32F with a masters degree in Chicago, IL. No dependents, single.
My current loan balance is $185,358.24 with interest rates between 3.73% and 9.08%. I’m on the SAVE plan. Here’s the breakdown:
$15,014.20 — Unsubsidized Loan — 8.08%
$19,178.02 — Graduate PLUS Loan — 9.08%
$16,079.20 — Unsubsidized Loan — 7.05%
$24,092.23 — Graduate PLUS Loan — 8.05%
$8,023.24 — Unsubsidized Loan — 6.54%
$16,561.53 — Graduate PLUS Loan — 8.05%
$24,071.30 — Unsubsidized Loan — 6.54%
$51,676.55 — Graduate PLUS Loan — 7.54%
$5,715.04 — Subsidized Loan — 3.73%
$4,946.93 — Unsubsidized Loan — 3.73%
Current salary (W2, full time) is $78,000 (I’m a new grad). I got a part time recently as a 1099 to help with student loans and credit card debt ($6,000), but pay varies (pay ver visit in home health). I’m estimating between $40,000-$50,000 extra a year (20-30 hours week).
I haven’t made a single payment towards my student loans yet and I have to choose a plan but I’m so lost. I’m not sure if I want to pay the minimum and forget about them or pay them off aggressively. I’m leaning towards paying them off aggressively doing the avalanche method.
I’m also paying off my credit card debt aggressively and I’m building an emergency fund in a HYSA too (currently at $2,050 out of $10,000 goal).
I’m working really hard right now to be in a good financial position. Any guidance will be greatly appreciate it!
Edit: Earnings are gross, not net.
Help Me Choose a Plan
byu/ElderberryInside8671 inStudentLoans
Posted by ElderberryInside8671
4 Comments
Based on your gross income
• IBR or PAYE (still available for your existing loans): ~$450/month (10% of discretionary income).
• New Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) (available
July 1): Likely $500–$650/month (roughly 7-10% of AGI depending on exact brackets, $10 minimum).
• Standard 10-year: ~$2,100+/month (much higher — not ideal right now).
Doing some rough math here, it looks like your 10 year standard plan would be a little over $2K/month (total cost of about $240K over 10 years). IBR would run at about $800/month with your current income and new job added in, and that would take 20 years to hit forgiveness with a forgiven balance left of about $175K (total cost of about $250K over 20 years). So yes, I’d tend to go for aggressive repayment if you’re able to pay at least $2K/month. I’m assuming the credit card debt is a very short term problem, but if not, then I would get a budget figured out so that you stay completely out of credit card debt regardless of your plan. Credit card debt will sink you much worse than student loans.
1. 1 month emergency fund
2. pay off CC
3. employer retirement match, if any
4. 3 months emergency fund
5. pay off student loans
Get on an IDR if possible even though you’re aggressively paying down, this will allow you to make the most of your avalanche method.
Alternatively, you can run the math on forgiveness options and see if that might possibly make sense, then pay minimums on IDR (maybe RAP?) until possible forgiveness no longer makes sense. But probably just pay off.
>avalanche
This