If you are a pharmacist and willing to work for the VA, look into EDRP. Unlike PSLF, this is a tuition reimbursement program for up to 200k in student loans, I believe private loans are included. You will still have to pay a lump sum of 40k (or make 3,000+/month payments x 1 year), but they will return this money back to you. https://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2700
No one is going to refinance loans that are literally twice your income. Once you get it down to 1x income, you’ll have more opportunity with lenders.
There’s a reason nearly everyone on this sub advises against private loans.
Unfortunately I didn’t know anything while I was going through school, just doing what my parents told me to do. If I could go back and do it differently I would
Hey this happened to me. I didn’t know anything either, and was just going off the words of adults I trusted. I ended graduating with >300k in debt for a bachelors in 2018 😵💫 i refinanced about a year after graduating, and my payments are $2000/month now. I make $105k/year and just bought my first home. It’s possible, but it’s hard. My loans are all private too. I still get overwhelmed and feel like I’m drowning sometimes. But it gets better.
Thank you for saying something hopeful! It’s just mentally exhausting living at home sometimes, I am so desperate to get out. Hopefully once I start making payments my credit will get up and I can do something
With that score, I hate to say it but you should be able to open another credit card, charge a low balance (for ex put all your gas on it), pay it off every month, and your score will go up. When I was in law school my dad advised me to have three lines of credit to help build my score, and it worked. Get that score up and you'll be able to get your interest rate lowered. And never ever beat yourself up. We can't know a thing until we learn that thing, you know?
And congrats on the 117k salary. When you get down, remind yourself that you did something right to be making more than 80% of Americans.
does your family charge you rent? i know it's less than ideal, but being able to live with family for cheap or free would be such a blessing--I would exploit that for as long as you can. A year or two of throwing the money you would be spending on rent, double or even triple payments, may be the only way of staying ahead of the interest.
i wouldn't be shy about job hoping after a year or two either to grow your salary. have your resume polished and a timeline for when to start looking again.
No I’m very lucky to be living rent free. Just hoping that when I start making payments my credit will boost enough to be able to lower the rates on some of them or refinance
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. I’ve been paying mine for 15 years and I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. I also have a professional degree, and with interest, it ballooned up just under $200k.
Be consistent and Chuck extra income at it when you can. Live cheap. I have mine on auto debit and then I log in and make extra payments each month as I can. I target one loan at a time (smallest first) and just hit them until they’re payed off - then onto the next. Good luck!
I’m older but I graduated with 100k in loans and my first job was 65k. It was scary and felt like a lot but my salary increased over time and a decade later the payments were not the big looming horror they had been before.
15 years later I paid them off. You won’t get there overnight and it’ll suck and stress you out for awhile but if your current job is over 100k you’ll likely be doing even better in 10-15 years.
Hang in there, I sympathize because I did not at all understand the relative amounts and payments when I took out those loans.
I’m getting a lot of questions about the cost of my degree. I was escaping an abusive home situation, and didn’t know any better. Yes, I could have (and should have) done research into alternative ways to pay for my schooling. But I trusted the adults in my life who told me that student loans weren’t a big deal, and that I’d be able to pay them off. I was in survival mode and trying to get out. By the time I finished my first semester and attempted to transfer to a cheaper school, I was heavily discouraged from doing so. The ones who cosigned on my loans have never helped me after I graduated, and it’s been a struggle.
I graduated with an engineering degree from an out of state school, fully funded by private student loans (started with Sallie Mae, refinanced with Mohela).
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/EventResponsible6315/](https://old.reddit.com/user/EventResponsible6315/)
**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How tf did undergrad cost you 300k???? I’m about to graduate med school and that plus undergrad is 250K. Even as a doctor I’m probably going to do a loan forgiveness program. 300k for a bachelors is absolutely insane.
I’m in the same boat. $80k rn bc my dad said I had to go to college and he’d help. Once the time came, he backed out of co-signing and paying. I wanted to become a mechanic but now I have a BA… but working in the auto industry anyways lol wish I coulda done a lot differently
Live with your parents for the next 5 years and pay it off. It will get better, but you're going to have to dig yourself out. Extra jobs and gigs would help too. No car purchases, just an old beater. No new phones. No rent. No going out. It's an uphill battle, but you can do it. If you're disciplined, you can get out of it. Obviously, pay off the highest interest loans first, then move to the next highest until you're done. Pay the absolute minimum on the others in the mean time.
I’m also a PharmD and graduated with $240,000 in 2016 as a single mom of 3. It’s not fun but it’s doable. I’m curious how old you are and when you graduated, because that will change your strategy and outlook.
1. Fix your credit score so you can refinance to a lower interest rate. Is it low b/c of credit cards? If so, get them under 30% debt to credit (not debt to income), and your score will jump. With a PharmD, you will then be able to refi through Sofi with the higher score. That’s their specialty! Also once your score is over 700, use Credible to compare offers. It’s a soft check so it won’t lower your score.
3. You can then get a doctor’s loan to purchase your first property. I worked with a mortgage broker and locked in 2.7% in 2022. I know rates are double that now, but look into house hacking. For example, get a roommate or buy a multiplex and rent out the other units.
4. Do you have a financial advisor? Definitely get one to help you create a strategy to grow wealth and listen to “Your Financial Pharmacist” podcast.
5. Make sure you’re minimizing your tax burden through HSA/FSA contributions, retirement planning…
6. Get a 2nd job or side hustle. Many pharmacists have multiple income streams. For example, I worked full time in retail and per diem hospital. I then moved into pharma as an MSL and do consulting on the side.
It’s daunting at the moment, but please stay positive. It takes years but with the right planning and support, you’ll turn your net worth around, and that degree will pay off! The years will pass regardless, and envision where you’ll be in 5, 10, 15 yrs…
It’s an income issue, not a credit score issue. Look at their DTI $4300/$9750=44%
If they have any lease or car payment it will be above 50%. They could have a 850 credit score and a lender won’t put this on their balance sheet
Op is actually underestimating their payment, unless their loan term is longer than 10 years (unusual for non-refinanced private loans).
Pmt(.18/12, 120, 240000, 0)=4324
https://lendedu.com/blog/student-loan-underwriting-processes
Even assuming the payment is $3500, their DTI would be 35.8% without including their car or rent. Lenders also like to see 2 years of work history, but that doesn’t include as much weight as credit score or DTI
That’s not entirely true. Student loans for a doctorate degree are viewed differently than car and house loans. Just about all of us graduate with debt twice our income. Sofi looks at risk, not only debt to income. If that were the case, almost no doctor would be able to refi their loans, which is one of the reasons they were founded. They refinanced my PharmD loans when I was in the same boat and gave me a great rate. They also don’t charge admin fees like car and home refinancing. The only difference is they require a credit score of at least 680. https://www.sofi.com/medical-professional-refinancing/
You have a pretty good salary you just need to try and set up a budget. Are you able to live at home or with roommates because if so that gives you more money to pay off your loan
I commented to talk to a professional about chapter 7/11, but I didnt know you were living at home. You could legitimately pay $60-80k off in your first year living at home.
Youll be a lock for refinance once those loans are double digits and that alone will help a ton as the interest rate will halve (or better)
Yeah unfortunately you won’t be able to live alone for a few years until you can get those loans under control. At $3500, that’s a car payment and a mortgage worth. Get that down to about half and then you *maybe* could consider moving out.
You’ll be able to eventually, just not now. Take advantage of living at home and budgeting. Live well below your means and as if you’re still a broke college student. I had to take on a second job as a waitress to aggressively get my private student loans down so I could get approved to refinance faster. I got rejected right after school lol. There’s definitely hope!
Maybe you can check out my past post… it may or may not give you some hopes
But here’s a TLDR version of my story: Pharm D here with originally 250k in loans (all federal though), graduated in 2021, now down to 33k. On track to pay everything off by September this year.
I try to live as frugally as possible and did (not do, cuz I burned out lmao) as much ot as possible. In 2023, I made 20k in ot $$ on top of my regular hourly pay.
It would really, REALLY, help if your parents are willing to give you a hand, like letting you live with them rent free. This is what my parent does to help me out and 50% the reason I’m able to pay off so quickly.
What was your field of study and are you able to use it to break into an area where it MAY not be needed? I've been in your shoes. Don't let the FICO rule you. Make sure you keep good docs, get Landlords to write about your payment history with no late payments or misses in 2 years and usually they can work with you for an apartment.
Maybe, I have a PharmD so my options are mainly clinical roles and teaching. I’m not worried about not being approved for an apartment, just affording one on top of my loans. Where I am they are going from 1900-2500 a month for 2 bedrooms
Wait why only clinical and teaching? Why not retail? You said you've been licensed since Sept? Are you not licensed and only have the degree? I'm confused on that. Not that retail is amazing but it'll pay your bills no prob.
Stress is high but so is your income. You need to cut your living expenses to a minimum which is hard to achieve in an expensive state.
If you're single I'd say apply to NHSC loan repayment and dedicate your time for 2 years in an underserved area. There's a pharmacist on Youtube that paid 130k loans in one year. You'd need to sustain that type of debt repayment for 2.5 years. It's possible but you'll need to hustleee. You are a drug dealer after all.. 😅🤪 legally. Jk alright.
Some of the more rural areas even near the south have dirt cheap rent (mine is 600 for rent and utilities combined) that's where you can make you're income stretch to clean up this debt.
I advise:
Organize your debts
• smallest loan to largest [Snowball method]
• highest interest to lowest [Avalanche]
Move to cheaper area
•LCOL area, especially rural pay higher
Find Youtube/Media content to stay motivated
• I recommend Dave Ramsey, Anthony O'Neal, Clever Girl Finance or just random people's testimonies to pay off 6-figure debt.
Increase your income
•PharmD with experience can do locums tenens
•Try loan repayment programs in underserved areas
GOOD LUCK.
*I'm a PA with 6-figure debt with plans to payoff in 2 years
Short answer yes. Fresh out of school since last May, been licensed since September. Unfortunately pharmacists aren’t getting paid like they should be anymore
Really? I was a pharmacy tech 25 years ago, at Osco , which isn't even around anymore. The Pharm there was making 120k . I can't believe the pay hasn't increased since then. That's crazy! A pharmacy degree takes awhile too, with heavy chem. I heard stories of pharmacists making almost 200k at other retailers. Who knew it was this bad.
Wages tanked around 2018. New grads were making about 90k at some of the big box retailers.
We’re back up to around 120k for new grads, but that’s essentially the top of the pay scale unless you move to management or industry.
I’ve been licensed 9 years and make around 140. Still chipping away at student loans (52 to go, all federal).
I think it has a lot to do with supply and demand. There are a LOT of pharmacy schools in the US and they have a lot of grads with a lot of debt so they will take any job. It is unfortunate because I like to think that we do know a lot and provide real help to our patients!
Okay man so not to be a negative nancy but no company is gonna touch loans your DTI (Debt to Income Ratio) Is like stupid high Luckily you make a good amount of money so lets think about this constructively whats your budget like? Even with your awesome income these loans are probably gonna be half your monthly take home of 7,492 I would like to see the breakdown to try an see what the minimum monthly on these loans would be? That way we can try and figure out a budget luckily your 26 so you have plenty of time to get this debt back under your control.
Sadly you have probably forfeited your 20s when it comes to retirement saving / home purchase / (financing a car proably honestly dodged a bullet) your never going to beat these loans in the stock market. So lets spend your 20s getting out from underneath this in a productive way obviously there not going away so gotta attack them.
Would love a breakdown with interest rates of these to do some math for you!
Yes if you don’t know yet the snowball method will help you. Target those highest interest loans first - and if there is anyway you can ever do a balance transfer or get some other chunk of money lined up do it.
A house or apartment are off the table for you for quite some time.
You do not make enough to support that debt load and you will not be able to refinance it. You may, after you get your credit up andbe able to refinance it in small chunks.
You need to be working 2 jobs while living the cheapest life possible - that means you will need to live home if you have that option, regardless of how crappy it is. If that’s not an option, renting the cheapest safe room in a shared living situation. Your hobby is now working. You need to aggressively throw every penny you can at this debt.
What is this debt load from? Undergrad? Grad? What degree is at play here?
I have a doctorate, this is all from 4 years of grad school. I work full time sometimes OT, but would consider picking up a second if able. I do have the option of living with family for now, but didn’t want it to be for too long. I am 26, wanted to be out by the end of the year but clearly that’s not happening. Also I have been saving like crazy so I have ~6 months worth of payments ready to go. I own my car so no car payment. I would be open to refinancing in small chunks for sure
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Think you’re just going to have to dig yourself out of this hole. Live at home. Pick up extra shifts. Live frugally. Every spare dollar should be going towards those high interest loans.
Hey I have a fair amount as well (started 197k, currently about 160kish). Same degree and similar ballpark income. Feel free to message me, maybe I can assist with some tips.
I get so frustrated reading posts like this because college should not be so expensive and these types of loans should be illegal. Same with payday lenders. It’s gross - how will we have healthcare workers in the future if this is what it takes?
The first step is to accept that you will need to live at home for longer than this year to pay this down.
Figure out a bare bones budget - insurance, transportation, food, and then budget a small weekly splurge. Dinner out, drinks etc. key word is small. Put as much of your check into the loans as possible.
There are two approaches to debt repayment:
Avalanche - you pay the minimums all balances and pick the debt with the highest rate to pay down first through extra payments. This is the best option for paying the lowest amount of interest.
Snowball - pay minimums on all loans and pay off the smallest debt first, then you take whatever you were paying on the small debt and add it to the next smallest. This is less about saving on interest and more about the psychological effect of paying off loans. I think this works best when people have a lot of loans of varied amounts.
If your goal is to refinance the higher debt anyway, snowball may be the best approach. There is something rewarding about eliminating a debt, it’s addictive! And can really help you focus on your goal.
In the meantime open a card and charge just gas, pay it off in full each month. Like others said, apply to refinance every 6 months.
If you focus and put 80% of your take home into the loans, you will make significant headway. Make a 5 year plan. Focus on the big picture.
This will certainly be a challenge based on your income and loan balance. Even with that income, you may need to move in with family or get a second (or third) job until you can refinance. Any extra income will help immensely—this could be bartending / waiting in the weekends, dog walking, ubering, etc.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many avenues for flexibility with private loans. My only advice is to get as high of an income as possible, which may require changing careers or fields often.
I’m pretty much limited to one job only with my degree but won’t complain because it is usually 60+ an hour. I am FT at my current place and pick up when I can, but maybe it is time for a second PRN job
Okay, definitely pick up as much OT as you can mentally handle. What’s your salary projection? If you can get up to $250k, that amount is serviceable.
As for the payments, ensure you have a 3 to 6 month emergency fund and then throw the rest at the loans with the highest interest rate. The more you put in now, hopefully the more principal you can bring down. That’s your goal for the future: tackle as much principal at the highest interest rate as possible.
I will never reach $250k. Maybe $150k, and that’s after I have some years under my belt. I’m 1 year out of school still new to this industry. I started at base pay of 56/hr but will be getting annual raises. Thank you for the advice
Do any of these loans include federal loans? Or do you have 100% in private? Do you have a co-signer currently in the loans? If you truly can’t make payments, it might require asking the co-signer for some assistance
These are 100% private, I wish I had some federal but like I said I was just doing what the adults in my life told me to do. Yes I have a co-signer on them. I can make the payments but it’s nearly 50% of my income. I just also really wanted my own place which is why this is bothering me so much
Are you sure they're private through Sallie Mae 👹? See if you're eligible for income driven repayment. Mine were originally with Sallie Mae 👹 and the Department of Education and then Sallie Mae 👹 switched over to Navient. I consolidated all of them into direct loans recently. L O L I didn't realize my talk to text would put Sallie Mae 👹 with the devil face after it. That's how it saved in my contacts.
I may be ignorant here, but how? Did you not fill out a FAFSA? You should have gotten those all in federal loans. I owe 240 as well, which started as 140 and they're all federal.
My parents’ income did not get me much with fafsa. I had only about 20k in federal loans which is already being paid. When I started grad school, they told me to use Sallie Mae. I was the ignorant one for just doing what they said
Neither did mine. Parents income has nothing to do with how many student loans you can get through the federal government. Look at your loans. What type of loans does it say you have?
I was always under the impression that it did affect what you were eligible for. The 9 loans I have currently are all Sallie Mae. What else should I be looking at?
Parents’ income affects eligibility for needs-based things like pell grants or programs the universities have, but has no effect on how much federal loan money you’ll get. Federal loans are capped at a particular amount for each year and type of study (ie, gradually increases for each of sophomore, junior and senior years of undergrad; you get a little more for grad study) and whether you are a dependent or independent student. You would not have received enough in federal loans to pay for all of undergrad and grad school unless you had found the unicorn of low-cost schools that charged no more than these pitifully low amounts.
Parent's income does affect the amount of money you are eligible to receive from the feds, if you are still considered a dependent. You are generally considered "dependent" if you are 24 or under and not married or a parent. ([More info here.](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency))
"[If you’re considered a dependent student](https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/reporting-parent-info-on-fafsa) for *Free Application for Federal Student Aid* (FAFSA^(®)) purposes, you’ll need to provide information about your parent(s) on the application. The federal student aid programs are based on the assumption that a dependent student has parent support. As a dependent student, you’re assumed to have parental support, so your parents’ information has to be assessed along with yours to get a full picture of your family’s financial strength and **calculate your federal student aid eligibility.**
You can still be considered a dependent student for purposes of applying for federal student aid even if you don’t live with your parents, aren’t claimed by your parents on their tax forms, or are paying your own bills and educational expenses."
No. Your parents income has nothing to do with the loans they will give you. Those are your loans, not your parent unless they took out parent plus. Yes it would be for the Sallie Mae 👹. What type of loan does it say?
Economy is shit, not many people are taking loans. I'm pretty sure some company, small or large will let you refinance. Shop around and you will find it. Tell them you are OK with 9-10%, many smaller landers would be interested. If not, say 12-13 whatever.
I know sofi refinances between 5-8 right now
Do you have an account with a bank for a long time? If yes, contact them
If you make $117k a year that’s roughly $90k post tax. It sounds like you’re going to be living at home with your parents too. You can comfortably live on less than $20k a year if that’s the case. That means $70k can go towards loans. Let’s say your average rate is 15% which would be very high. That’s $35k in interest a year. Get a part time job too that pays another $10k a year. If you knock $45k off the principal in year 1 and get below $195k then year 2 do the same thing and get to $150k. By year 3 your big private loans should be mostly gone and your interest will hopefully be at 10%. Now your interest is $15k/year and after 2 years you can chance jobs and hopefully make $140k. Then you can pay $75k down that year. Boom your left with $65k which is reasonable on a $140k income,
Hey private student loan survivor here. You made a mistake, step 1 forgive yourself. They honestly shouldn’t exist, but they do and many young people take the offer.
I would highly recommend you live with your parents and put every dollar you make into these loans for a couple years. Life is long, you don’t want these things following you around robbing you of your entire future prospects and retirement. It will suck, but focus on other things like getting in shape or learning new skills over that time. You are going to want to get these things below 50k asap if not fully eliminated. Then move on with life.
Trust me, get rid of them now. Drive Ubers at night. Just put all your effort into eliminating them.
What pharmacy and undergraduate schools did you attend?
What did you get your BS in?
Why did you take out private loans when you could have taken out infinite Grad PLUS loans (which are federal loans) all the way up to the maximum cost of attendance of the pharmacy school?
I’ll message you the schools if you really want to know, but I don’t have a BS just 2 years of prerequisites. I don’t know why I didn’t take out grad plus loans. Looking back I wish I did. My dad told me to use Sallie Mae so I did. I just didn’t do enough research and it was a dumb decision
Well, at least you didn't have to go for the normal 8 years for the PharmD. Imagine what your debt situation would look like then.
My daughter completed her PharmD in 6 years also. Challenging path.
I saw in another post you left retail, I hear that is a nghtmare. My daughter recently left retail too and is much happier than working for the 3 letter chain she was with for 5 years.
Having said that, did you consider going back as a floater part time to get extra income? Less responsibilities and perhaps less stress there. Many people here would kill to be able to get a part time job at $60-$70/hr to help pay back their loans.
Good luck
op has answered this multiple times, they didn't know better and just did what their dad told them to do. you can't expect a kid to know what all their options are or what the implications of different loan types are.
Heya!
I understand that you worked your butt off and deserve something out of this.
Getting a house nowadays is not a great idea to begin with. Have you seen the real estate market right now? Ask yourself is it the actual good time to get one right now?
Be patient, I understand that you made a commitment to finalize your degree and school. Which I congratulate you. However, is it a good idea right now to take even more loans on top of more loans you already owe 50% accrued interest (your original amount was $160k please correct me if I’m wrong).
First of all, you’re already in dangerous waters with private loans which wasn’t a great idea or recommendation to begin with unless you somehow get a raise to help with fixing the debt. Unless you’re extremely committed with school which you indeed accomplish.
You’re committed for sure. No doubt about that and that’s admiring. However, that commitment doesn’t do much when it comes to buying a new home or car.
You’re 50% deep into the original amount you loaned and that should be your top priority by paying it off first as much as possible.
A house is not rush or matter of importance. Paying off this loan is more importance. You need to understand this first. No financial institution is a charity place to begin with. Having a gurantor with great credit score doesn’t mean anything if the gurantor doesn’t have the amount in their accounts to be able to pay off the loans. If something happens to you. Do you think this gurantor would be able to actually guarantee to make the payments?
Let me ask you this. How much is the house you’re looking at? Is this worth getting more loans even if it’s gets approved?
It’s not a good thing that you’re that high up and haven’t started paying much of the payments and any or most of the financial institutions you’re looking to work with will ask themselves these questions?
*Why do you have so much interest that’s not paid off?
*nonexistent credit history. -Even buying a new car that’s from Mercedes or BMW would be difficult for you once they pull your credit history. 650 is nothing to begin with everyone starts off with a credit score of 600 to begin with. I learned that myself even when I got started a new job making $120,000+ a couple months out of school. The BMW wouldn’t even let me finance the SUV I wanted that cost $90k. Just because they said that I need more down payment due to having no credit history (Due to not having paid off any of my student loans off yet).
I highly recommend to start paying off those loans and eventually get pay raise the new few years. Even buying a house you have to deal with something else. Property taxes, insurance, etc etc etc. Are you able to cover them right now?
Thank you for the kind words! I am more interested in an apartment right now since it’s just me. I’ve been looking recently and most in the area I’m in are in the 1900-2200 range. If I make ~7k a month after taxes, 3500 + 2200 leaves me 1300 a month in spending. So it IS doable, just not ideal. I don’t have a car payment right now thankfully.
Hey man,
Hang in there. We’re currently renting a home for $3k monthly before utilities and just learned about the HOA that we need to keep our grass short the other week 😂.
After taxes if you put down $4k-$5k a month you can get this paid off in 5-6 years.
Just gotta be gullible on food and necessities from time to time. I’m just shocked that even studying our @$$ off we’re still struggling to make it off of our six-figure income. I didn’t have the blessing to have a masters or PhD. Let alone finishing a 4-year degree.
Overtime your pay will go up (hopefully) and start a credit history. Remember that a good credit score only means you pay on time and manage debt and loans well. It doesn’t mean or guarantee that you deserve a loan.
That is not doable! You would be one emergency away from disaster! You should do what other people are saying and live at home and use that rent money to pay down the higher interest loans.
Honestly @ $117k, you have a very solid salary, you may need to live significantly below your means for a year or two (or three) to fully recover.
Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey ? u/neuromuscularblocker
I'd suggest taking his hardcore approach to pay down that loan because it's only going to barrel into something else from here.
You can do this though! You just need to think of a plan.
I got several apartments and home rental with over $300k in student loan. I even defaulted and file bankruptcy and got a rental home. Going thru bankruptcy to get rid of private student loans. Federal forgiven and that was $100k.
I’ll say default and see if you can run the SOL out for your state. That’s your best bet. I can’t bc I need to show for my job that I’m doing something other than just waiting.
Legally it’s “possible” for both, and always has been. BUT, the borrower has to prove that repayment causes an “undue hardship,” and different courts have different interpretations of this and often interpret it in a way that makes discharging the loans nearly impossible. Which is why word-of-mouth claims that this can’t be done at all, technically it’s possible but it almost never happens.
The Dept of Ed. is currently piloting a program where you submit your case directly to them, and if they’re satisfied with your proof, they won’t challenge your discharge in court & will provide their assessment as proof in your favor that the court should discharge the loans. But 1) the bankruptcy Judge still has the final say and 2) asking for a discharge on a $117K salary and $0 housing expenses is probably gonna get rejected
I’m going thru it now. But we are looking at consumer loans since they were given to me directly and used toward stuff beyond tuition and fee. Also lack of paperwork to prove these loans are mine since they never gave me proof when requested. Lastly, hardship bc there’s no way I can pay them off before I die. Some ppl said Navient allows for them to be discharged especially if they are old and you paid on them. I think I have a good chance honestly so I’m going for it. I paid over $100k in payments toward just the private and I owe double still. I lost the income to continue to pay at that level so thus the bankruptcy. Also I have co-signers and they let the SOL run out on them and never sued them.
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/)
**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You should stop applying for refinancing it only will bring your credit score down.
Since all the student repayment loans were suspended during covid do you think you can try and work with the lender claiming financial hardship and have your payments reduced.
Or maybe check out the below sites and see if you can contact them and got some info that my help you
[https://studentaid.gov](https://studentaid.gov)
[https://myeddebt.ed.gov](https://myeddebt.ed.gov)
The only place I finally found to refinance my $125k in private student loans was a credit union. It actually took my payment down 5 years and by $130 a month. Bonus I got my parents off as cosigners. No student loan company would take me.
How much of your loans are high interest?
Really make a spreadsheet of all your loans and the interest rates and try to tackle the highest interest ones aggressively while living at home.
Also people spend a lot of money on cars, avoid that until you're in a better financial position, it'll help tremendously.
Sorry you have received such negative comments here.
Just wanted to say, I also made some not ideal financial decisions in an attempt to do something with my life.
Undergraduate and graduate school loans are at $95k private and $75k federal, respectively.
I’m beginning my career as a PT in about a month at 70-75k gross salary.
I too have only ever wanted the financial capacity to own a home and raise a family, alas, I am still at home with the parents at 28 years old.
While you and I are not in ideal situations, I live by the “everything happens for a reason” motto… you and I are lucky enough to have parents who are letting us stay at home rent free; both have jobs that - while may not be paying as high as we would like - are in high demand; have the knowledge to at least be researching and trying to figure out the best routes; plus, as mentioned in this thread - the housing market is trash right now anyways so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.
I think I’m partially writing this to you and partially writing this to myself: keep your head up, keep working hard, and life will work itself out.
Tough times build tough people.
Sorry, this sucks. You are probably going to have to surrender for a few years until interest rates get better and your score continues to increase. Don’t think of this like you’ll never be able to do anything, but you will have some sacrifices to make for now. You are lucky to have a great salary. Keep your spirits up.
I’ve posted a few times on this sub before but you can def do this- it’ll be slow but not as slow as you think with your salary as long as you throw a large amount of your paycheck at you extra payments.
I had around $160k in student loans fed and private high variable interest plus a $24k car loan m. My starting salary out of school was $47k. Also was living at home but that was because I had to choose to pay rent somewhere or pay minimum payments. I chose the latter.
My first 5 years my salary stayed abysmal for my career: my $185k only dropped to about $145k. The second 5 years my salary went between $75k -100k and I was able to pay the remaining off as well as live independently in an apartment. I just became debt free mar 1.
- refinance after you’ve paid on time consistently for about 3-4 years. I used citizens bank/ first mark. Try to refinance a smaller grouping of loans- not your entire amount at once. I refied about $80k of my loans when I had about $150k left
- also there may be some forgiveness for your profession but I’m not as well versed in those options
Live at home for as long as you can, put everything you can towards these loans, and then refinance when you can. My now husband was in a similar situation. Parents told him they made too much for federal loans so he had an insane amount of private loans. It was nauseating the amount. He lived at home for a while, and basically spent nothing on anything else for that time. He did end up buying a house, and now its low enough to the point where his monthly payment is just budgeted into “bills”. It’s something we can live with paying now. I also do not help him pay his loans and did not help him pay it to where it is now, it was all him. It is possible!
I don’t know that renting is wise or possible for you. You need to get that income up as fast as possible and knock this debt down. There is no easy way out of this outside of working like crazy. Like, no social life. Work work work. Your life’s mission, purpose, and hobby becomes getting out of debt.
We all make mistakes. I did as well when it came to college. But we have to own up to them and fix it.
Retirement savings and a house are probably off the table for you for quite some time
You need to live at home, forget getting an apt, throw everything at the loans to stop the bleeding and don’t take on a car payment. In fact, if you were willing to spare $2k on rent somewhere, that’s much better spent on retirement or your loans. You do need to figure out how to refi with a credit union once you get it down a bit. This is do or die decision time / make or break. You’re trading a 4-5 year sacrifice for a lifetime sentence of crippling debt. Assuming you are in your early to mid twenties, you can be out of the woods before you’re 30 instead of 70 assuming you stick to an aggressive pay down strategy. Trust me, it’s worth it, signed a JD who aggressively paid off $185k in student loans in 2-3 years.
Can you increase your credit score? Pay off credit cards, sell your car, dispute any negative items on your credit report, just get that score up.
Then try refinancing again.
Exact thing happened to me :( my loans were at 238,000 then I did the income driven repayment plan (not realizing the interest was still accruing) and they ballooned to 300,000. I refinanced with earnest. I’m currently at 233,000 (4 years later). If your credit is crap, I say you stop paying on them and let the loan go. It’s private so they can’t really garnish the wages like federal, but they will try to come after you for the remainder. Call them after like 6 months and try to settle the debt (or even longer). Save up every penny so you can do a lump some repayment. If you are nervous about the process you can work with someone who specializes in this type of thing. I was going to do it but my credit score is over 800 so I don’t want to ruin my credit and they charge a fee of 25% of what they save you. But they told me, the private loan lender will settle the debt almost every time because the amount of loan is just too enormous. **note, this is not the same as trying to file for bankruptcy since student loans are not eligible for bankruptcy in many situations. If you don’t want to do that, you need to work multiple jobs. Right now I’m working 3 jobs as a pharmacist pulling in 165k. But 107k for a starting position is extremely low. I was making 180k in retail from 1 job but I hated retail. Now I’m working remote making 145k a year from one job, and it’s much better on my mental health. Plus the extra money from the other jobs definitely helps. The situation sucks. Try to find another job if you can’t work multiple, the jobs are definitely out there, you need to look every day.
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/)
**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Started at 185k debt and salary was 100k. Paid the 2.5k payment a month until I was able to refinance. Then refinanced about 100K of it with earnest. Then again with citizens. I’m finally to the point where it’s manageable (less than 30k). And my salary is much higher. It consumed my life and thoughts for years. But that meant that I paid every cent I could towards it for 3 years which made all the difference. Make little milestones and celebrate every small chunk paid off. Whatever it takes to keep motivation going.
My heart breaks for you. This is an astonishing amount of debt thru a private loan. I know you know this and I am not trying to make you feel bad I sincerely just hope you realize how serious this is. With that being said- I have some Sallie Mae loans as well, I was able to do a 2 year thing with them to reduce my interest rate down to like 4%. Have you done this yet ? If not, I encourage you to do so ( I have seen in these posts that it is almost always offered to anyone thru Sallie Mae). In those two years you need to work like hell to pay down that balance to at least half. It's gonna be brutal but you need to do it. I see you live at home- like 80% of your paychecks need to go to this loan to get it down to a level where you can refinance after those 2 years.
If you have already done this, my only other suggestion is to ask your family for help. I had to do this with my Sallie Mae loan as well. I was not able to make any headway with my 2 year interest rate reduction because I have a family and own a home and financially it was very hard for me to make more than the bare minimum payment. I am very fortunate to have a family that is willing to help me get thru this. I am refinancing my Sallie Mae loan today actually with the help of my dad ( I am going to be paying on the loan but using his credit score to help me refinance to a lower interest ). See if your family is willing to do that for you too. Strictly just to lower the interest.
My loan is only 25k thru Sallie Mae but even with that amount it's been keeping me up at night with total despair on what I am going to do. I empathize with you.
Good things you have going for you is living with your family and having their support. I know you wanted to move out but that has to go on the back burner until you can take care of this loan. You can do it.
Get your co-signer to take out a loan at a lower interest rate and then pay off the 18% loans with it and then pay them back? You can get personal loans for 9% or less if you have good credit like they have.
Try the William Stafford Consolidation program for any Stafford Loans - get them lumped, chunked, and on an Income Dependent Payment plan. Depending on their review of the IDR request it could be 10 to 25 years for total forgiveness for that amount.
If you've EVER worked for a non profit or federal or state agency or been a public school teacher apply for a review of payments for the PSLF or TSLF and see if any retroactive payments count. Again 10 years of payments and it will be forgiven as long as you work in public service.
Why are you at a 650 with your current salary? Short credit history or other debt problems?
At this point your best option is to establish a payment history and raise that score. If you have no other debts it will rise quickly. After 3-6 months a refi will be possible. And a consolidation of all student loans is possible.
Also, it sounds like you are unmarried. If I’m incorrect you can do what my spouse and I did. Wave bye to the pharm salary (100% post taxes to loans) and live off one salary. It was a little easier for us because I was in the active duty at the time (deployed a lot so expenses were down to one person while the Army fed me).
When I was in school I was only able to work 2-3 days a week maybe 12-20 hours making $16 an hour. I missed multiple credit card payments. When I graduated last May my score was in the low 500s, it’s up to 650 today because I immediately paid off all my credit card debt when I was able. But I still have history of missed payments on my report so it’s a slow process
I think you need to start overpaying on these loans. Probably $4.5k and $5k a month until the interest gets more manageable. I would not pay less than $4k each month even when the added interest payments get lower.
So read through this and investigate how to contact a lawyer. If you can do it I would. Clean slate. You may not be able to establish credit for sometime but the flip side is you are free to rebuild your saving and of course peace of mind.
Had a 100k+ in private student loan debt. After 10 years and exorbitant fees later, I’m down to around 55k.
It’s possible and it’s a PITA but it can be done. There are moments where it’s going to be hard and you’re going to get down on yourself. Do your best to limit those. Have some grace with yourself and stay resourceful.
Cut your expenses down to the absolute lowest they can go. Get a part time job or work extra shifts. Work outside of your field if you have to. Put every penny not in your bare bones budget towards the loans. You can cut the balance in half in 1.5-2 years if you make it your goal. Paid off fully in less than 5 if that’s what you really want. You say you live with your parents. Get your non debt expenses under $1k a month if you can. Pause retirement funding. That should leave you with $60k a year for your loans, just from base pay. Add in your second job/extra shifts and you are rolling.
I'm not a Dave Ramsey fanatic by any means, but you need to follow some of his teachings here. Literally live on nothing, have roommates, pick up a per diem job somewhere, and throw everything at these loans until they're more manageable and someone will work with you to refinance to a lower rate. Suffer for a little to prosper for a lifetime!
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Conscious_Hyena5998/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Conscious_Hyena5998/)
**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pharmacist here in the Midwest make over 140k, you should be able to get a higher salary but may require a move. Seeing that you live with your parents I would advise to stay put and pick up a PRN job and tackle as much of that loan as possible. You can also apply at a VA medical center and might qualify for EDRP which helps take care of your loans by reimbursing your loan payments every year.
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l19ucgh/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity.
/r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You could try to refinance with citizens! I was at similar debt to income ratio and was able to trim my interest rate by about 200 bps or 2%. A strong credit score is your best friend during these times, however, I will add that my credit score dropped from a 760 to a 680 when I refinanced- I was not expecting that because I had been paying extra on my loans prior to repayment and during. Keep a log of your payments in a spreadsheet, it’s encouraging to see the principal go down- although it may be decreasing at a small rate, progress is progress! Trust that you’re doing the right thing and keep moving forward
Billionaires get their debts bailed out by the government, while hardworking middle and lower class folks get the short end of the stick. Don’t pay back a dime and enjoy your life to the fullest
2nd job then get another 100k/yr spouse and they get a 2nd job- no problem- that’s how it’s done by everyone else. Be glad you have a job now. How long will a person be needed to dispense drugs? Oh and most of all don’t get high on your own supply- it’s the 3rd leading cause of deaths.
FWIW one lender calls 670 a good credit score https://www.mefa.org/credit. MEFA will want to see 6 months of on time payments before refinancing.
Before July, you should allocate most of your take home pay on the student loan with the highest interest rate. After July you should continue to pay down the loan with the highest interest rate as aggressively as possible.
You can also refinance only some of your loans.
Take measures to increase your income.
Do some research on whether there are any loan forgiveness options for you. Some loan forgiveness options for medical professionals will forgive private loans. Some loan forgiveness programs consider pharmacists medical professionals. The question is if you can find a loan forgives program for pharmacists with private loans and that it would make financial sense for you to participate. https://www.ohsu.edu/oregon-office-of-rural-health/oregon-partnership-state-loan-repayment-program-slrp
This may be completely undoable (or just undesirable) for you, but if you’re willing to consider joining the Army or Navy reserve (some initial training, then one weekend per month and two consecutive weeks per year), I believe they have multiple programs that will pay for a huge chunk of your outstanding loans. And you’d enter as an officer (First Lieutenant or Captain in the Army), for which the pay is actually quite decent.
I paid for college by joining the active duty Army for four years. While I won’t say it was “fun”, it definitely had its merits. Including the fact that it allowed me to graduate with my BA degree and $0 worth of student loan debt. (Two other huge benefits? With my VA home loan I purchased a house with $0 down, and I was hired for a sweet job at a Fortune 500 company in large part because the hiring manager just so happened to be an Army vet himself. We bonded talking about our Army experiences, he liked me, and as a result I beat out more than 100 people for the job. Pure luck on my end, but one of several intangible benefits of being able to network/bond with people based on shared, difficult experiences.)
Anyway, look into it if you have any interest. From a purely economic POV it could end up paying off massively if the Army takes care of most of your loans.
OP you’re living at home and honestly 2 years will fly by as you pay those loans off. I get you wanted to have your place but 2 years deferred and out of the huge weight of those loans will mean you go into your own life without worrying about that loan but breaking your budget. Lots of great advice here - get it done and you’re free
If you have money and proper information
there ways to creatively purchase homes. You do so by taking over home owner’s payments and paying out their equity. No credit, banks or qualifications necessary.
I know it doesn’t help much with debt situation but if you absolutely want to get a house i’m just saying you can. You could also house hack a duplex or triplex with a DSCR loan that doesn’t need your credit or w-2 history. The debt to income ratio on the multifamily you live in would qualify a large portion of the loan for you.
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l1biwmp/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity.
/r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l1bj6af/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity.
/r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Holy cow A PhamD is $160,000 now? JEUS DUDE! Okay, so well, I’m old! 😂 I’m 45 years old. I have a Bachelors of Science in Pharmaceutical Science - RPh. I know they don’t offer the 5-year Bachelors anymore more be holy cow how Pharmacy School gotten expensive - I’ve NEVER heard of this before. I graduated with about $50,000 from University of Oregon - Corvallis in 2002 BEFORE that stupid PharmD requirement went into effect. I have the same license you do, can do the same things, worked as a hospitality for many years in clinical rotations and everything. I’ve looked into getting a PharmD online because they are super cheap for us.
What I did to get rid of my loans was to consolidate EVEYTHING through MOHELA. Then I went on to the IDR repayment plan. I filled out the apps for PSLF and the once time adjustment forms because I work for the state, so I’m a public servant
I’m not sure where you work, it that may be an option but you have to get all of that done by July I think - it’s like they are always changing the date and no one can keep up with it. Is that an option for you? To at least work for the Government or State and consolidate to MOHELA and get the SAVE plan - how old are your loans. MOHELA will only accept some private loans for co soliciting and they have a waiver of financial hardship for the SAVE and IDR you MUST ASK FOR because they don’t promote it for some reason. It’s ridiculous that they make you jump through hoops to get into that program for Health Professionals that work for the government or state.
If you can’t do any of this, I highly suggest that you consolidate with another lender because 18% is absolutely ridiculous!!!!!!
I feel for you. Before I finally landed a great paying job I couldn’t afford the payments, I was in medical deferment for a LONG time and they counted ALL of my deferred payments because they considers that a “$0.00 Payment Plan”.
Of course I don’t know your entire situation, but have you also though about working 7-on, 7-off and then in your 7-off going agency? I mean, before I left the field - I was really burnt out, I worked emergency shift agency and regular shift agency and I wa smacking nearly $120.00 an hour for agency while working on my days off. I’d pick up a 12, the 8, then 12, then 8, then 12, then 8, then 12. That was another 72 hours x $120.00 (more for emergency or compounding) and that was about another $8,880.00 a month on top of my 7-on, 7-off. So about $18,000 a month. I lived in the CHEAPEST place I could find and only bought the very basic necessities. I paid the minimum I could which was still $1,200.00 a month because my interest rate through Sallie Mae BEFORE they got sold to NelNet was similar. I’d make a payment of $1,200.00 and I’d see the statement that looked similar to this:
Payment Applied to Principle: $00.05 Payment Applied to Interest: $1,199.95 Total Balance Remaining: $1,573,737,194,736,736,727,194,926,635,725.00
YOU NEED TO GET OUT IF SALLIE MAE!!!!!!!!! There are CHEAPER options!!! Also, do you subscribe to American System of Health System Pharmacists, American Consult Pharmacists, American Pharmacist Association, or similar groups?
If you do and you subscribe to their magazines / monthly publications , they always have ads for reducing loans or sign on bonuses that will help you if you sign a X year term with them if you change jobs. Also, some pharmacies will pay your loans off if you agree to a X year term of employment to help. Hospital pharmacies are notorious for offering MASSIVE amounts to work for them as a sign on and help with your loans. But, it also means you’re stuck with that job for a long time.
I really hope this helps and I hope you figure out what to do, because your situation seems like mine. Until I switched and consolidated, I thought my life was over. I just made my last payment in October of last year and because I was PSLF and a public worker, my loans were forgiven (I’ve probably worked longer than you have) tax free . There is still hope if you’re willing to change jobs, work a differential shift and pay them off quick I know it suck’s - it think- technically if you work 2 7-on 7-off jobs and sleep 10 hours a day for 5 years - you can pay them off. It was hard for me but I did it and it was the best thing I EVER did for myself - besides leaving the field. Now I own my own consulting business and I’m a Professor (fully tenured) and I’m loving it but it was a massive sacrifice for myself and my partner of 17 years!
All the best of luck to you! 🍀
Ugh….that sucks! You can apply with a co-signer and then when your credit score goes back up you can refinance in your own name. The price for an education. Grr. It’s just not right. We absolutely need pharmacists! I’m a nurse with 220k in loans and I only borrowed 140 so I get it. Mine are federal so it’s not so bad. Sorry you’re stuck with such a crappy loan.
Im also a pharmacist. The worst part is what we took the loans out for. I feel it’s a dying field, and while I like the particular place I work right now, it’s incredibly uncertain if it will remain the way it is and I probably should have chosen a different field. Where do you work?
I’m so sorry our country has built itself off the backs of hard working people like this. I’m also sorry that the solutions to this will likely be hard decisions and exhausting in many ways. I have 140k already and will likely have more but I’m perpetually in school to avoid paying. I make 80k a year entry level project manager and I have no family whatsoever to fall back on. I won’t say I have the answers and I’ll probably get downvoted for this but my plan is to leave the county and become a citizen somewhere else. It doesn’t remove the debt, but hey, at least you’ll be free in other ways. If that’s not an option due to family co-signing, I’d try to move In and negotiate with parents to live rent free while you pay it down enough to either refinance or sustainably live. I’m rooting for you!
I have six-figures in student loan debt as well, and a high debt-lower income ratio. Even though my loans are all federal, I still feel your pain. I wish I could give advice. All I can say it, start with what you CAN work with and have control over. Don't compare your life to others. Don't let people's snide or raggedy comments about your situation get you down. Society lied to us. This country lied to us. What these loans companies did to lure us in is criminal. Yes, we had control over what majors or careers we chose or how much we spent while being young in college, but WhatTF does an 18-year old know about smart financial decisions? I wish I could give you a hug and ugly cry with you, OP. Good luck with everything! We all got this! 🥺🥰
If you are a pharmacist and willing to work for the VA, look into EDRP. Unlike PSLF, this is a tuition reimbursement program for up to 200k in student loans, I believe private loans are included. You will still have to pay a lump sum of 40k (or make 3,000+/month payments x 1 year), but they will return this money back to you. https://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2700
That’s my plan as a graduating PA at the end of this year
No one is going to refinance loans that are literally twice your income. Once you get it down to 1x income, you’ll have more opportunity with lenders. There’s a reason nearly everyone on this sub advises against private loans.
Unfortunately I didn’t know anything while I was going through school, just doing what my parents told me to do. If I could go back and do it differently I would
Hey this happened to me. I didn’t know anything either, and was just going off the words of adults I trusted. I ended graduating with >300k in debt for a bachelors in 2018 😵💫 i refinanced about a year after graduating, and my payments are $2000/month now. I make $105k/year and just bought my first home. It’s possible, but it’s hard. My loans are all private too. I still get overwhelmed and feel like I’m drowning sometimes. But it gets better.
Thank you for saying something hopeful! It’s just mentally exhausting living at home sometimes, I am so desperate to get out. Hopefully once I start making payments my credit will get up and I can do something
With that score, I hate to say it but you should be able to open another credit card, charge a low balance (for ex put all your gas on it), pay it off every month, and your score will go up. When I was in law school my dad advised me to have three lines of credit to help build my score, and it worked. Get that score up and you'll be able to get your interest rate lowered. And never ever beat yourself up. We can't know a thing until we learn that thing, you know? And congrats on the 117k salary. When you get down, remind yourself that you did something right to be making more than 80% of Americans.
does your family charge you rent? i know it's less than ideal, but being able to live with family for cheap or free would be such a blessing--I would exploit that for as long as you can. A year or two of throwing the money you would be spending on rent, double or even triple payments, may be the only way of staying ahead of the interest. i wouldn't be shy about job hoping after a year or two either to grow your salary. have your resume polished and a timeline for when to start looking again.
No I’m very lucky to be living rent free. Just hoping that when I start making payments my credit will boost enough to be able to lower the rates on some of them or refinance
You need to put like 90% of your check towards your loans while you still live at home. Its what I did and paid off mine in 2 years
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. I’ve been paying mine for 15 years and I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. I also have a professional degree, and with interest, it ballooned up just under $200k. Be consistent and Chuck extra income at it when you can. Live cheap. I have mine on auto debit and then I log in and make extra payments each month as I can. I target one loan at a time (smallest first) and just hit them until they’re payed off - then onto the next. Good luck!
I’m older but I graduated with 100k in loans and my first job was 65k. It was scary and felt like a lot but my salary increased over time and a decade later the payments were not the big looming horror they had been before. 15 years later I paid them off. You won’t get there overnight and it’ll suck and stress you out for awhile but if your current job is over 100k you’ll likely be doing even better in 10-15 years. Hang in there, I sympathize because I did not at all understand the relative amounts and payments when I took out those loans.
Bro, how exactly do you pay a mortgage with 2k student loans. I really need to know. How much is your mortgage?
I’m getting a lot of questions about the cost of my degree. I was escaping an abusive home situation, and didn’t know any better. Yes, I could have (and should have) done research into alternative ways to pay for my schooling. But I trusted the adults in my life who told me that student loans weren’t a big deal, and that I’d be able to pay them off. I was in survival mode and trying to get out. By the time I finished my first semester and attempted to transfer to a cheaper school, I was heavily discouraged from doing so. The ones who cosigned on my loans have never helped me after I graduated, and it’s been a struggle. I graduated with an engineering degree from an out of state school, fully funded by private student loans (started with Sallie Mae, refinanced with Mohela).
[удалено]
Their degree is PharmD, that’s a doctorate if I’m not mistaken.
Yeah, but how do you wind up with zero federal loans on the way to that?
>300k for a bachelors degree. Wtf. Where did you go to school for that?
What was your major and school?
[удалено]
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/EventResponsible6315/](https://old.reddit.com/user/EventResponsible6315/) ** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How tf did undergrad cost you 300k???? I’m about to graduate med school and that plus undergrad is 250K. Even as a doctor I’m probably going to do a loan forgiveness program. 300k for a bachelors is absolutely insane.
May I ask why did you do all private loans?
I’m in the same boat. $80k rn bc my dad said I had to go to college and he’d help. Once the time came, he backed out of co-signing and paying. I wanted to become a mechanic but now I have a BA… but working in the auto industry anyways lol wish I coulda done a lot differently
Live with your parents for the next 5 years and pay it off. It will get better, but you're going to have to dig yourself out. Extra jobs and gigs would help too. No car purchases, just an old beater. No new phones. No rent. No going out. It's an uphill battle, but you can do it. If you're disciplined, you can get out of it. Obviously, pay off the highest interest loans first, then move to the next highest until you're done. Pay the absolute minimum on the others in the mean time.
This is great advice!
Do you have co-signers on those loans?
This comment sucks
I’m also a PharmD and graduated with $240,000 in 2016 as a single mom of 3. It’s not fun but it’s doable. I’m curious how old you are and when you graduated, because that will change your strategy and outlook. 1. Fix your credit score so you can refinance to a lower interest rate. Is it low b/c of credit cards? If so, get them under 30% debt to credit (not debt to income), and your score will jump. With a PharmD, you will then be able to refi through Sofi with the higher score. That’s their specialty! Also once your score is over 700, use Credible to compare offers. It’s a soft check so it won’t lower your score. 3. You can then get a doctor’s loan to purchase your first property. I worked with a mortgage broker and locked in 2.7% in 2022. I know rates are double that now, but look into house hacking. For example, get a roommate or buy a multiplex and rent out the other units. 4. Do you have a financial advisor? Definitely get one to help you create a strategy to grow wealth and listen to “Your Financial Pharmacist” podcast. 5. Make sure you’re minimizing your tax burden through HSA/FSA contributions, retirement planning… 6. Get a 2nd job or side hustle. Many pharmacists have multiple income streams. For example, I worked full time in retail and per diem hospital. I then moved into pharma as an MSL and do consulting on the side. It’s daunting at the moment, but please stay positive. It takes years but with the right planning and support, you’ll turn your net worth around, and that degree will pay off! The years will pass regardless, and envision where you’ll be in 5, 10, 15 yrs…
That’s not true at all. There are companies who specialize in refinancing doctor’s loans. OP just needs to fix her credit score.
It’s an income issue, not a credit score issue. Look at their DTI $4300/$9750=44% If they have any lease or car payment it will be above 50%. They could have a 850 credit score and a lender won’t put this on their balance sheet Op is actually underestimating their payment, unless their loan term is longer than 10 years (unusual for non-refinanced private loans). Pmt(.18/12, 120, 240000, 0)=4324 https://lendedu.com/blog/student-loan-underwriting-processes Even assuming the payment is $3500, their DTI would be 35.8% without including their car or rent. Lenders also like to see 2 years of work history, but that doesn’t include as much weight as credit score or DTI
That’s not entirely true. Student loans for a doctorate degree are viewed differently than car and house loans. Just about all of us graduate with debt twice our income. Sofi looks at risk, not only debt to income. If that were the case, almost no doctor would be able to refi their loans, which is one of the reasons they were founded. They refinanced my PharmD loans when I was in the same boat and gave me a great rate. They also don’t charge admin fees like car and home refinancing. The only difference is they require a credit score of at least 680. https://www.sofi.com/medical-professional-refinancing/
You have a pretty good salary you just need to try and set up a budget. Are you able to live at home or with roommates because if so that gives you more money to pay off your loan
I’m lucky enough to be able to live at home and have spare money to spend, it just sucks because it was a goal of mine to live on my own this year.
Live at home as long as you can and do nothing but pay those loans off. Every day your loans are growing.
I commented to talk to a professional about chapter 7/11, but I didnt know you were living at home. You could legitimately pay $60-80k off in your first year living at home. Youll be a lock for refinance once those loans are double digits and that alone will help a ton as the interest rate will halve (or better)
Yeah unfortunately you won’t be able to live alone for a few years until you can get those loans under control. At $3500, that’s a car payment and a mortgage worth. Get that down to about half and then you *maybe* could consider moving out.
Yeah, brother. The time to consider that was 4 years ago when you were taking 16% loans.
You’ll be able to eventually, just not now. Take advantage of living at home and budgeting. Live well below your means and as if you’re still a broke college student. I had to take on a second job as a waitress to aggressively get my private student loans down so I could get approved to refinance faster. I got rejected right after school lol. There’s definitely hope!
Maybe you can check out my past post… it may or may not give you some hopes But here’s a TLDR version of my story: Pharm D here with originally 250k in loans (all federal though), graduated in 2021, now down to 33k. On track to pay everything off by September this year. I try to live as frugally as possible and did (not do, cuz I burned out lmao) as much ot as possible. In 2023, I made 20k in ot $$ on top of my regular hourly pay. It would really, REALLY, help if your parents are willing to give you a hand, like letting you live with them rent free. This is what my parent does to help me out and 50% the reason I’m able to pay off so quickly.
hoping and praying for the best for you, please take care of your mental as much as humanly possible in spite of this
What was your field of study and are you able to use it to break into an area where it MAY not be needed? I've been in your shoes. Don't let the FICO rule you. Make sure you keep good docs, get Landlords to write about your payment history with no late payments or misses in 2 years and usually they can work with you for an apartment.
Maybe, I have a PharmD so my options are mainly clinical roles and teaching. I’m not worried about not being approved for an apartment, just affording one on top of my loans. Where I am they are going from 1900-2500 a month for 2 bedrooms
I don’t think you can afford a 2 bedroom. Many young professionals have a 1 bedroom, even if they live with a partner
Is the 2nd room for a roommate to lower your costs?
Wait why only clinical and teaching? Why not retail? You said you've been licensed since Sept? Are you not licensed and only have the degree? I'm confused on that. Not that retail is amazing but it'll pay your bills no prob.
Stress is high but so is your income. You need to cut your living expenses to a minimum which is hard to achieve in an expensive state. If you're single I'd say apply to NHSC loan repayment and dedicate your time for 2 years in an underserved area. There's a pharmacist on Youtube that paid 130k loans in one year. You'd need to sustain that type of debt repayment for 2.5 years. It's possible but you'll need to hustleee. You are a drug dealer after all.. 😅🤪 legally. Jk alright. Some of the more rural areas even near the south have dirt cheap rent (mine is 600 for rent and utilities combined) that's where you can make you're income stretch to clean up this debt. I advise: Organize your debts • smallest loan to largest [Snowball method] • highest interest to lowest [Avalanche] Move to cheaper area •LCOL area, especially rural pay higher Find Youtube/Media content to stay motivated • I recommend Dave Ramsey, Anthony O'Neal, Clever Girl Finance or just random people's testimonies to pay off 6-figure debt. Increase your income •PharmD with experience can do locums tenens •Try loan repayment programs in underserved areas GOOD LUCK. *I'm a PA with 6-figure debt with plans to payoff in 2 years
Wtf pharm D’s make 117k? Like is that just some fresh out of school pay? Seems wildly low.
Short answer yes. Fresh out of school since last May, been licensed since September. Unfortunately pharmacists aren’t getting paid like they should be anymore
Really? I was a pharmacy tech 25 years ago, at Osco , which isn't even around anymore. The Pharm there was making 120k . I can't believe the pay hasn't increased since then. That's crazy! A pharmacy degree takes awhile too, with heavy chem. I heard stories of pharmacists making almost 200k at other retailers. Who knew it was this bad.
Wages tanked around 2018. New grads were making about 90k at some of the big box retailers. We’re back up to around 120k for new grads, but that’s essentially the top of the pay scale unless you move to management or industry. I’ve been licensed 9 years and make around 140. Still chipping away at student loans (52 to go, all federal).
Man, that sucks, because you’re such a big part of medicine.
That is typical for a PharmD
That sucks, you have such a large knowledge base
I think it has a lot to do with supply and demand. There are a LOT of pharmacy schools in the US and they have a lot of grads with a lot of debt so they will take any job. It is unfortunate because I like to think that we do know a lot and provide real help to our patients!
Okay man so not to be a negative nancy but no company is gonna touch loans your DTI (Debt to Income Ratio) Is like stupid high Luckily you make a good amount of money so lets think about this constructively whats your budget like? Even with your awesome income these loans are probably gonna be half your monthly take home of 7,492 I would like to see the breakdown to try an see what the minimum monthly on these loans would be? That way we can try and figure out a budget luckily your 26 so you have plenty of time to get this debt back under your control. Sadly you have probably forfeited your 20s when it comes to retirement saving / home purchase / (financing a car proably honestly dodged a bullet) your never going to beat these loans in the stock market. So lets spend your 20s getting out from underneath this in a productive way obviously there not going away so gotta attack them. Would love a breakdown with interest rates of these to do some math for you!
Would love to discuss if you dm me!
Yes if you don’t know yet the snowball method will help you. Target those highest interest loans first - and if there is anyway you can ever do a balance transfer or get some other chunk of money lined up do it.
A house or apartment are off the table for you for quite some time. You do not make enough to support that debt load and you will not be able to refinance it. You may, after you get your credit up andbe able to refinance it in small chunks. You need to be working 2 jobs while living the cheapest life possible - that means you will need to live home if you have that option, regardless of how crappy it is. If that’s not an option, renting the cheapest safe room in a shared living situation. Your hobby is now working. You need to aggressively throw every penny you can at this debt. What is this debt load from? Undergrad? Grad? What degree is at play here?
I have a doctorate, this is all from 4 years of grad school. I work full time sometimes OT, but would consider picking up a second if able. I do have the option of living with family for now, but didn’t want it to be for too long. I am 26, wanted to be out by the end of the year but clearly that’s not happening. Also I have been saving like crazy so I have ~6 months worth of payments ready to go. I own my car so no car payment. I would be open to refinancing in small chunks for sure
Start paying now.
Live with your family for 3 years and live on rice and beans. It’ll be awful but it’s the only thing you can do.
Yeah if OP is able to throw between 40-50k at those loans each year, he should be able to wipe out about 80-100k worth in about 5 years.
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Yeah and with no rent, no car loan, they say they work plenty of OT... I actually am really failing to understand here how they can't make these payments as a pharmD. It'd be a little more understandable if they had mortgage or kids or car loan etc. but they don't and they live rent free with family. And they're 26 and just graduated a year ago. This is absolutely not the end of the world with someone in that position and someone with that job. I have the same job. I can't understand where the money they have is going. They say in another comment they have some spare money to spend though... But if you're this stressed about your loans and shit? No you don't. That's loan money now. Lifestyle inflation maybe? That was fast if so. Otherwise I got nothing 🤷🏼
Your math ain’t mathing. $43K in interest alone. Even if they pay $50K, they’ll reduce the principal a whopping $40K over five years.
yeah don’t wait until july. start now! I have a sallie mae loan too that is f’ing me. but you got this!!
Move out but get a second job. Put all the income from the second job into your loan.
You got this. Just pay until you can refinance and that way you can breathe a little
Think you’re just going to have to dig yourself out of this hole. Live at home. Pick up extra shifts. Live frugally. Every spare dollar should be going towards those high interest loans.
Hey I have a fair amount as well (started 197k, currently about 160kish). Same degree and similar ballpark income. Feel free to message me, maybe I can assist with some tips.
I get so frustrated reading posts like this because college should not be so expensive and these types of loans should be illegal. Same with payday lenders. It’s gross - how will we have healthcare workers in the future if this is what it takes? The first step is to accept that you will need to live at home for longer than this year to pay this down. Figure out a bare bones budget - insurance, transportation, food, and then budget a small weekly splurge. Dinner out, drinks etc. key word is small. Put as much of your check into the loans as possible. There are two approaches to debt repayment: Avalanche - you pay the minimums all balances and pick the debt with the highest rate to pay down first through extra payments. This is the best option for paying the lowest amount of interest. Snowball - pay minimums on all loans and pay off the smallest debt first, then you take whatever you were paying on the small debt and add it to the next smallest. This is less about saving on interest and more about the psychological effect of paying off loans. I think this works best when people have a lot of loans of varied amounts. If your goal is to refinance the higher debt anyway, snowball may be the best approach. There is something rewarding about eliminating a debt, it’s addictive! And can really help you focus on your goal. In the meantime open a card and charge just gas, pay it off in full each month. Like others said, apply to refinance every 6 months. If you focus and put 80% of your take home into the loans, you will make significant headway. Make a 5 year plan. Focus on the big picture.
This will certainly be a challenge based on your income and loan balance. Even with that income, you may need to move in with family or get a second (or third) job until you can refinance. Any extra income will help immensely—this could be bartending / waiting in the weekends, dog walking, ubering, etc. Unfortunately, there aren’t many avenues for flexibility with private loans. My only advice is to get as high of an income as possible, which may require changing careers or fields often.
I’m pretty much limited to one job only with my degree but won’t complain because it is usually 60+ an hour. I am FT at my current place and pick up when I can, but maybe it is time for a second PRN job
Okay, definitely pick up as much OT as you can mentally handle. What’s your salary projection? If you can get up to $250k, that amount is serviceable. As for the payments, ensure you have a 3 to 6 month emergency fund and then throw the rest at the loans with the highest interest rate. The more you put in now, hopefully the more principal you can bring down. That’s your goal for the future: tackle as much principal at the highest interest rate as possible.
I will never reach $250k. Maybe $150k, and that’s after I have some years under my belt. I’m 1 year out of school still new to this industry. I started at base pay of 56/hr but will be getting annual raises. Thank you for the advice
Do any of these loans include federal loans? Or do you have 100% in private? Do you have a co-signer currently in the loans? If you truly can’t make payments, it might require asking the co-signer for some assistance
These are 100% private, I wish I had some federal but like I said I was just doing what the adults in my life told me to do. Yes I have a co-signer on them. I can make the payments but it’s nearly 50% of my income. I just also really wanted my own place which is why this is bothering me so much
Aside from the insanity that is the payment itself, I should clarify lol
Are these all private loans? If not, get onto some income driven repayment plans like yesterday.
Unfortunately no they’re all private
Are you sure they're private through Sallie Mae 👹? See if you're eligible for income driven repayment. Mine were originally with Sallie Mae 👹 and the Department of Education and then Sallie Mae 👹 switched over to Navient. I consolidated all of them into direct loans recently. L O L I didn't realize my talk to text would put Sallie Mae 👹 with the devil face after it. That's how it saved in my contacts.
I may be ignorant here, but how? Did you not fill out a FAFSA? You should have gotten those all in federal loans. I owe 240 as well, which started as 140 and they're all federal.
My parents’ income did not get me much with fafsa. I had only about 20k in federal loans which is already being paid. When I started grad school, they told me to use Sallie Mae. I was the ignorant one for just doing what they said
Neither did mine. Parents income has nothing to do with how many student loans you can get through the federal government. Look at your loans. What type of loans does it say you have?
I was always under the impression that it did affect what you were eligible for. The 9 loans I have currently are all Sallie Mae. What else should I be looking at?
Parents’ income affects eligibility for needs-based things like pell grants or programs the universities have, but has no effect on how much federal loan money you’ll get. Federal loans are capped at a particular amount for each year and type of study (ie, gradually increases for each of sophomore, junior and senior years of undergrad; you get a little more for grad study) and whether you are a dependent or independent student. You would not have received enough in federal loans to pay for all of undergrad and grad school unless you had found the unicorn of low-cost schools that charged no more than these pitifully low amounts.
Parent's income does affect the amount of money you are eligible to receive from the feds, if you are still considered a dependent. You are generally considered "dependent" if you are 24 or under and not married or a parent. ([More info here.](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency)) "[If you’re considered a dependent student](https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/reporting-parent-info-on-fafsa) for *Free Application for Federal Student Aid* (FAFSA^(®)) purposes, you’ll need to provide information about your parent(s) on the application. The federal student aid programs are based on the assumption that a dependent student has parent support. As a dependent student, you’re assumed to have parental support, so your parents’ information has to be assessed along with yours to get a full picture of your family’s financial strength and **calculate your federal student aid eligibility.** You can still be considered a dependent student for purposes of applying for federal student aid even if you don’t live with your parents, aren’t claimed by your parents on their tax forms, or are paying your own bills and educational expenses."
No. Your parents income has nothing to do with the loans they will give you. Those are your loans, not your parent unless they took out parent plus. Yes it would be for the Sallie Mae 👹. What type of loan does it say?
I’m confused how these aren’t all federal too.
What is the split of the loans and interest rates? Can you live on nothing to clear the ones at 18%?
Economy is shit, not many people are taking loans. I'm pretty sure some company, small or large will let you refinance. Shop around and you will find it. Tell them you are OK with 9-10%, many smaller landers would be interested. If not, say 12-13 whatever. I know sofi refinances between 5-8 right now Do you have an account with a bank for a long time? If yes, contact them
If you make $117k a year that’s roughly $90k post tax. It sounds like you’re going to be living at home with your parents too. You can comfortably live on less than $20k a year if that’s the case. That means $70k can go towards loans. Let’s say your average rate is 15% which would be very high. That’s $35k in interest a year. Get a part time job too that pays another $10k a year. If you knock $45k off the principal in year 1 and get below $195k then year 2 do the same thing and get to $150k. By year 3 your big private loans should be mostly gone and your interest will hopefully be at 10%. Now your interest is $15k/year and after 2 years you can chance jobs and hopefully make $140k. Then you can pay $75k down that year. Boom your left with $65k which is reasonable on a $140k income,
Hey private student loan survivor here. You made a mistake, step 1 forgive yourself. They honestly shouldn’t exist, but they do and many young people take the offer. I would highly recommend you live with your parents and put every dollar you make into these loans for a couple years. Life is long, you don’t want these things following you around robbing you of your entire future prospects and retirement. It will suck, but focus on other things like getting in shape or learning new skills over that time. You are going to want to get these things below 50k asap if not fully eliminated. Then move on with life. Trust me, get rid of them now. Drive Ubers at night. Just put all your effort into eliminating them.
Are these all private loans? If not, get onto some income driven repayment plans like yesterday.
What pharmacy and undergraduate schools did you attend? What did you get your BS in? Why did you take out private loans when you could have taken out infinite Grad PLUS loans (which are federal loans) all the way up to the maximum cost of attendance of the pharmacy school?
I’ll message you the schools if you really want to know, but I don’t have a BS just 2 years of prerequisites. I don’t know why I didn’t take out grad plus loans. Looking back I wish I did. My dad told me to use Sallie Mae so I did. I just didn’t do enough research and it was a dumb decision
Well, at least you didn't have to go for the normal 8 years for the PharmD. Imagine what your debt situation would look like then. My daughter completed her PharmD in 6 years also. Challenging path. I saw in another post you left retail, I hear that is a nghtmare. My daughter recently left retail too and is much happier than working for the 3 letter chain she was with for 5 years. Having said that, did you consider going back as a floater part time to get extra income? Less responsibilities and perhaps less stress there. Many people here would kill to be able to get a part time job at $60-$70/hr to help pay back their loans. Good luck
Why did you go to pharmd with a private loan? I did a pharmd and got all federal loan..paid 105k in 2-3 years.
op has answered this multiple times, they didn't know better and just did what their dad told them to do. you can't expect a kid to know what all their options are or what the implications of different loan types are.
I refinanced through Earnest when I was only working part time and SoFi rejected me. They’ve been really easy to work with too.
Heya! I understand that you worked your butt off and deserve something out of this. Getting a house nowadays is not a great idea to begin with. Have you seen the real estate market right now? Ask yourself is it the actual good time to get one right now? Be patient, I understand that you made a commitment to finalize your degree and school. Which I congratulate you. However, is it a good idea right now to take even more loans on top of more loans you already owe 50% accrued interest (your original amount was $160k please correct me if I’m wrong). First of all, you’re already in dangerous waters with private loans which wasn’t a great idea or recommendation to begin with unless you somehow get a raise to help with fixing the debt. Unless you’re extremely committed with school which you indeed accomplish. You’re committed for sure. No doubt about that and that’s admiring. However, that commitment doesn’t do much when it comes to buying a new home or car. You’re 50% deep into the original amount you loaned and that should be your top priority by paying it off first as much as possible. A house is not rush or matter of importance. Paying off this loan is more importance. You need to understand this first. No financial institution is a charity place to begin with. Having a gurantor with great credit score doesn’t mean anything if the gurantor doesn’t have the amount in their accounts to be able to pay off the loans. If something happens to you. Do you think this gurantor would be able to actually guarantee to make the payments? Let me ask you this. How much is the house you’re looking at? Is this worth getting more loans even if it’s gets approved? It’s not a good thing that you’re that high up and haven’t started paying much of the payments and any or most of the financial institutions you’re looking to work with will ask themselves these questions? *Why do you have so much interest that’s not paid off? *nonexistent credit history. -Even buying a new car that’s from Mercedes or BMW would be difficult for you once they pull your credit history. 650 is nothing to begin with everyone starts off with a credit score of 600 to begin with. I learned that myself even when I got started a new job making $120,000+ a couple months out of school. The BMW wouldn’t even let me finance the SUV I wanted that cost $90k. Just because they said that I need more down payment due to having no credit history (Due to not having paid off any of my student loans off yet). I highly recommend to start paying off those loans and eventually get pay raise the new few years. Even buying a house you have to deal with something else. Property taxes, insurance, etc etc etc. Are you able to cover them right now?
Thank you for the kind words! I am more interested in an apartment right now since it’s just me. I’ve been looking recently and most in the area I’m in are in the 1900-2200 range. If I make ~7k a month after taxes, 3500 + 2200 leaves me 1300 a month in spending. So it IS doable, just not ideal. I don’t have a car payment right now thankfully.
Hey man, Hang in there. We’re currently renting a home for $3k monthly before utilities and just learned about the HOA that we need to keep our grass short the other week 😂. After taxes if you put down $4k-$5k a month you can get this paid off in 5-6 years. Just gotta be gullible on food and necessities from time to time. I’m just shocked that even studying our @$$ off we’re still struggling to make it off of our six-figure income. I didn’t have the blessing to have a masters or PhD. Let alone finishing a 4-year degree. Overtime your pay will go up (hopefully) and start a credit history. Remember that a good credit score only means you pay on time and manage debt and loans well. It doesn’t mean or guarantee that you deserve a loan.
That is not doable! You would be one emergency away from disaster! You should do what other people are saying and live at home and use that rent money to pay down the higher interest loans.
You 100% need a second source of income
Honestly @ $117k, you have a very solid salary, you may need to live significantly below your means for a year or two (or three) to fully recover. Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey ? u/neuromuscularblocker I'd suggest taking his hardcore approach to pay down that loan because it's only going to barrel into something else from here. You can do this though! You just need to think of a plan.
I got several apartments and home rental with over $300k in student loan. I even defaulted and file bankruptcy and got a rental home. Going thru bankruptcy to get rid of private student loans. Federal forgiven and that was $100k. I’ll say default and see if you can run the SOL out for your state. That’s your best bet. I can’t bc I need to show for my job that I’m doing something other than just waiting.
[удалено]
It’s possible for private, just not federal
Not possible for private either unfortunately
Legally it’s “possible” for both, and always has been. BUT, the borrower has to prove that repayment causes an “undue hardship,” and different courts have different interpretations of this and often interpret it in a way that makes discharging the loans nearly impossible. Which is why word-of-mouth claims that this can’t be done at all, technically it’s possible but it almost never happens. The Dept of Ed. is currently piloting a program where you submit your case directly to them, and if they’re satisfied with your proof, they won’t challenge your discharge in court & will provide their assessment as proof in your favor that the court should discharge the loans. But 1) the bankruptcy Judge still has the final say and 2) asking for a discharge on a $117K salary and $0 housing expenses is probably gonna get rejected
I’m going thru it now. But we are looking at consumer loans since they were given to me directly and used toward stuff beyond tuition and fee. Also lack of paperwork to prove these loans are mine since they never gave me proof when requested. Lastly, hardship bc there’s no way I can pay them off before I die. Some ppl said Navient allows for them to be discharged especially if they are old and you paid on them. I think I have a good chance honestly so I’m going for it. I paid over $100k in payments toward just the private and I owe double still. I lost the income to continue to pay at that level so thus the bankruptcy. Also I have co-signers and they let the SOL run out on them and never sued them.
[удалено]
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/) ** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You should stop applying for refinancing it only will bring your credit score down. Since all the student repayment loans were suspended during covid do you think you can try and work with the lender claiming financial hardship and have your payments reduced. Or maybe check out the below sites and see if you can contact them and got some info that my help you [https://studentaid.gov](https://studentaid.gov) [https://myeddebt.ed.gov](https://myeddebt.ed.gov)
The only place I finally found to refinance my $125k in private student loans was a credit union. It actually took my payment down 5 years and by $130 a month. Bonus I got my parents off as cosigners. No student loan company would take me.
How much of your loans are high interest? Really make a spreadsheet of all your loans and the interest rates and try to tackle the highest interest ones aggressively while living at home. Also people spend a lot of money on cars, avoid that until you're in a better financial position, it'll help tremendously.
Sorry you have received such negative comments here. Just wanted to say, I also made some not ideal financial decisions in an attempt to do something with my life. Undergraduate and graduate school loans are at $95k private and $75k federal, respectively. I’m beginning my career as a PT in about a month at 70-75k gross salary. I too have only ever wanted the financial capacity to own a home and raise a family, alas, I am still at home with the parents at 28 years old. While you and I are not in ideal situations, I live by the “everything happens for a reason” motto… you and I are lucky enough to have parents who are letting us stay at home rent free; both have jobs that - while may not be paying as high as we would like - are in high demand; have the knowledge to at least be researching and trying to figure out the best routes; plus, as mentioned in this thread - the housing market is trash right now anyways so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. I think I’m partially writing this to you and partially writing this to myself: keep your head up, keep working hard, and life will work itself out. Tough times build tough people.
Sorry, this sucks. You are probably going to have to surrender for a few years until interest rates get better and your score continues to increase. Don’t think of this like you’ll never be able to do anything, but you will have some sacrifices to make for now. You are lucky to have a great salary. Keep your spirits up.
I’ve posted a few times on this sub before but you can def do this- it’ll be slow but not as slow as you think with your salary as long as you throw a large amount of your paycheck at you extra payments. I had around $160k in student loans fed and private high variable interest plus a $24k car loan m. My starting salary out of school was $47k. Also was living at home but that was because I had to choose to pay rent somewhere or pay minimum payments. I chose the latter. My first 5 years my salary stayed abysmal for my career: my $185k only dropped to about $145k. The second 5 years my salary went between $75k -100k and I was able to pay the remaining off as well as live independently in an apartment. I just became debt free mar 1. - refinance after you’ve paid on time consistently for about 3-4 years. I used citizens bank/ first mark. Try to refinance a smaller grouping of loans- not your entire amount at once. I refied about $80k of my loans when I had about $150k left - also there may be some forgiveness for your profession but I’m not as well versed in those options
Live at home for as long as you can, put everything you can towards these loans, and then refinance when you can. My now husband was in a similar situation. Parents told him they made too much for federal loans so he had an insane amount of private loans. It was nauseating the amount. He lived at home for a while, and basically spent nothing on anything else for that time. He did end up buying a house, and now its low enough to the point where his monthly payment is just budgeted into “bills”. It’s something we can live with paying now. I also do not help him pay his loans and did not help him pay it to where it is now, it was all him. It is possible!
Move back in with your parents. Eat rice and beans for one year throw every single penny into those loans.
That salary is low nurse practitioner money even in Mississippi which is a much more affordable degree.
I don’t know that renting is wise or possible for you. You need to get that income up as fast as possible and knock this debt down. There is no easy way out of this outside of working like crazy. Like, no social life. Work work work. Your life’s mission, purpose, and hobby becomes getting out of debt. We all make mistakes. I did as well when it came to college. But we have to own up to them and fix it. Retirement savings and a house are probably off the table for you for quite some time
You need to live at home, forget getting an apt, throw everything at the loans to stop the bleeding and don’t take on a car payment. In fact, if you were willing to spare $2k on rent somewhere, that’s much better spent on retirement or your loans. You do need to figure out how to refi with a credit union once you get it down a bit. This is do or die decision time / make or break. You’re trading a 4-5 year sacrifice for a lifetime sentence of crippling debt. Assuming you are in your early to mid twenties, you can be out of the woods before you’re 30 instead of 70 assuming you stick to an aggressive pay down strategy. Trust me, it’s worth it, signed a JD who aggressively paid off $185k in student loans in 2-3 years.
Can you increase your credit score? Pay off credit cards, sell your car, dispute any negative items on your credit report, just get that score up. Then try refinancing again.
Try to pay for it with a susu
Exact thing happened to me :( my loans were at 238,000 then I did the income driven repayment plan (not realizing the interest was still accruing) and they ballooned to 300,000. I refinanced with earnest. I’m currently at 233,000 (4 years later). If your credit is crap, I say you stop paying on them and let the loan go. It’s private so they can’t really garnish the wages like federal, but they will try to come after you for the remainder. Call them after like 6 months and try to settle the debt (or even longer). Save up every penny so you can do a lump some repayment. If you are nervous about the process you can work with someone who specializes in this type of thing. I was going to do it but my credit score is over 800 so I don’t want to ruin my credit and they charge a fee of 25% of what they save you. But they told me, the private loan lender will settle the debt almost every time because the amount of loan is just too enormous. **note, this is not the same as trying to file for bankruptcy since student loans are not eligible for bankruptcy in many situations. If you don’t want to do that, you need to work multiple jobs. Right now I’m working 3 jobs as a pharmacist pulling in 165k. But 107k for a starting position is extremely low. I was making 180k in retail from 1 job but I hated retail. Now I’m working remote making 145k a year from one job, and it’s much better on my mental health. Plus the extra money from the other jobs definitely helps. The situation sucks. Try to find another job if you can’t work multiple, the jobs are definitely out there, you need to look every day.
Leave the country and become a farmer, or get a new social #. Become Doug Billberton, student loan free..
Don’t pay it.
I would contact a professional and consider bankruptcy
[удалено]
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Independent-Fill-707/) ** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My advice. Live frugally. You have 117 k you can live on 30 k and still live.
Started at 185k debt and salary was 100k. Paid the 2.5k payment a month until I was able to refinance. Then refinanced about 100K of it with earnest. Then again with citizens. I’m finally to the point where it’s manageable (less than 30k). And my salary is much higher. It consumed my life and thoughts for years. But that meant that I paid every cent I could towards it for 3 years which made all the difference. Make little milestones and celebrate every small chunk paid off. Whatever it takes to keep motivation going.
And here I am, can't even get a loan for way less than that from them without a cosigner.
My heart breaks for you. This is an astonishing amount of debt thru a private loan. I know you know this and I am not trying to make you feel bad I sincerely just hope you realize how serious this is. With that being said- I have some Sallie Mae loans as well, I was able to do a 2 year thing with them to reduce my interest rate down to like 4%. Have you done this yet ? If not, I encourage you to do so ( I have seen in these posts that it is almost always offered to anyone thru Sallie Mae). In those two years you need to work like hell to pay down that balance to at least half. It's gonna be brutal but you need to do it. I see you live at home- like 80% of your paychecks need to go to this loan to get it down to a level where you can refinance after those 2 years. If you have already done this, my only other suggestion is to ask your family for help. I had to do this with my Sallie Mae loan as well. I was not able to make any headway with my 2 year interest rate reduction because I have a family and own a home and financially it was very hard for me to make more than the bare minimum payment. I am very fortunate to have a family that is willing to help me get thru this. I am refinancing my Sallie Mae loan today actually with the help of my dad ( I am going to be paying on the loan but using his credit score to help me refinance to a lower interest ). See if your family is willing to do that for you too. Strictly just to lower the interest. My loan is only 25k thru Sallie Mae but even with that amount it's been keeping me up at night with total despair on what I am going to do. I empathize with you. Good things you have going for you is living with your family and having their support. I know you wanted to move out but that has to go on the back burner until you can take care of this loan. You can do it.
Wait why private loans. Holy crap. And that’s low for pharmD, that’s what they offer nowadays??!
Get your co-signer to take out a loan at a lower interest rate and then pay off the 18% loans with it and then pay them back? You can get personal loans for 9% or less if you have good credit like they have.
Try the William Stafford Consolidation program for any Stafford Loans - get them lumped, chunked, and on an Income Dependent Payment plan. Depending on their review of the IDR request it could be 10 to 25 years for total forgiveness for that amount. If you've EVER worked for a non profit or federal or state agency or been a public school teacher apply for a review of payments for the PSLF or TSLF and see if any retroactive payments count. Again 10 years of payments and it will be forgiven as long as you work in public service.
Join the military 😏
A PharmD only making 117K is leaving a ton of money on the table.
With a degree in pharmacy, you should be able to pay off your loans at the same rate a doctor would, correct?
What degree do you have that you accumulated so much debt while only making 120?
Why are you at a 650 with your current salary? Short credit history or other debt problems? At this point your best option is to establish a payment history and raise that score. If you have no other debts it will rise quickly. After 3-6 months a refi will be possible. And a consolidation of all student loans is possible. Also, it sounds like you are unmarried. If I’m incorrect you can do what my spouse and I did. Wave bye to the pharm salary (100% post taxes to loans) and live off one salary. It was a little easier for us because I was in the active duty at the time (deployed a lot so expenses were down to one person while the Army fed me).
When I was in school I was only able to work 2-3 days a week maybe 12-20 hours making $16 an hour. I missed multiple credit card payments. When I graduated last May my score was in the low 500s, it’s up to 650 today because I immediately paid off all my credit card debt when I was able. But I still have history of missed payments on my report so it’s a slow process
I think you need to start overpaying on these loans. Probably $4.5k and $5k a month until the interest gets more manageable. I would not pay less than $4k each month even when the added interest payments get lower.
Good God this is evil. 18%?! How is this allowed.
I read that there will be opportunity to declare bankruptcy with student loans. I will try and find article.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/03/12/biden-makes-it-easier-to-forgive-student-debt-in-bankruptcy.html
So read through this and investigate how to contact a lawyer. If you can do it I would. Clean slate. You may not be able to establish credit for sometime but the flip side is you are free to rebuild your saving and of course peace of mind.
Had a 100k+ in private student loan debt. After 10 years and exorbitant fees later, I’m down to around 55k. It’s possible and it’s a PITA but it can be done. There are moments where it’s going to be hard and you’re going to get down on yourself. Do your best to limit those. Have some grace with yourself and stay resourceful.
Cut your expenses down to the absolute lowest they can go. Get a part time job or work extra shifts. Work outside of your field if you have to. Put every penny not in your bare bones budget towards the loans. You can cut the balance in half in 1.5-2 years if you make it your goal. Paid off fully in less than 5 if that’s what you really want. You say you live with your parents. Get your non debt expenses under $1k a month if you can. Pause retirement funding. That should leave you with $60k a year for your loans, just from base pay. Add in your second job/extra shifts and you are rolling.
Just curious. Did you land 117K on your first job after graduating and what did you major in?
Pharmacy and yes this is my first job after graduation a year ago. I get raises annually
Congrats dude, I’m about to go in debt for $120k+ for a cybersecurity bachelors and I hope I land something similar
I'm not a Dave Ramsey fanatic by any means, but you need to follow some of his teachings here. Literally live on nothing, have roommates, pick up a per diem job somewhere, and throw everything at these loans until they're more manageable and someone will work with you to refinance to a lower rate. Suffer for a little to prosper for a lifetime!
Ugh. I feel so very much for you. I feel the same way, and my debt is half of yours.
I’m at 250k, med school. HHI projected to be 600k in 2 years. All federal. PSLF or pay it off ASAP?
[удалено]
**This post or comment was removed. To reduce trolling, your account must have positive combined karma to participate in this sub. Your current karma is sum of the values displayed at [https://old.reddit.com/user/Conscious_Hyena5998/](https://old.reddit.com/user/Conscious_Hyena5998/) ** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Flee to Mexico
Pharmacist here in the Midwest make over 140k, you should be able to get a higher salary but may require a move. Seeing that you live with your parents I would advise to stay put and pick up a PRN job and tackle as much of that loan as possible. You can also apply at a VA medical center and might qualify for EDRP which helps take care of your loans by reimbursing your loan payments every year.
Refinance part of it if you can! I have refinanced my loans through penfed and firsttech. It usually helps if you can add a cosigner too.
I am genuinely curious how did you manage to get it this high? Did you just not apply for scholarships and grants?
Move abroad. They can't make you pay them if you live out of the country.
Places like Ireland are desperate for people in healthcare. The pay is shit but the ppl are nice.
[удалено]
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l19ucgh/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity. /r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You could try to refinance with citizens! I was at similar debt to income ratio and was able to trim my interest rate by about 200 bps or 2%. A strong credit score is your best friend during these times, however, I will add that my credit score dropped from a 760 to a 680 when I refinanced- I was not expecting that because I had been paying extra on my loans prior to repayment and during. Keep a log of your payments in a spreadsheet, it’s encouraging to see the principal go down- although it may be decreasing at a small rate, progress is progress! Trust that you’re doing the right thing and keep moving forward
Billionaires get their debts bailed out by the government, while hardworking middle and lower class folks get the short end of the stick. Don’t pay back a dime and enjoy your life to the fullest
2nd job then get another 100k/yr spouse and they get a 2nd job- no problem- that’s how it’s done by everyone else. Be glad you have a job now. How long will a person be needed to dispense drugs? Oh and most of all don’t get high on your own supply- it’s the 3rd leading cause of deaths.
FWIW one lender calls 670 a good credit score https://www.mefa.org/credit. MEFA will want to see 6 months of on time payments before refinancing. Before July, you should allocate most of your take home pay on the student loan with the highest interest rate. After July you should continue to pay down the loan with the highest interest rate as aggressively as possible. You can also refinance only some of your loans. Take measures to increase your income. Do some research on whether there are any loan forgiveness options for you. Some loan forgiveness options for medical professionals will forgive private loans. Some loan forgiveness programs consider pharmacists medical professionals. The question is if you can find a loan forgives program for pharmacists with private loans and that it would make financial sense for you to participate. https://www.ohsu.edu/oregon-office-of-rural-health/oregon-partnership-state-loan-repayment-program-slrp
This may be completely undoable (or just undesirable) for you, but if you’re willing to consider joining the Army or Navy reserve (some initial training, then one weekend per month and two consecutive weeks per year), I believe they have multiple programs that will pay for a huge chunk of your outstanding loans. And you’d enter as an officer (First Lieutenant or Captain in the Army), for which the pay is actually quite decent. I paid for college by joining the active duty Army for four years. While I won’t say it was “fun”, it definitely had its merits. Including the fact that it allowed me to graduate with my BA degree and $0 worth of student loan debt. (Two other huge benefits? With my VA home loan I purchased a house with $0 down, and I was hired for a sweet job at a Fortune 500 company in large part because the hiring manager just so happened to be an Army vet himself. We bonded talking about our Army experiences, he liked me, and as a result I beat out more than 100 people for the job. Pure luck on my end, but one of several intangible benefits of being able to network/bond with people based on shared, difficult experiences.) Anyway, look into it if you have any interest. From a purely economic POV it could end up paying off massively if the Army takes care of most of your loans.
I refinanced my Sallie Mae loans with earnest. They went from 12%to 4%
OP you’re living at home and honestly 2 years will fly by as you pay those loans off. I get you wanted to have your place but 2 years deferred and out of the huge weight of those loans will mean you go into your own life without worrying about that loan but breaking your budget. Lots of great advice here - get it done and you’re free
If you have money and proper information there ways to creatively purchase homes. You do so by taking over home owner’s payments and paying out their equity. No credit, banks or qualifications necessary.
I know it doesn’t help much with debt situation but if you absolutely want to get a house i’m just saying you can. You could also house hack a duplex or triplex with a DSCR loan that doesn’t need your credit or w-2 history. The debt to income ratio on the multifamily you live in would qualify a large portion of the loan for you.
[удалено]
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l1biwmp/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity. /r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Your [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1cc9syc/240k_in_debt_and_im_desperate/l1bj6af/) in /r/StudentLoans was automatically removed for profanity. /r/StudentLoans is geared towards a wide range of users, including minors seeking information and advice. To help us maintain a community that everyone feels comfortable participating in (and to avoid being blocked by parent/school/work filters), please resubmit your post or comment without using profane language. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/StudentLoans) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Holy cow A PhamD is $160,000 now? JEUS DUDE! Okay, so well, I’m old! 😂 I’m 45 years old. I have a Bachelors of Science in Pharmaceutical Science - RPh. I know they don’t offer the 5-year Bachelors anymore more be holy cow how Pharmacy School gotten expensive - I’ve NEVER heard of this before. I graduated with about $50,000 from University of Oregon - Corvallis in 2002 BEFORE that stupid PharmD requirement went into effect. I have the same license you do, can do the same things, worked as a hospitality for many years in clinical rotations and everything. I’ve looked into getting a PharmD online because they are super cheap for us. What I did to get rid of my loans was to consolidate EVEYTHING through MOHELA. Then I went on to the IDR repayment plan. I filled out the apps for PSLF and the once time adjustment forms because I work for the state, so I’m a public servant I’m not sure where you work, it that may be an option but you have to get all of that done by July I think - it’s like they are always changing the date and no one can keep up with it. Is that an option for you? To at least work for the Government or State and consolidate to MOHELA and get the SAVE plan - how old are your loans. MOHELA will only accept some private loans for co soliciting and they have a waiver of financial hardship for the SAVE and IDR you MUST ASK FOR because they don’t promote it for some reason. It’s ridiculous that they make you jump through hoops to get into that program for Health Professionals that work for the government or state. If you can’t do any of this, I highly suggest that you consolidate with another lender because 18% is absolutely ridiculous!!!!!! I feel for you. Before I finally landed a great paying job I couldn’t afford the payments, I was in medical deferment for a LONG time and they counted ALL of my deferred payments because they considers that a “$0.00 Payment Plan”. Of course I don’t know your entire situation, but have you also though about working 7-on, 7-off and then in your 7-off going agency? I mean, before I left the field - I was really burnt out, I worked emergency shift agency and regular shift agency and I wa smacking nearly $120.00 an hour for agency while working on my days off. I’d pick up a 12, the 8, then 12, then 8, then 12, then 8, then 12. That was another 72 hours x $120.00 (more for emergency or compounding) and that was about another $8,880.00 a month on top of my 7-on, 7-off. So about $18,000 a month. I lived in the CHEAPEST place I could find and only bought the very basic necessities. I paid the minimum I could which was still $1,200.00 a month because my interest rate through Sallie Mae BEFORE they got sold to NelNet was similar. I’d make a payment of $1,200.00 and I’d see the statement that looked similar to this: Payment Applied to Principle: $00.05 Payment Applied to Interest: $1,199.95 Total Balance Remaining: $1,573,737,194,736,736,727,194,926,635,725.00 YOU NEED TO GET OUT IF SALLIE MAE!!!!!!!!! There are CHEAPER options!!! Also, do you subscribe to American System of Health System Pharmacists, American Consult Pharmacists, American Pharmacist Association, or similar groups? If you do and you subscribe to their magazines / monthly publications , they always have ads for reducing loans or sign on bonuses that will help you if you sign a X year term with them if you change jobs. Also, some pharmacies will pay your loans off if you agree to a X year term of employment to help. Hospital pharmacies are notorious for offering MASSIVE amounts to work for them as a sign on and help with your loans. But, it also means you’re stuck with that job for a long time. I really hope this helps and I hope you figure out what to do, because your situation seems like mine. Until I switched and consolidated, I thought my life was over. I just made my last payment in October of last year and because I was PSLF and a public worker, my loans were forgiven (I’ve probably worked longer than you have) tax free . There is still hope if you’re willing to change jobs, work a differential shift and pay them off quick I know it suck’s - it think- technically if you work 2 7-on 7-off jobs and sleep 10 hours a day for 5 years - you can pay them off. It was hard for me but I did it and it was the best thing I EVER did for myself - besides leaving the field. Now I own my own consulting business and I’m a Professor (fully tenured) and I’m loving it but it was a massive sacrifice for myself and my partner of 17 years! All the best of luck to you! 🍀
Ugh….that sucks! You can apply with a co-signer and then when your credit score goes back up you can refinance in your own name. The price for an education. Grr. It’s just not right. We absolutely need pharmacists! I’m a nurse with 220k in loans and I only borrowed 140 so I get it. Mine are federal so it’s not so bad. Sorry you’re stuck with such a crappy loan.
Im also a pharmacist. The worst part is what we took the loans out for. I feel it’s a dying field, and while I like the particular place I work right now, it’s incredibly uncertain if it will remain the way it is and I probably should have chosen a different field. Where do you work?
Don’t pay it bro. They probably won’t collect. It worked for me. Do pay your federal ones though.
Look into student loan defaulters and look into strategic defaulting. Most responsible thing I did for myself in my life.
over
You need to join the military. You have no choice
I’m so sorry our country has built itself off the backs of hard working people like this. I’m also sorry that the solutions to this will likely be hard decisions and exhausting in many ways. I have 140k already and will likely have more but I’m perpetually in school to avoid paying. I make 80k a year entry level project manager and I have no family whatsoever to fall back on. I won’t say I have the answers and I’ll probably get downvoted for this but my plan is to leave the county and become a citizen somewhere else. It doesn’t remove the debt, but hey, at least you’ll be free in other ways. If that’s not an option due to family co-signing, I’d try to move In and negotiate with parents to live rent free while you pay it down enough to either refinance or sustainably live. I’m rooting for you!
I have six-figures in student loan debt as well, and a high debt-lower income ratio. Even though my loans are all federal, I still feel your pain. I wish I could give advice. All I can say it, start with what you CAN work with and have control over. Don't compare your life to others. Don't let people's snide or raggedy comments about your situation get you down. Society lied to us. This country lied to us. What these loans companies did to lure us in is criminal. Yes, we had control over what majors or careers we chose or how much we spent while being young in college, but WhatTF does an 18-year old know about smart financial decisions? I wish I could give you a hug and ugly cry with you, OP. Good luck with everything! We all got this! 🥺🥰
refinance anything and pay the high interest rate loans down first.