Student Loan Challenge (2016 Edition)

[dhiser]

To all those who still have student loan debt like me, it is time to eliminate this drain on our net worth!!  I've been letting my loans slide for quite some time now since they range from 3.4% to 6.4% and the interest is tax deductible thus lowering the effective interest rate, and my wife and I have been saving for a rental property as well.  But we've finally saved up enough for a 20% down payment on a rental property, so enough is enough. 

Fellow college graduate Mustachians, I challenge each and every one of you that still has a student loan balance to DESTROY it by the end of this coming year.  My wife and I have a combined $51,000 in student loan debt, and based on our monthly spending spreadsheets we save enough money in a year to banish the net worth leach that is student loan debt from our lives.

Join me!!

[EllieStan]

I'm in.

By January 1rst, 2016, I should fall just under the $5K mark. My goal is to get rid of it completely by May 2016.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm getting to the last miles of the marathon. Started at nearly $40K 3 years ago.

Once the debt is gone, I can finally start saving for a freedom 'stache and for our wedding.

[garion]

I'm in! I started with 80k+ of loans in 2011, am now down to $31k. We paid off about $26k in principal this year and are now down to the final loan! We are hoping to get the balance down further before the end of the year too and then finish it off before the end of 2016.

[Left]

no one takes a job that just pays those loans off for them? even some states/cities pays off loans for moving to rural areas... sure pay might be lower, but how much? if you take repayment into equation, seems like for some, a lower paying job that pays off loans would be just as good.

other than that, if you just make enough to pay it off, then great. just wondering why i dont see alternatives to griping about loans. seems most just gripe about monthly repayment but dont use employer to help pay it off.

healthcare gets bulk of it i think, but i didnt look into others. mine paid off last year of school for committing two years with them. meant i had a job right out of school and the pay wasnt any lower than if i went else where. there was not any cons to doing this for me. IHS also pays off student loans for working there. so does walgreen pharmacists. The VA also helps pay for nursing too, pretty sure other ones but i just know about nursing from friend.

but good job getting it knocked down so quickly.

[EllieStan]

Well I don't know how it works in the US, but in Québec there is no debt forgiveness or employor program like this, not that I've heard of.
My first loan is with the provincial government, the other is with a financial institution. I don't have much of an escape plan except paying it off ASAP. :/ 

Edit: I haven't noticed at first, but you mentioned working for an employor while studying. Then yes, it's possible in some fields. However, this has never been my situation. I got a scholarship though, and used it to pay off the loans as I was studying.

[Making Cents]

no one takes a job that just pays those loans off for them? even some states/cities pays off loans for moving to rural areas... sure pay might be lower, but how much? if you take repayment into equation, seems like for some, a lower paying job that pays off loans would be just as good.

other than that, if you just make enough to pay it off, then great. just wondering why i dont see alternatives to griping about loans. seems most just gripe about monthly repayment but dont use employer to help pay it off.

healthcare gets bulk of it i think, but i didnt look into others. mine paid off last year of school for committing two years with them. meant i had a job right out of school and the pay wasnt any lower than if i went else where. there was not any cons to doing this for me. IHS also pays off student loans for working there. so does walgreen pharmacists. The VA also helps pay for nursing too, pretty sure other ones but i just know about nursing from friend.

This varies widely by employers/occupations. It's far from being a common benefit. You are very fortunate! Congrats.

I'm a professor and my university does not care how many years of graduate school its younger faculty still owe for.

I had 33k in May 2013 and am now approaching the 11k mark.

[Left]

and it isnt as rare as you believe either... you said you are a professor...
http://spg.umich.edu/policy/201.69
http://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/educational-assistance/employee-portable-tuition.html
without knowing where, that is just two colleges from google... is there any reason someone couldnt work at college, get help paying for their masters and becoming a professor?

the irs even has a page for it, suggests it is common enough that they would make page
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch11.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2012/07/20/tuition-reimbursement-a-benefit-for-some-employees-and-employers/
http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-that-will-pay-for-your-tuition-2014-6
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/tuition-reimbursement-10-companies-that-pay_n_1507188.html

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/02/02/what-to-know-about-employer-tuition-benefits-for-college
the usnews link even says half of employers offer assistance... not sure about number, just saying it isnt so uncommon. people need to look outside the fasfa box. scholarships, grants, work... lots of ways to get through college with no debt

just trying to add to the challenge thread of ways people could get past student loans... without even taking any, that is what the challenge should be. not how to pay it off, but how to avoid it in the first place

edit: it doesnt help people who already has them, but you might be able to get sign on bonuses for amount of loan too if you negotiate it. i knew someone who did that and got about $10k, with condition that he works there for two years or he gives back bonus. think it was just his first years bonus given before he worked really so he didnt get one at end of first year. but he was happy to get loans paid off.

I mentioned in above post, but there are jobs that help pay off loans after the fact as well, so it isn't just all pre-loan options. It just bugs me when people claim the US should be more "socialized" in education and have free college... It already IS pretty free, it isn't straight forward but there is enough money out there that people who want to, CAN get college for free/cheaply. Even in the military thread for GI bill, I mentioned volunteer programs that pay off X% of loans too... Hell KS pays people $15k just to live in the state. http://www.kansascommerce.com/index.aspx?nid=320. It's almost like people are too lazy to even bother looking for options unless it is handed to them on a plate. I see this when people mention they can't get scholarships and all they did was apply to fafsa and think that if it comes back empty, they have no other scholarship options.

Yes, I know sometimes just taking the loan is the best option, but why is it the default option for most people? It shouldn't be...

@EllieStan, sorry no idea about Canadian options... nothing I ever had to look into

[Making Cents]

and it isnt as rare as you believe either... you said you are a professor...
http://spg.umich.edu/policy/201.69
http://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/educational-assistance/employee-portable-tuition.html

No, that is not the same thing. That's assistance for tuition, which is very common for faculty. My spouse or children are offered, in my case, 50% off their tuition to earn a degree at the university where I teach or at another state school in our system. Other private institutions often offer full tuition waivers (a free college degree to faculty kids). That's awesome, but it does not pay off the student loans of new professors. It simply avoids new loans for their children in 18 years. Different thing entirely.

is there any reason someone couldnt work at college, get help paying for their masters and becoming a professor?

Becoming a full time tenure-track or tenured professor with benefits requires a PhD, not a masters. If you intend to get a job with that PhD, you need to have jobs and/or fellowships in your field. Most receptionists at universities keep their jobs for life (for the good benefits). I have known one or two younger receptionists who earned masters degrees while they were working administrative positions with tuition benefits, but they didn't do a PhD that way and then enter the academic job market, which is in crisis post recession and intensely competitive (hundreds of applicants per tenure-track job opening). And neither used the masters outside advancement within university administration. The kinds of jobs college grads typically work immediately after college while saving for grad school are few and far between in universities and tend to be hourly without benefits.

My graduate tuition was entirely paid by the school I was admitted to because I was on fellowship (usually the case), but that runs out when you begin your dissertation.... so you take out loans to finish because you are already scrapped from living on stipend (in my case 11k per year). I also had loans from my BA and MA degrees. I'm incredibly fortunate to be one of the very few post recession PhDs in the humanities/soc sciences to get a job that requires my degree (it is something like 5%... and that's just the people who are able to complete the doctorate), so I'm in no position to negotiate better benefits or salary unless I win the job lottery and get a second tenure-track job offer.

So, like I said, if you have an employer who pays your loans in your occupation, I consider you very very lucky.And kids, don't get a PhD in 2015! :)

[Left]

Sorry, I'm kind of confused, but as a professor, you do get the option of having the teacher forgiveness right? I mean, you may choose not to take it up due to other factors, but it is still open to you at one point in your career...
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/09/your-student-loans-forgiven.html

Teacher forgiveness

The most certain way to qualify for student loan forgiveness is to work as a teacher, in the public service sector or for a nonprofit organization.

If you are a full-time teacher for five consecutive years in a designated elementary or secondary school or educational service agency serving students from low-income families, you can qualify for up to $5,000 (up to $17,500 for elementary/secondary special education teachers and secondary math and science teachers) of the total loan amount outstanding after completion of the fifth year of teaching.
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1419AttachTeacherLoanForgivenessApp.pdf

I'm not saying that everyone needs to take up every option, but they are there for them. Family/life in general may dictate some options aren't viable, but that doesn't mean it wasn't offered.

edit: now I'm speculating, but I wonder if people who teach english overseas could get the same forgiveness... I mean, they are "low-income" if converted to US dollars...  but I know it isn't for them, US govt wants the money to improve US poverty. I'm just dreaming about English teachers lol.

[Making Cents]

I wish I could have Teacher Forgiveness. :) Professors are not just different from teachers in name/title. Our primary job is research. "Teachers" means grade school teachers in public school systems. University faculty aren't covered there. Teacher forgiveness applies to elementary or secondary education. Universities are "higher education."

I'd love it if you could find me a shortcut and it's nice of you to try! But the bottom line is the only way out of it is through it.

I actually am in great shape comparatively. Most of my friends have 60-100k in debt when finishing terminal degrees.

[dhiser]

Yeah I have never heard of an employer paying off already existing student loans as a part of a benefits package, I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it seems like this would be an rare, albeit awesome, benefit.  However VERY many employers will offer to pay for a masters/doctorate program if you are already an employee, especially in my field, engineering. 

I'm in.

By January 1rst, 2016, I should fall just under the $5K mark. My goal is to get rid of it completely by May 2016.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm getting to the last miles of the marathon. Started at nearly $40K 3 years ago.

Once the debt is gone, I can finally start saving for a freedom 'stache and for our wedding.

$40k down in 3 years is awesome!  Get that final $5k paid off and be DONE with it!  :D

I went ahead and printed the balance sheets of all our student loan accounts and stuck them to our refrigerator door, so now we can't help but have them stare us in the face every day multiple times a day.  There is a seething hatred between us and those pieces of paper.....they must die!

[EllieStan]

Yeah I have never heard of an employer paying off already existing student loans as a part of a benefits package, I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it seems like this would be an rare, albeit awesome, benefit.  However VERY many employers will offer to pay for a masters/doctorate program if you are already an employee, especially in my field, engineering. 

I'm in.

By January 1rst, 2016, I should fall just under the $5K mark. My goal is to get rid of it completely by May 2016.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm getting to the last miles of the marathon. Started at nearly $40K 3 years ago.

Once the debt is gone, I can finally start saving for a freedom 'stache and for our wedding.

$40k down in 3 years is awesome!  Get that final $5k paid off and be DONE with it!  :D

I went ahead and printed the balance sheets of all our student loan accounts and stuck them to our refrigerator door, so now we can't help but have them stare us in the face every day multiple times a day.  There is a seething hatred between us and those pieces of paper.....they must die!

Bwahahaha!
Just be careful not to let this balance sheet make you feel guilty or depressed, because motivation comes and goes. The lows shouldn't detract you from the efforts you've already put in.

The $5K milestones is awesome (doesn't sound like a lot), yet it's frustrating not being able to pay it off faster. My income is above average, but I'm not a high earner. $5K means 5 months putting away 35% of my net income. :/ Can't wait until I'm done and can add that that amount to my savings rate, because I have to make up for the 10 years I spent in university!

[crazydonut]

To all those who still have student loan debt like me, it is time to eliminate this drain on our net worth!!  I've been letting my loans slide for quite some time now since they range from 3.4% to 6.4% and the interest is tax deductible thus lowering the effective interest rate, and my wife and I have been saving for a rental property as well.  But we've finally saved up enough for a 20% down payment on a rental property, so enough is enough. 

Fellow college graduate Mustachians, I challenge each and every one of you that still has a student loan balance to DESTROY it by the end of this coming year.  My wife and I have a combined $51,000 in student loan debt, and based on our monthly spending spreadsheets we save enough money in a year to banish the net worth leach that is student loan debt from our lives.

Join me!!

I'm in but I won't be able to "Destroy it by the end of the year". I make $21K in Los Angeles and have $48K of debt. Trying to get it down a bit though.

[arpies]

Carrying over from my post in the 2015 thread. Focusing on the 1% one, as it will become 19% in May. Goal is to kill it all by June but by the end of next year is far more likely.

Currently sitting at:
22,365.36 @ 4.7% (and tax deductible)
4,940.95 @ 1%

[skeeder]

I'm in.

Mine is at 4500 @ 5.75%
Wife's is almost 25000 at 5.25%

We are a one income home...but, we may have a trick up our sleeves!

[therethere]

We have 53k in student loans left and a brokerage account earmarked for loan payoff at 32k. My goal is to have enough money in the brokerage account to be able to pay off my loans in full by May 2016. This will be the 10 year anniversary of graduating. So we have 5 months to come up with around 19k extra which is a little aggressive. Still need to clue DH in on the goal but I have been thinking about it for the last week or two.

As I've been reevaluating my life, these student loans have been weighing on me heavily as something tying me down. How can I explore new jobs, career, a house, kids, or just different lifestyle if I haven't paid off the loans for my current one? I can't. I feel stuck. We have not aggressively paid down the loans since we paid off everything above 5% in mid-2014. Closing the chapter on student loans would be a major breakthrough. I thought I could do the responsible thing and pay minimums because of the low rate but lately I need the mental relief badly! I think I will need to throw a college like party when this is all over with.

Funny thing, I just found my spreadsheets from when I first realized the enormity of our loans about 1 year into my first job ~2007/2008. At that time 2016 was the projected payoff timeline with aggressive payments. Even through 4 combined years of one-income due to layoffs, a move across the country, recent lifestyle inflation, and a 40% paycut we are still on track to make it somehow. Persistence?

[Commander Baggins]

Hi guys!

Details on our families student loans (wife is graduating from her master's program in April 2016, final tuition payment is being sent this week--IN FULL :) )

My loans:
Stafford:
1. $2041.54 @ 3.15%
2. $3202.22 @ 5.35%
Perkins:
3. $10,474.65 @ 5%

Wife:
All Stafford:
1. $18,318.02 @ 6.8%
2. $5284 @ 3.4%
3. $2,212.36 @ 5.41%

Total: $41,532

PHEW!! That's really daunting. There is the possibility of some student loan forgiveness (wife wants to work in a low-income school district) and also a possibility of wife's parents helping to pay some of it off, but we don't know anything about either of those things yet, so we're preparing to pay the whole thing by ourselves! Given that wife is not going to graduate until April and if she works in a school, there's a possibility of no job until September, it'll be hard to really hit the student loans hard, but it's really important to us to pay it off quickly. My goal is to pay off $12,000, or $1000/month off our loans averaged over the whole year. That would put us under $30,000 left. And then, be totally free of the full loans by the end of 2017!

[ptgearguy]

I am in guys. I started my journey at about 75k in 2013.

As of today I am at 50200 and change. I have made in my goal to have this sucker payed off before 2017. I wish everyone luck. I will post up my monthly progress. By my calculation I need to put around 4200 down per month.

[ReluctantMillennial]

Me.

I'm down to $27 580.

[HPstache]

I'm in.

By January 1rst, 2016, I should fall just under the $5K mark. My goal is to get rid of it completely by May 2016.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm getting to the last miles of the marathon. Started at nearly $40K 3 years ago.

Once the debt is gone, I can finally start saving for a freedom 'stache and for our wedding.

Are we the same person?? Haha... I have almost the exact same position.  Jan 1st I will be at $5,000 and will make my last payment on April 28, 2016.  The only difference is that mine started at abou $25K 4 years ago.

[Lanthiriel]

Not super stoked to be back in 2016, as I was really hoping we would knock the last of the student loans out this year. We wound up buying a house, though, and those first year costs ate up too much of our income. Here's what we've got left out of my husband's formerly $57,000 in student loans (graduated June 2013):

Loan 1: $8441; Pay off goal: October 2016
Loan 2: $3545; Pay off goal: April 2016

Total Student Loan Debt: $11,986

[ABK]

I'm in! I have $18.6K at 6.5% that I plan to destroy by mid-year.

[AmandaS1989]

I have ~63K but I am hoping to knock out my PLUS loan at tax time and start chipping away at my IBR loans

[QueenAlice]

I'm in! This year I crushed stupid credit card debt, 2016 will be the death of my student loans!

Luckily most of them have been deferred interest free since I graduated from college because I went to grad school then straight to a post-doc. I start an industry job in January, so my loans will come out of deferment in June, if not sooner (not sure how that will play out). Either way, every extra penny is getting thrown at the loans until they disappear!

Loan	Rate	Balance
Loan 1*	1.72%	$2577.18
Loan 2*	6.8%	$1598.74
Loan 3*	6.8%	$5271.00
Loan 4*	5.6%	$5246.00
Loan 5	6.8%	$1474.21
Loan 6	6.8%	$10452.30
Loan 7	6.8%	$2073.29
Loan 8*	5%	$5000.00
Total		$33692.72

*Loans not currently accruing interest

[coffeefueled]

I just wanted to chime in with some encouragement - I did the challenge in 2014 and 2015 and finally killed my loan this year. Keep at it! You'll get there!

[wintertell]

I'm in again! This year I hope to keep up last year's good progress. Maybe even accelerate it, but we shall see.

Jul 2014: 133,097
Jun 2015: 110,145 (-22,952)
Jul 2015: 109,587 (-558)
Sept 2015: 107,118 (-2,469)
Oct 2015: 99,967  (-7,151)
Nov 2015: 97,397 (-2,570)
Dec 2015: 96,867 (-530)

Current Balances as of 12-31-2015:
Direct Stafford 5.16 -20997   
Direct Stafford 6.55 - 9813
Direct Plus Graduate 6.16  - 23442             
Earnest 3.53 Variable - 42613 

Goals for 2016 are to pay off the 6.55% loan before August and to get the 6.16% down to under 10K before December. Aiming to get all student loans below 69K by the end of the year.

A super stretch goal for the student loans would be to get to the 50% paid mark (66,548) by Jan 2017. That would be 50% in exactly 2.5 years.

[frugalfanny]

I'm in!

Loan balance as of December 2015: -$35,514

Goal for December 2016:  -$24,192

[JustGettingStarted1980]

Total $41243 Paid Off in 2015

-as I'm coming to the end soon of my personal student loans, I'm going to add my wife's loans (she had lower interest rates) to this Challenge and start fresh in the 2016 edition

-for the record, my combined interest rate for the 80K + due is less than 3%, I don't care, they got to go!

-new starting point (both his and her loans) = $83265.16 Due

[hypocrispy]

Count me in as well!

I'm looking at -$20,772 split between grad and undergrad loans.
Grad: -$18,593
Undergrad: -$2,179

I'm still encumbered by some CC debt, so I won't really get a running start on paying down the student loans until early Spring. I'm still going to school and paying those bills up front to avoid additional debt. But I wanted to post here to commit to removing this albatross from my neck. If I really push it, I should be able to pay my CC debt and student loans (plus incoming tuition bills) by the end of January 2017. That doesn't exactly make the 2016 cut off, but close enough!

[mustache you a question]

I'm in.  Earn my grad degree in February right now I have around ≈53k in student debt.  With the help of my Fiance (paid her's off last year at ≈17k) hoping to have it <20k by end of 2016.  Good luck to everyone!

[Cardinal12]

Had a somewhat disappointing end to 2015 with my loan goals, but should be able to make up for it this year.

Current balances:

3,336 @6.21% (Grad School)
2,673 @5.41% (Grad School)
16,070 @3.86% (Undergrad)

Total: $22,079

The goals:

1. Pay off two grad loans by April
2. Have <5,000 of the undergrad loan left at year-end.

Stay focused everyone - let's make some real progress this year!

[therethere]

I've been paying this crap off for 9.5 years. It seems impossible that its actually attainable! Now to get DH on board.

Desired Date Payoff Date: 5/21/2016 (10 years since graduation!)
53029.48  Loan Balance
38247.37  Payoff Account Contributions
14,782.11 Remaining.
14,482.11 Remaining -2150 1/11/2016
12,332.11 Remaining -800 1/21/2016 -395 Jan Payments
11,138.28 Remaining



Well my approach of setting the extra money aside in a brokerage account has completely backfired. With the market over the Dec/Jan my account has lost over 2k on top of the 1k I would have saved on interest had I paid it directly to my loans. I'm feeling a little defeated now that my plan blew up. But it wouldn't do any good now to withdraw it so I just have to stay the course. For the purposes of this challenge, I'm ignoring the market gains and losses and just considering the contribution amount. Hopefully this drastic drop in the market is just a blip, not permanent through 2016, and it will all even out in the end! Trying to stay positive.

[Commander Baggins]

Update: DW got a scholarship! We had already paid for the last tuition bill, so all of it is going straight to the highest interest loan!

Previous total: $41,532
Now: $40,032

[dhiser]

This is awesome!  We've got a lot of people in on this now, continue to chime in when you make overpayments to your loan accounts so we can see your progression and gain inspiration and motivation from it!  I'm preparing to drop $2000 into my accounts in two weeks.  Our loan balances (rounded to nearest $10):

      1) $1,860   @ 5.75% - plan on paying off in 2 weeks
      2) $4,000   @ 5.35%
      3) $10,750 @ 3.40%
      4) $6,230   @ 5.90%
      5) $27,160 @ 5.00%

      Total as of 1/6/2016:  $50,000

We FULLY INTEND to have this paid off by the end of the year.  Get yours paid off too!  Lets do this people!!

[ptgearguy]

I am in guys. I started my journey at about 75k in 2013.

As of today I am at 50200 and change. I have made in my goal to have this sucker payed off before 2017. I wish everyone luck. I will post up my monthly progress. By my calculation I need to put around 4200 down per month.

As of January 6th I am 47621 :). Will update again at the end of the Month

December 2015: 50200
January 2016: 47621 (Update at end of month :))
Feb 2016:
Mar 2016:
Apr 2016
May2016:
June 2016:

[dhiser]

I am in guys. I started my journey at about 75k in 2013.

As of today I am at 50200 and change. I have made in my goal to have this sucker payed off before 2017. I wish everyone luck. I will post up my monthly progress. By my calculation I need to put around 4200 down per month.

As of January 6th I am 47621 :). Will update again at the end of the Month

December 2015: 50200
January 2016: 47621 (Update at end of month :))
Feb 2016:
Mar 2016:
Apr 2016
May2016:
June 2016:

$2600 paid down in one month!  Awesome!!

[hudsoncat]

Well, I was paying my SL down well the last half of 2015 and on track for my stated March 2016 payoff goal. I do not think that I will reach that goal however. Those in the 2015 thread might remember that in December we needed a little work done on our house, it turns out that it a much bigger problem than we realized at the time and needs a larger fix pretty much immediately. The good news is that this is why we have an emergency fund, the bad news is that the cost to fix will wipe out the emergency fund almost entirely. So I am going to go back to minimum payments only on the student loan for 2-3 months to build back up the emergency fund. I am grateful that this is an option for us, for many times in my family life growing up a situation like that would have been devastating. For DH and I it is a minor irritation that sets us a back a few months on our FI journey, but nothing more than that.

Current balance: $8,429.88
New payoff goal: July 1

[JimLahey]

I'm in. I actually just scheduled a payment to pay my last private loan off. The other two are federal.

1. $4,290.80 @ 5.8%. This is the one I just scheduled a payment for the remaining balance.
2. $3,313.35 @ 5.35%.
3. $3,895.12 @ 3.15%.

I plan on putting any money I get for a tax refund towards the second loan.

[arpies]

Carrying over from my post in the 2015 thread. Focusing on the 1% one, as it will become 19% in May. Goal is to kill it all by June but by the end of next year is far more likely.

Currently sitting at:
22,365.36 @ 4.7% (and tax deductible)
4,940.95 @ 1%

Made some decent progress over the holidays:
$21,327 @5.2% (lousy variable interest rates)

[JimLahey]

I'm in. I actually just scheduled a payment to pay my last private loan off. The other two are federal.

1. $4,290.80 @ 5.8%. This is the one I just scheduled a payment for the remaining balance.
2. $3,313.35 @ 5.35%.
3. $3,895.12 @ 3.15%.

I plan on putting any money I get for a tax refund towards the second loan.

The payment for my first loan cleared and is marked as paid in full. So on to the next one. $7,208.47 left.

[LosAngelesFire]

I'm not even sure where to begin with my student loan debt. It is so daunting... $126k combined for my husband and I. We also have a financed clown car, no house and not a high income. Yes, lots and lots of bad decisions in our past. The only way is up, I suppose!

Do I put all of our money toward the student loans and then start saving for retirement? Or try to do everything all at once? Or do minimum payments on IBR or REPAYE and pay the taxes in the end (I project this to be the most cost effective option).

Thoughts? Advice? Does anyone else have such a large amount?

[Suit]

As of Jan 1 this year I had a little over 133k in student loans, all federal and all at 6.8%. I was planning on qualifying for PSLF after working 10 years but recently decided to just kill off the loans. I just want to be free! So I sold about 60k of stock (everything not in a retirement account) and killed off two of my four loans. I've got the highest balance one and the lowest balance one remaining which are a combined 71k-ish. I'm hoping to kill off the small one by the end of this year but it'll be a stretch. I've rolled what I would have been paying on the two paid off ones into additional payments on the smallest one and I'm excited to see the payoff snowball start.

Best of luck to everyone!

[dhiser]

I'm not even sure where to begin with my student loan debt. It is so daunting... $126k combined for my husband and I. We also have a financed clown car, no house and not a high income. Yes, lots and lots of bad decisions in our past. The only way is up, I suppose!

Do I put all of our money toward the student loans and then start saving for retirement? Or try to do everything all at once? Or do minimum payments on IBR or REPAYE and pay the taxes in the end (I project this to be the most cost effective option).

Thoughts? Advice? Does anyone else have such a large amount?

While that is a lot of debt, nothing is insurmountable.  You have the classic case of "where do I put my money so it will be most effective", but the good news is that there is no wrong answer here.  Whether you pay down your student debt, invest the money, etc. the important thing is that you are putting your money to work instead of burning it on more stuff.  As long as you put your money to work by either paying down debt or investing it in index funds then you are doing the right thing.

You've got a long road ahead, but make goals, stick to your plans, and one day you'll realize you are free.  Stick to it!

[dhiser]

      1) $1,860   @ 5.75% - plan on paying off in 2 weeks
      2) $4,000   @ 5.35%
      3) $10,750 @ 3.40%
      4) $6,230   @ 5.90%
      5) $27,160 @ 5.00%

      Total as of 1/6/2016:  $50,000

So my wife and I got antsy and decided to just pay the first loan balance off instead of waiting any longer to get started.  It felt so good clicking the "Confirm Payment" button, most satisfying mouse click ever haha.  Our next target is account #4, the $6,230 @ 5.9%.  Our laser focus is aimed at that loan account now, ETA for payoff of that account is 2/22/2016.

Updated Student Loan Account Balances 1/11/2016

      1) PAID IN FULL
      2) $4,000   @ 5.35%
      3) $10,750 @ 3.40%
      4) $6,230   @ 5.90%
      5) $27,160 @ 5.00%

      Total as of 1/11/2016: $48,140

[futureman44]

Looking for opinions:

My wife and I have about $67,000 remaining in our student loans.   They were consolidated about 10 years ago at 1.625% fixed interest for 30 years and we've been making the minimum payment each month for the past 10 years.  We have 20 years left of payments before they are gone (at which time, my two sons will be 31 and 27).

I could certainly pay them off, but my thought has always been that I can make more money investing (with compounding returns) rather than paying them off.  However, I feel kinda silly making that payment each month.

What would you do?  Should we cut a check and get rid of them or just keep doing what we've been doing?

[arpies]

At 1.625% interest you're easily beating that by being in the market. I'd say keep doing what you're doing.

[ontheroaderic]

3/5/15: $74,618.23 at 5.625% {Starting Balance}
3/5/15: $72,613.01 (- 2005.22)
3/7/15: $72,650.18  (-271.44)
3/9/15: $72,219.94  (-177.6)
4/9/15: $69,889.41 (-2600.00)
5/7/15: $67,086.58 (-3100.00)
6/12/15: $64,281.49 (-3100.00)
7/7/15: $61,917.04 (-2600)
8/7/15: $59,610.78 (-2600)
9/7/15: $57,385.37 (-2600)
10/7/15: $54,931.48 (-2600)
11/13/15: $52,325.25 (-2900)
12/9/15: $49,975.41 (-2600)
1/11/16: $47,557.16 (-2600)

Still cranking along!

[GetItRight]

1	$3,947.39	4.99%
2	$42,839.31	6.00%
3	$26,710.73	4.75%
401k	$10,492.51	4.25%

Total: $83,989.94

Tried refi with Citizens Bank this past week. Approved for 3.01% but they increased loan amount to $1600 more than I requested. I've been down this road before and don't want Sallie Mae in particular to get a penny more than the balance on the account. Last time it took me three months of spending 2+ hours on the phone with them most weeknights to resolve. When threatening to drive to their US HQ after talking to a person from there after months of talking to people in India they caved and refunded me the negative account balance. $2k of savings is not worth that torture again, my time is worth more than that.

Initially went to a CB branch and got verbal approval so opened a savings account and deposited $200 to get the .25% discount. Went in and neither remote student loan bankers or local branch manager would either concede to pay out the amount I requested (current balance) or pay their inflated number direct to me so I could pay the other banks only what was due. Closed my account with Citizens Bank and swore to the manager I would never do any business with them. I do not appreciate wasting several hours of my time and taking a hit to my credit score from the hard pull, so that ship has sailed.

The only other bank that will even consider me for refi as a proud college dropout is Earnest. Applied with them and they want nothing to do with me despite 800 credit score and six figure income with fairly minimal expenses. It's just grind away at what I've got, so be it. Just a bit pissed that Sallie Mae has now called my 4.5% fixed interest loan a variable and raised it to 4.75%. Debating spending all my evenings on the phone with them again or just putting payments towards that one first. Might be able to be done with them this year depending on medical expenses.

I expect slow progress for the next couple month as I bleed a few grand in medical bills every time I sneeze thanks to some selfish liberal type who ran me over with her car. She will make me whole eventually, but it could be a while. Oh well, just paid another grand and change on these so it should be reflected this week. With all these medical expenses I'm expecting a bit of a tax refund this year so that should help.

[Cardinal12]

Had a somewhat disappointing end to 2015 with my loan goals, but should be able to make up for it this year.

Current balances:

3,336 @6.21% (Grad School)
2,673 @5.41% (Grad School)
16,070 @3.86% (Undergrad)

Total: $22,079

The goals:

1. Pay off two grad loans by April
2. Have <5,000 of the undergrad loan left at year-end.

Stay focused everyone - let's make some real progress this year!

After January Payments have Posted:

1,351 @6.21% (Grad School)
2,684 @5.41% (Grad School)
15,832 @3.86% (Undergrad)

Total: $19,867

So far, so good!

[onlykelsey]

Looking for opinions:

My wife and I have about $67,000 remaining in our student loans.   They were consolidated about 10 years ago at 1.625% fixed interest for 30 years and we've been making the minimum payment each month for the past 10 years.  We have 20 years left of payments before they are gone (at which time, my two sons will be 31 and 27).

I could certainly pay them off, but my thought has always been that I can make more money investing (with compounding returns) rather than paying them off.  However, I feel kinda silly making that payment each month.

What would you do?  Should we cut a check and get rid of them or just keep doing what we've been doing?

I'd also keep doing what you're doing, especially if you're American and eligible for a deduction on the interest (bringing the rate down to, what, 1.2?)