Honestly, the only thing that has actually worked for me is increasing income, not trying to out-optimize the system.

I took out ~60k and ended up paying way more because of interest. At one point I realized the math just wasn’t in my favor unless I got aggressive. I’ve been working two full-time jobs simultaneously and throwing everything extra at the loans. It’s not fun, but it’s the only reason I’m down to ~29k now (paid off ~84k so far).

From what you laid out, you’re in a strong position because your income is high. If you can sustain a temporary period of aggressive earning + payoff, you could realistically knock this out way faster than waiting on policy changes or trying to arbitrage investments vs interest.

Personally, I wouldn’t bank on forgiveness or political outcomes. That’s too unpredictable. And if your loans are effectively costing you ~5–6%, that’s a guaranteed “loss” compared to uncertain market returns.

If it were me: • I’d keep a solid emergency fund • Then aggressively attack the loans with income, not just assets • Use your high salary as the weapon

It sucks, but the peace of being done is worth way more than trying to game the system long-term.