We both have student loans: Marry now or marry later?

[DenverKat]

Hey you lovely Mustachians,

I'm having a hard time finding concrete information on line, and since you were all so helpful with my first post...my fiance and I got engaged in September, and we were planning on getting married in September 2015 (I don't want a wedding at all, but he wants a small celebration...we're working on a very frugal compromise. Totally different post topic though).  However, I'm now wondering if it's a good idea given we both have (embarrassingly) large student loan debts; he from undergrad and grad, though he's a year out of his master's and makes about $50k, and me from grad, which I'll finish in June and can expect to make maybe (maybe) $30k. 

So my question is: is it better to wait until our debts our paid off, especially if we (I) can maybe swing an income-based repayment plan?  Or does it even matter, given we're now going to both try to pay down our debts as soon as possible and will be (hopefully) paying more than our repayment plans anyway?

[On a related note, I was going to hold out and make minimum payments and have my loans forgiven in 10 years as a nonprofit employee, but should I just eat my pride and pay everything off sooner rather than later, since the forgiveness plan isn't a sure thing (especially if, for whatever reason, I don't work at a nonprofit all 10 years)?]

Thanks again!

[BarkyardBQ]

1) If you are in love and want to be be married get married. That's all the decision you should make.
2) If you are both committed to paying off the loans, get married and pay them off. It's not like you're hiding anything from each other.
3) Getting married and changing your Withholding/Payroll Tax will give you more money in your account to pay off that loan.
4) Getting married this year would immediately change your tax situation for filing in 2015 (this years taxes) and filing married joint would give you more cash in April to toss at the loans.
5) Some other more experienced people here will probably tell you that your minimal interest student loan should not be paid off quickly, and that you could benefit from getting married, paying them off slowly (maybe getting them forgiven in 10 years) and investing the difference over those 10 years.
6) Again, 1 more time, you're in love... if it feels right, get married.

We got married in July, my wife had about 6k in students loans but owned a house, minimal interest on both, no reason to payoff either quickly. As part of our plan (before we found MMM) we wanted to save money, pay off all loans, CCs, and the mortgage (not since reading this forum). It was a simple choice to pay off the student loan immediately since it was small. If you understand your goals, executing and accomplishing your plan should not be affected by your relationship status. If your decision is to get married, do it, and tackle the shit out of all things with a committed teammate.

[charis]

This is missing for me - what reason do you have to not get married?  Is there some kind of substantial financial benefit that you have actually calculated that tells you that you would be better off not getting married?  If not, I don't know why you would wait.  If yes, what is that benefit? And how did you make that calculation?

On the nonprofit loan forgiveness program - are you talking about the public interest loan forgiveness program?   Because that is broader than nonprofits, including government work at any level.

[Zatara_Writes]

If you are considering the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program make sure you know exactly what you have to do and calculate if it will be worth it in the end. First of all, a lot of people don't actually know how to get into that program (or which of their loans are eligible) and end up assuming that they will eventually be able to take advantage of that program, which is not the case. You have to set your loans up NOW in order to qualify. Secondly, if that debt is going to bother you in the next ten years it may be more beneficial to just stick to the standard repayment... it depends on how you crunch the numbers. I know a few people (in the higher ed business) who are passing up other types of employment because it will not qualify for the PSLF... and then they get extra bitter at work. Make sure you will be okay with that employment commitment for the next ten years. Thirdly, calculate your tax benefits from the interest of the loans for the next ten years (or get close at least) work the numbers with the standard repayment plan and then with the income based repayment plan and consider all the other factors to see if maybe it's worth it just paying them off. Consider also your fiances loans and how his repayment will look over the next few years. And always keep in mind: the federal government regulations change all the time... with each new administration. For the most part, they grandfather those left on the edges, but not always and it depends on what Congress writes and passes. :)

As Zdrave said... marriage will most likely motivate you to get this done (one way or another) I don't think holding off on marriage due to student loans will make a difference. You can always file Married filing separate and take advantage of the lower standard deduction if that's what the numbers say to do. And he's right... having a teammate is a wonderful thing!

Here is a good source of information about the PSLF program if you haven't read it yet: https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service#what-must-i-do 
Make sure you call as many people in fed loan servicing as you can, there are many people in this business who have no idea what they are talking about. In my experience, your actual lenders have the best interest in helping you and may be your most valuable source of information.

[RangerOne]

I just got married this August as well and we had some student loan debt going into it. The wedding didn't set us back fortunately because we have a generous family, but we would have gone very budget had it not been for that.

Getting married at least for us was the beginning of our financial journey together. We joined our bank and mint accounts and started treating our income and savings as a single source. This allowed us to completely overhaul our budget and create a plan of attack for controlling spending on our lifestyle so we can pay off our loans and create a sustainable life.

I think this is all much easier once you have gotten married. Planning finances together is a long term commitment that for many of us feels more comfortable making once the marriage commitment is made. It is meaningful both emotionally and legally.

The tax benefits are a wash if you both work generally. For you it should help since it looks like your spouse is in a lower tax bracket which means their deduction will go to better use with your higher income. In that case  Best of all if one of you loses a job you can change your W2 to married status and claim a 12k deduction against your pay instead of 6k. That is a huge boost to your pay monthly. I would keep your W2 status as single if you both work because other wise they will over deduct from your paycheck as that status assumes the full 12k deduction goes toward your pay and not your spouses as well.

As far as 10 years forgiveness I don't know how risky it is. I have one friend also just married. Both he and his wife work for the University of California and are currently planning on using the 10 year plan to clear their debt. Id say if you can realistically pay off those loans in less than 5 years without forgiveness do that as it will free up your finance sooner. If if will take you nearly 10 years or more then forgiveness may be a good option.

I personally find myself to be debt adverse and find my life much easier to manage if I am free of monthly payments that are mandatory.

But get married, it makes it easier to support each other legally. If you feel the celebration is an unjustifiable expenditure, you could also go to the court house and get hitched. Then postpone the family/friend celebration to a point where it makes sense.