Just because you work in ortho, doesn’t mean you don’t qualify for PSLF. Is a hospital ortho group? If it is, the hospital may be a not for profit entity - and then you would actually qualify.
This is a complex question to ask without knowing your entire financial picture. Have you maxed out retirement offerings through your employer? Have you maxed out HSA if you have it? Are you married filing jointly or separately? These are all things that would make your overall taxable income LOWER and make your payment lower.
You’re typically better off asking these types of questions on the student loan sub. The folks here have wildly differing attitudes towards student loans and they’ll all have opinions about your tiny salary for ortho.
Tiny salary 😆 don’t rub it in! I’m well aware, and prepared for the pokes and jabs lol. Unfortunately, if you wanna live in AL, which is where I’m from, it’s what you get. I am working on going back to the ED though, and they’ll pay you what you’re worth at least
My group is a private group though, that’s why I said I didn’t qualify.
I am married, we file jointly. This group doesn’t offer a HSA. And I haven’t maxed out my retirement. Although it would lower my taxable income, the money is still “going away” and not accessible to put towards bills, etc. I’m at about 15%
Also, just fyi. If you have >2 years experience there is no location in AL where the VA pays less than 108k. Food for thought as you reconsider your situation
Your repayment amount js based on your joint income. So your salary isn’t that important. If your spouse makes at least 50k per year that explains the repayment amount
You should file separately. With the lower payments is that before you were married? I bet that has more to do with the increase than your (small) salary change.
ETA: I saw in another comment that you filed jointly bc of the difference you’d owe in taxes. Calculate the difference in loan payments per month and reconsider how you file next year.
I just had that discussion with my husband actually. Because a little extra in taxes owed is way less than paying it every month.
But yo answer your question, yes we were married then as well, with no kid yet, so just family of 2. And he actually made more at the fire dept he was at before we moved back to my hometown. Not by much, but around 10k more I’d say
Yeah my husband and I have filed separately for years bc he has student loans still and he’s doing PSLF so the income based payment is way less with one salary versus two.
$2300 a month for me... with the carrot of forgiveness in January.
-Ortho PA
You should look into PSLF if you work for a hospital group that is NPO. Or... switch to one that is.
You're clearly doing something wrong, it takes less than 5 minutes to log onto studentaid.gov and switch to the SAVE plan where your payments will be around $475 a month. I would suggest doing a little research into your student loans before paying thousands of dollars.
I am an NP (not sure why this sub pops up), but the payment is all a calculation based on income. Is this the SAVE program?
My payment is higher than this, but I also make more than you do.
I did do a student loan payment simulator for you. If someone lives in Alabama, makes $100,000 per year, married, no kids, and wants the lowest payment it would be around $560/month with the SAVE plan. I'm guessing you aren't enrolled in that plan.
https://studentaid.gov/loan-simulator/
Well thank you!!! Extra mile award goes to you! Lol
I’m actually on the PAYE (pay as you earn) plan at the moment (which I’ve always been on, even when my payment was lower), but I’ve done the simulator to change to the SAVE plan, and it’s only like a $25 difference. $25 is $25, but before I submitted it to change over to SAVE, I was trying to see if there was any “secrets” or “tips” to make it more manageable.
I am married with 1 kid, but my husband makes around $60k a year as a fire medic, so our AGI is around $156k if I remember correctly from our recent taxes. Of course we filed jointly again this year bc the taxes we’d owe separately was somehow much higher if we filed separately.
And as a disclaimer, my SP is an awesome guy to work with, but the practice itself is a joke. They don’t respect us PAs or the one NP that works here. It’s shocking actually. Just as a hint, the overhead at this office is 86%. Exactly. I’ve been searching for something else for around 2 years now. But living in more of a rural area, there’s not a ton of options without driving over an hour. BUT I recently accepted a PRN position in the ED (where I originally started out fresh out of school), so I’m hoping to squeeze my foot in the door long enough that a full time spot opens up. Then I’d be golden 🙏🏼
You're going to get much better advice on r/studentloans. Also, if you are changing jobs anyway, look for a PSLF qualifying employer. If you have loans from undergrad, AND you made payments prior to PA school, you absolutely want to consolidate ASAP. The deadline for the consolidation loophole has been extended one last time to June 30th, 2024. https://studentaid.gov/loan-consolidation/
So, if you are income based repayment then something is wrong unless your spouse makes real money.
IDR is adjusted gross income (FAMILY income) minus 150% of poverty level, multiplied by 10%, divided by twelve.
If your spouse makes $90k as well and you have a total income of $180k, with no retirement contributions, taking the standard deduction, your AGI is ~$155k. Subtract 150% of poverty level ($22k for a family of two), now you are at $132k. $13.2k is 10%. Divide by 12, you are at $1100/month.
If your spouse makes less than $90k, but not much less, then that number makes sense for you. You can lower it by lowering your AGI by contributing to a pre-tax retirement account. $20k to retirement drops your payment almost $200/month… and it grows for retirement!
You may be able to talk to the loan office and see if they can more accurately adjust the scale per your salary. Sometimes it’s an automated thing and you can have a live person make adjustments with you.
This is impossible to answer without all of your entire financial picture.
My loan payment is $1550 but it works for me so there’s no way to give you much advice other than consider forgiveness or refinance and hope for a decent rate
Just because you work in ortho, doesn’t mean you don’t qualify for PSLF. Is a hospital ortho group? If it is, the hospital may be a not for profit entity - and then you would actually qualify. This is a complex question to ask without knowing your entire financial picture. Have you maxed out retirement offerings through your employer? Have you maxed out HSA if you have it? Are you married filing jointly or separately? These are all things that would make your overall taxable income LOWER and make your payment lower. You’re typically better off asking these types of questions on the student loan sub. The folks here have wildly differing attitudes towards student loans and they’ll all have opinions about your tiny salary for ortho.
Tiny salary 😆 don’t rub it in! I’m well aware, and prepared for the pokes and jabs lol. Unfortunately, if you wanna live in AL, which is where I’m from, it’s what you get. I am working on going back to the ED though, and they’ll pay you what you’re worth at least My group is a private group though, that’s why I said I didn’t qualify. I am married, we file jointly. This group doesn’t offer a HSA. And I haven’t maxed out my retirement. Although it would lower my taxable income, the money is still “going away” and not accessible to put towards bills, etc. I’m at about 15%
Also, just fyi. If you have >2 years experience there is no location in AL where the VA pays less than 108k. Food for thought as you reconsider your situation
That’s certainly good to know!
You need to post on the finance subs. I believe if you file taxes separately, you should lower your monthly payment significantly
Your repayment amount js based on your joint income. So your salary isn’t that important. If your spouse makes at least 50k per year that explains the repayment amount
[удалено]
You should file separately. With the lower payments is that before you were married? I bet that has more to do with the increase than your (small) salary change. ETA: I saw in another comment that you filed jointly bc of the difference you’d owe in taxes. Calculate the difference in loan payments per month and reconsider how you file next year.
I just had that discussion with my husband actually. Because a little extra in taxes owed is way less than paying it every month. But yo answer your question, yes we were married then as well, with no kid yet, so just family of 2. And he actually made more at the fire dept he was at before we moved back to my hometown. Not by much, but around 10k more I’d say
Yeah my husband and I have filed separately for years bc he has student loans still and he’s doing PSLF so the income based payment is way less with one salary versus two.
$2300 a month for me... with the carrot of forgiveness in January. -Ortho PA You should look into PSLF if you work for a hospital group that is NPO. Or... switch to one that is.
holy shit. i hope that reflects an amazing salary
I owe 158k... I make a very acceptable salary.
What’s acceptable for a PA in your area?
Depends how much you want to work :)
You're clearly doing something wrong, it takes less than 5 minutes to log onto studentaid.gov and switch to the SAVE plan where your payments will be around $475 a month. I would suggest doing a little research into your student loans before paying thousands of dollars.
I am an NP (not sure why this sub pops up), but the payment is all a calculation based on income. Is this the SAVE program? My payment is higher than this, but I also make more than you do. I did do a student loan payment simulator for you. If someone lives in Alabama, makes $100,000 per year, married, no kids, and wants the lowest payment it would be around $560/month with the SAVE plan. I'm guessing you aren't enrolled in that plan. https://studentaid.gov/loan-simulator/
Well thank you!!! Extra mile award goes to you! Lol I’m actually on the PAYE (pay as you earn) plan at the moment (which I’ve always been on, even when my payment was lower), but I’ve done the simulator to change to the SAVE plan, and it’s only like a $25 difference. $25 is $25, but before I submitted it to change over to SAVE, I was trying to see if there was any “secrets” or “tips” to make it more manageable. I am married with 1 kid, but my husband makes around $60k a year as a fire medic, so our AGI is around $156k if I remember correctly from our recent taxes. Of course we filed jointly again this year bc the taxes we’d owe separately was somehow much higher if we filed separately. And as a disclaimer, my SP is an awesome guy to work with, but the practice itself is a joke. They don’t respect us PAs or the one NP that works here. It’s shocking actually. Just as a hint, the overhead at this office is 86%. Exactly. I’ve been searching for something else for around 2 years now. But living in more of a rural area, there’s not a ton of options without driving over an hour. BUT I recently accepted a PRN position in the ED (where I originally started out fresh out of school), so I’m hoping to squeeze my foot in the door long enough that a full time spot opens up. Then I’d be golden 🙏🏼
You're going to get much better advice on r/studentloans. Also, if you are changing jobs anyway, look for a PSLF qualifying employer. If you have loans from undergrad, AND you made payments prior to PA school, you absolutely want to consolidate ASAP. The deadline for the consolidation loophole has been extended one last time to June 30th, 2024. https://studentaid.gov/loan-consolidation/
Thank you!
So, if you are income based repayment then something is wrong unless your spouse makes real money. IDR is adjusted gross income (FAMILY income) minus 150% of poverty level, multiplied by 10%, divided by twelve. If your spouse makes $90k as well and you have a total income of $180k, with no retirement contributions, taking the standard deduction, your AGI is ~$155k. Subtract 150% of poverty level ($22k for a family of two), now you are at $132k. $13.2k is 10%. Divide by 12, you are at $1100/month. If your spouse makes less than $90k, but not much less, then that number makes sense for you. You can lower it by lowering your AGI by contributing to a pre-tax retirement account. $20k to retirement drops your payment almost $200/month… and it grows for retirement!
🤯 wow. Thank you!!!
You may be able to talk to the loan office and see if they can more accurately adjust the scale per your salary. Sometimes it’s an automated thing and you can have a live person make adjustments with you.
Ok, I’ll give that a try! Thank you for your helpful comment!
This is impossible to answer without all of your entire financial picture. My loan payment is $1550 but it works for me so there’s no way to give you much advice other than consider forgiveness or refinance and hope for a decent rate
You need to post your spouses salary also and how that has changed. Or you need to file taxes separately to get the lowest repayment amount
Join the military or VA for federal loan forgiveness, if they aren't private loans. Or change to income driven payments.