Quote Originally Posted by Ultralight View Post
This is my favorite topic to debate! My student loans!

Let us do some math here, amigos.

I owe $165,000. If I wanted to pay that off in ten years, starting from today I would need to pay $16,500 a year. That would mean $1,375 a month. I bring home about $2,400 a month. That would mean I would need to live on $1,025. This is simply not possible.

Or I can pay for 7 years (actually 6.5 but lets keep it simple), starting from today a monthly payment of $298 and have the rest forgiven, so long as I work for the government. That would be $25,032. I have already got three years (3.5 actually, but lets keep it simple) in to the ten year forgiveness program so I have already paid $10,728. Lets add $25,032 and $10,728. The sum is $35,760.

So what do you think I should do, pay $165,000 or $35,760?
If you owe $165K, you'd be paying more than $1,375 per month due to interest in the first alternative (less the tax impact, if any). You would probably also need to make reasonable assumptions about the incremental salary difference if you were to take a (presumably) higher-paying non-PSLF job. I would guess that increment would need to be fairly substantial to break even over the remaining life of the loan.

Another alternative would be for President Sanders and a Democratic Improvidentialist Congress to proclaim the Jubilee and shift your obligation to the National Debt.