How to Choose the Best Income Driven Repayment Plan

income driven repayment

If you are having difficulty making your federal student loan payments, the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. Help is available. For many borrowers, payments may be reduced under one of the Income Driven Repayment Plans (IDR Plans) offered by the Department of Education. The lower your income, the lower your payments will be.

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Five Student Loan Mistakes You Need to Avoid

student loan mistakes

While student loans are a necessary financial tool for most of today’s future doctors, the process of repaying them can get complex due to the many types of loans and the accrual of interest. If you make the wrong move, you could wind up facing a costly error—one that may take years to recover from. The following five student loan mistakes are a few of the worst errors that you can make. Do what you can to avoid them.

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An Introduction to Student Loans

Consider these three questions. First, what is a loan? Second, how is it typically is structured? Third, do you know how much you will be paying back if you borrowed x amount? I always wished someone had personally educated me and answered these very questions.
It has been almost 20 years since I chose my college (an expensive one), and almost 10 since I made my decision to pursue a career in pharmacy (a smarter choice, but still expensive one). I consider myself fortunate because my profession (for the most part) allows me to pay back the student loan I have accumulated and still enjoy a lifestyle I had imagined.

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Student Loan Forgiveness for Medical Students

Many medical students cheerfully expect to be earning a generous income as they begin their medical practice. But while it is true that that, according to the Medical Economics website that in 2014, 7 of the 10 top-paying jobs were in the medical profession, the issue of course is far more complicated than that. The American Association of Medical Colleges estimates that a four-year medical education at a private school today will cost around $278,455 dollars while a public one runs only slightly below that at $208,868. And the average medical student will be around $180,000 in debt at the time of their graduation. Around 20% will have debt in excess of $250,000.
These numbers can seem staggering. Fortunately, there are programs available to medical students which not only get them out from this monumental debt, but help underserved communities across the country and improve access to quality medical care for some very vulnerable patient populations.

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The Ultimate Student Loan Repayment Guide for Doctors

$176,000.
It’s a number newly-minted physicians or those in the process of becoming a doctor should know.
No, it’s not the average salary of those in the medical field or the cost of an average physician’s home.
It’s also not something fun like the price you can pay for a new Audi R8 when you graduate from medical school (although that would be super nice.)

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Six Smart Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans

Attending college and earning a degree is a major accomplishment, but most people don’t have the resources to get their education paid for without help. While there are scholarship and grant programs available to help you out, loans are usually the popular option for students trying to pay their way through school.
The time to pay those loans back comes once you’ve stepped off stage and graduated. If you haven’t kept track of how much you owe, the final figure can be quite intimidating. To ease your stress, it’s important to financially plan and prepare for loan repayment. With that said, here are six smart ways to pay off your student loan.

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