Hi all,
I'm a long time lurker here and decided to post as I am looking for some advice on Student Loan repayment.
My wife has recently graduated with about $62k SL debt @5.3% avg (BA in Elementary Ed, some out of state fees and previously has a BA in Psych also). She will be taking up a position as an Elementary Teacher earning $39k and qualifies for PSLF.
I'm sure she will stick out the 10 year period just fine and as a teacher, PSLF won't really affect her earning potential or eligibility for PSLF here in the US unlike some other professions. However we could very realistically see ourselves moving back to Europe (I'm Irish) within the next 10 year period, not indefinitely but for a period of time as my parents get older.
Thus I am wondering about IBR and the Foreign Earned Income exclusion. Can we exclude income earned during years abroad and continue to make payments under IBR based on our US tax returns (even if they are $0 as it is based on AGI) then return to the US and resume PSLF until 120 qualifying payments are met? It seems to be fine to do so but perhaps there's something I'm missing on IBR that restricts this?
I had also planned to do some roth conversions during any time spent abroad - if anyone has thoughts on that also, feel free to chime in!
