbers here Forum

[Anonymous User]

Rising 3L here, SO and I are both 24 and finishing school this year.

If we take out in loans what we have been for the last two years, we will grad right around 200-215k debt (combined). By the end of summer, I'll have saved up approximately 22k from my SA gig. This is the total and full amount of our savings/assets at this point.

I was thinking about investing 10k and putting 12k in emergency savings. Is this a good approach or should I throw the 10k straight at less loans for this year and keep the 12k emergency savings? What are the pros and cons of each option? I've been really struggling to figure this out lately and SO doesn't really have a preference for either approach, though I feel like they would prefer to still have some access to the money in the event we need it for a major emergency (i.e. an event costing more than the 12k savings)

ETA: this might be better off in the financial advice thread, but I'm more worried about the loan advice

[bk1]

Rising 3L here, SO and I are both 24 and finishing school this year.

If we take out in loans what we have been for the last two years, we will grad right around 200-215k debt (combined). By the end of summer, I'll have saved up approximately 22k from my SA gig. This is the total and full amount of our savings/assets at this point.

I was thinking about investing 10k and putting 12k in emergency savings. Is this a good approach or should I throw the 10k straight at less loans for this year and keep the 12k emergency savings? What are the pros and cons of each option? I've been really struggling to figure this out lately and SO doesn't really have a preference for either approach, though I feel like they would prefer to still have some access to the money in the event we need it for a major emergency (i.e. an event costing more than the 12k savings)

ETA: this might be better off in the financial advice thread, but I'm more worried about the loan advice

I definitely think fully funding the e-fund makes sense. How are you planning to pay off your loans (income-based or refi, over how many years)? What is the purpose of the additional 10k?

[El Pollito]

my remaining fed loans got kicked out of repaye

What? That can happen - how??

idk they sent the letter via regular mail but i'm guessing its what grandinquisitor said

[Anonymous User]

Rising 3L here, SO and I are both 24 and finishing school this year.

If we take out in loans what we have been for the last two years, we will grad right around 200-215k debt (combined). By the end of summer, I'll have saved up approximately 22k from my SA gig. This is the total and full amount of our savings/assets at this point.

I was thinking about investing 10k and putting 12k in emergency savings. Is this a good approach or should I throw the 10k straight at less loans for this year and keep the 12k emergency savings? What are the pros and cons of each option? I've been really struggling to figure this out lately and SO doesn't really have a preference for either approach, though I feel like they would prefer to still have some access to the money in the event we need it for a major emergency (i.e. an event costing more than the 12k savings)

ETA: this might be better off in the financial advice thread, but I'm more worried about the loan advice

I definitely think fully funding the e-fund makes sense. How are you planning to pay off your loans (income-based or refi, over how many years)? What is the purpose of the additional 10k?

I figured it would just make more sense to have 10k invested and 12k in e-fund than to have 22k in an e-fund because that seems unnecessary since right now we live on less than 30k a years.

[bk1]

Rising 3L here, SO and I are both 24 and finishing school this year.

If we take out in loans what we have been for the last two years, we will grad right around 200-215k debt (combined). By the end of summer, I'll have saved up approximately 22k from my SA gig. This is the total and full amount of our savings/assets at this point.

I was thinking about investing 10k and putting 12k in emergency savings. Is this a good approach or should I throw the 10k straight at less loans for this year and keep the 12k emergency savings? What are the pros and cons of each option? I've been really struggling to figure this out lately and SO doesn't really have a preference for either approach, though I feel like they would prefer to still have some access to the money in the event we need it for a major emergency (i.e. an event costing more than the 12k savings)

ETA: this might be better off in the financial advice thread, but I'm more worried about the loan advice

I definitely think fully funding the e-fund makes sense. How are you planning to pay off your loans (income-based or refi, over how many years)? What is the purpose of the additional 10k?

I figured it would just make more sense to have 10k invested and 12k in e-fund than to have 22k in an e-fund because that seems unnecessary since right now we live on less than 30k a years.

In general, figure out what your efund should be (rule of thumb is generally 3-6 months' expenses, though some people go up to 12) and then have that much. If you live on less than 2-3k/month then 12k is fine for the efund. If you are expecting your expenses to rise after graduation, then you might want to take that into consideration. Also, I don't know whether your employers will provide a bar stipend, but consider how much it will cost you guys to live after graduation before you start earning a paycheck.

If you think you're going to use that 10k (whether for living expenses next summer, paying for a bar trip, topping up your efund to match your graduation living expenses, etc), then I wouldn't invest it. To the extent you're not going to use it for any of that and don't intend to use it in the short term, then investing makes sense (though I'd at least max out your IRA first).

[Anonymous User]

If you think you're going to use that 10k (whether for living expenses next summer, paying for a bar trip, topping up your efund to match your graduation living expenses, etc), then I wouldn't invest it. To the extent you're not going to use it for any of that and don't intend to use it in the short term, then investing makes sense (though I'd at least max out your IRA first).

TYFT. I didn't even think about the fact that our e-fund will have to increase post-grad when we move to a bigger place. Leaving it all in a 1% savings is definitely the right move.

[grand inquisitor]

my remaining fed loans got kicked out of repaye

What? That can happen - how??

idk they sent the letter via regular mail but i'm guessing its what grandinquisitor said

ymmv but they kicked me off ibr once and i disputed it and it turned out they had doubled my income by calculating it as a weekly, rather than biweekly, paycheck. don't trust that they did the math right.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~$56k
Payment: $512/mo under 10-year plan
Income: $135k
Plan: standard 10-year; probably ought to pay it off within 5 years
Note: Have ~$70k liquid, but should probably put a lot of this into a low-cost fund. My plan is 3-5 years at the firm (or between two firms, depending on access to clients), then in-house. If I move firms, it'd probably be to a market-paying firm based on the in-house options I'm considering.

Any advice for balancing investments, debt payments, and liquidity? I'm not necessarily saving for any major purchases any time soon, but that could always change.

[Johann]

Debt: ~$56k
Payment: $512/mo under 10-year plan
Income: $135k
Plan: standard 10-year; probably ought to pay it off within 5 years
Note: Have ~$70k liquid, but should probably put a lot of this into a low-cost fund. My plan is 3-5 years at the firm (or between two firms, depending on access to clients), then in-house. If I move firms, it'd probably be to a market-paying firm based on the in-house options I'm considering.

Any advice for balancing investments, debt payments, and liquidity? I'm not necessarily saving for any major purchases any time soon, but that could always change.

whats your interest rate?

[Anonymous User]

$68K salary, $110K debt. How much should I expect my payments to be under REPAYE or IBR? $500-600 range?

[A. Nony Mouse]

You can check here: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/r ... tor.action

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

$68K salary, $110K debt. How much should I expect my payments to be under REPAYE or IBR? $500-600 range?

I would suspect it's much much lower

[Anonymous User]

You can check here: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/r ... tor.action

Thanks. I haven't started making payments yet, but it seems like the payments will be manageable. The $110K number still scares the shit out of me though.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~$56k
Payment: $512/mo under 10-year plan
Income: $135k
Plan: standard 10-year; probably ought to pay it off within 5 years
Note: Have ~$70k liquid, but should probably put a lot of this into a low-cost fund. My plan is 3-5 years at the firm (or between two firms, depending on access to clients), then in-house. If I move firms, it'd probably be to a market-paying firm based on the in-house options I'm considering.

Any advice for balancing investments, debt payments, and liquidity? I'm not necessarily saving for any major purchases any time soon, but that could always change.

whats your interest rate?

5-6.21%. I got a SoFi quote of 4.85% fixed (5 or 7, don't remember), which didn't really seem worth it.

[A. Nony Mouse]

$68K salary, $110K debt. How much should I expect my payments to be under REPAYE or IBR? $500-600 range?

I would suspect it's much much lower

I think that's pretty close actually.

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

$68K salary, $110K debt. How much should I expect my payments to be under REPAYE or IBR? $500-600 range?

I would suspect it's much much lower

I think that's pretty close actually.

Yeah you're right. I didn't expect payments to rise so quickly after you start making $40kish

[Nebby]

You can check here: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/r ... tor.action

Thanks. I haven't started making payments yet, but it seems like the payments will be manageable. The $110K number still scares the shit out of me though.

Lol bruh that's nothing

[Johann]

$68K salary, $110K debt. How much should I expect my payments to be under REPAYE or IBR? $500-600 range?

At this income level, it's SUPER IMPORTSNT to be smart with your pretax planning. Can basically create free money if you are smart and fiscally responsible. Search posts by avbucks. He's doing an IBR on a roughly similar income and has it all figured out.

[El Pollito]

help me escape AMT

[Anonymous User]

To get back to numbers:

8 months in, first year non-NYC BigLaw:

Loan payments: $21,200 ($2,6500 x 8 )
Savings: $24,000
401K: $12,000 ($1,500 x 8 )

Could be putting more toward loans, but I realized early that if I didn't have balance in my life (save for a house, go on vacation, have a nice apartment) then I would burn out of biglaw before I could pay off my loans anyways. Know some people
living in shitty apartments throwing all their money to loans that are ready to quit. But to each their own.

[Johann]

help me escape AMT

why do you think you owe AMT in july if you didnt on your last year tax return?
i mean you prolly will soon enough because of cali's state income tax. things you can do: max 401, HSAs, and pretax contributions. marry chup.

[Hikikomorist]

help me escape AMT

why do you think you owe AMT in july if you didnt on your last year tax return?
i mean you prolly will soon enough because of cali's state income tax. things you can do: max 401, HSAs, and pretax contributions. marry chup.

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

You can start calling him your little tax deduction

[Johann]

Just north of 500k debt between spouse and I. Roughly 6-7% (don't pay attn because it doesn't matter).
PAYE
just refiled the income calculation with my wife since marriage and combined payments for us are $1,500/month (which is well less than our monthly interest accruing)
Payment based on 200k income tax return
Household income now over 300k

To get kicked off PAYE, household income would have to be over 550k now.

[El Pollito]

help me escape AMT

why do you think you owe AMT in july if you didnt on your last year tax return?
i mean you prolly will soon enough because of cali's state income tax. things you can do: max 401, HSAs, and pretax contributions. marry chup.

i did but i didn't find out until someone told me that they got boned

i think marrying him is tax favorable tho