You've probably seen worse, but as a 20-year-old just awakening to the Mustachian world (thanks to my Senior Mustachian SO, who is on track to retire within a few years), I am feeling pretty hopeless. This enormous amount of student debt I've borne since I graduated college is steadily increasing with its high interest rates and causing me to see a very bleak future, tied eternally to a soul-sucking job and neverending commute.
I hold two bachelor degrees. Full scholarships paid my way, but I had the misfortune of heavily abusive yet well-off parents who mismanaged money and were always in the red. They forced me to take out the maximum amount of student loans for living expenses so that they could continue their exorbitant lifestyle. As soon as I was legally an adult, I got myself out of there, accepted the help of police and the court system, and began rebuilding my life...with $137k in debt, steadily growing every day.
Now, with talk of marriage, a desire to free myself from financial burden, pursue my own interests, and be able to enjoy life with my wonderful SO, I believe the student debt is my greatest obstacle. Currently, my salary is only around $40k. I would be able to increase it by pursuing a professional degree of ~2 years, which would put me in at least $60k more debt just for tuition. This degree could potentially allow me to work at a nonprofit (i.e. hospital), and thus make me eligible for the federal loan forgiveness program; I would pay 10% of my income every month for 10 years, and the rest would be forgiven. I do have one private student loan that would be exempt from this, but I intend to refinance & attack it ASAP. Meanwhile, I could contribute whatever remained to retirement, and hopefully have paid off debt + saved for retirement by the end of 10 years.
Do you see any big, shocking holes in my plan, or think the professional degree would still be a waste of time and money? Do you have any suggestions on what I can do?
Thank you.