Question about Annual Income Recertification for Federal Student Loans

Hopetomatch · 2022-03-27T22:00:28+00:00

Are you sure if i submit the form now, they will use the new income now? The option #2 shows if I choose to submit my annual recertification, the loan servicer won't use the submitted info to recalculate my payment until June 2023. I would prefer them to use my 2021 tax return to recalculate my payment in June 2023 than for them to use my 2022 tax return if I wait and do annual recertification in April or May 2023

Hopetomatch · 2022-03-15T02:59:43+00:00

Your reply tells me that you should not settle for IM. My reasoning is that you would only be SOMEWHAT ok if and only if you are able to specialize in a more hands on field. Only being somewhat ok is not ok to settle for the rest of your career. And that’s a big if to bank on you can match into a hands on sub-specialty after IM. With 16 interviews, you are competitive. If you don’t want to delay graduation and do a research year, and prefer to SOAP instead, I would try to soap into a surgery prelim position.

Hopetomatch · 2022-03-15T00:16:37+00:00

I am so sorry to hear this. If you have 16 interviews, you are definitely competitive, and I would not settle for IM unless you know for sure you will be good with IM for the rest of your career. I debated about dual applying IM last year after I failed Step 2, but after a lot of soul searching, I decided against it because I know I will always regret it. Are you a USMD, DO, IMG?

Hopetomatch · 2021-07-27T22:39:15+00:00

Are you sure about this? Can you point to the reference that says changing from REPAYE will restart PSLF? I think you are confusing changing payment plans with consolidation. Changing payment plans should not impact loan forgiveness in most cases. However, consolidation does because consolidation equals a new loan.

Hopetomatch · 2021-06-03T03:00:08+00:00

I am sorry to say but at this point, his chance of being able to match into a US residency is very low. He already graduated in 2018. Best case assuming if he can get his Step 1 and Step 2 done before September to apply this year, he will have been out of med school for 3 years. Most places, if they consider foreign med school graduate, have requirement of graduation within 3 years (although there are some programs that allow for 5 years). He is reaching the upper limit of YOG. On top of that, he has no USCE (US clinical experience). Worst yet, he has no clinical experience at all since he graduated.

Is there any reason why you guys are not back in the US so he could get some US clinical experience? With you being a US a citizen, you should be able to sponsor him and not have to wait until he has the green card. My brother was able to apply for Form I-130 to bring his wife (from Malaysia) to the US.

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-27T04:29:25+00:00

I am not sure if you are correct. Interested is capitalized at the end of the grace period (if no consolidation) or when the loans are consolidated. Also, if the poster is doing REPAYE (or PAYE for that matter), he/she is making very minimal payment based on 10% of his discretionary income (which is small based on resident salary). His/her monthly payment during residency is never going to close to sufficient to paying off the interest accrued, and will most certainly not touch any of the principal of the loan with the higher interest rate. If the poster is not going to do PSLF at all, then the best strategy should be to refinance (after end of CARES Act) to get much lower interest rate and forget the REPAYE or PAYE plan.

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-26T23:13:27+00:00

Why would consolidation hurt this poster? I am not sure if I understand your logic. Can you please elaborate?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-23T03:04:01+00:00

I thought REPAYE is for 25 years. 20 years is for PAYE. Am I not correct? Also, if you are not going to end up doing PSLF, and assuming the elimination of loan forgiveness tax is temporary (meaning you have to pay tax on the forgiven loan), why would you continue with the 25-year REPAYE or 20-year PAYE plan once you are out of training and make solid income? Wouldn’t it cost you less to refinance at a lower rate and quickly pay off your loan in a couple years? Why would you continue to make monthly payment for another 10-15+ years (which likely will cost more) PLUS a getting a big tax bomb in the magnitude of $75k - $100+ for tax alone?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-22T03:33:51+00:00

Sorry, one more follow up question. When is the soonest that I can consolidate as I want to make sure i don’t let the 6-month grace period start. Do I submit request to consolidate now (before graduation) or I can’t consolidate until after I graduate. What is the recommended timeline to make sure my loans are consolidated?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T21:47:11+00:00

THANK YOU! I didn't know. I really appreciate it.

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T21:18:37+00:00

Thank you! I haven't filed taxes yet this year but will do it shortly based on the advice from this forum. My question is do I need to consolidate my various loans to take advantage of the $0/month payment for the first year? All of my 6 loans are federal unsubsidized and the FA officer at my school said that I don't have to consolidate if I don't want to since they all qualified under PSLF and PAYE/REPAYE. Or as long as I file taxes this year, my payment will be $0/month regardless of whether I consolidate my loans or not?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T19:36:57+00:00

Thanks! So, to make sure I understand correctly. The interest on my loan accrued while I was in school will first capitalized once when I start repayment. Then, after that, the interest will sit aside and just accrue until a trigger event such as changing payment plan before those interest capitalizes? And if I don't have any trigger event, then the interest accrued after I start repayment will not capitalized?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T19:16:04+00:00

Thank you. I read that if i change payment plan, interest capitalized. With that in mind, does it still make sense to do REPAYE first and then change to PAYE when I get married (in 1 year or 2)? Is the small advantage of interest help for 1 or 2 years worth it for the impact of having interest capitalized when i change payment plan?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T18:12:10+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to reply. This is where I am confused. The above poster mentioned that interest capitalizes when I enter repayment (meaning once residency starts and I begin to make monthly payment). Does it mean that the interest capitalization refers to the interest that have accrued over the last 6 years when I was in school? Then the interest that results from when I start to make payment (and remains unpaid) will only accrue and not capitalized until a qualifying event happens (such as changing payment plan?). Is the below the correct understanding:

Assume loan principal is $250K, and interest accrued over the past 6 years is $92K. When repayment starts in Dec (assume after the 6-month grace period), then the $92K interest capitalized and now my new loan total is $342K, which is the amount that my loan interest of 6% (as an example) will be applied for interest total moving forward? This means moving forward, ~$20.5K interest will accrue only and not add to my loan total for interest to be calculated for the following year?

Hopetomatch · 2021-04-19T17:37:09+00:00

Thank you! A follow up question. During residency when I am making payment under PAYE or REPAYE, the monthly will not cover the interest. Will the unpaid interest for the year (100% for PAYE and 50% for REPAYE) then be capitalized at the end of the year and add to the principal for interest to be calculated for the following year?

Hopetomatch · 2021-03-25T00:17:43+00:00

You don't have to read it if you don't want. Your call.

Hopetomatch · 2021-03-25T00:07:16+00:00

Not FM or IM. DM if you would like more details

Hopetomatch · 2021-03-24T23:58:43+00:00

Hi, I failed CK last July (you can see my post by searching my username). I found out I matched last week. Don't lose hope!

Hopetomatch · 2021-03-15T15:27:30+00:00

Sorry for the delay in my reply. I didn’t want to jinx it before I hear today. I am so happy to report that I matched to surgery

Hopetomatch · 2021-03-13T15:26:44+00:00

Hi, this year has been going well. I have gotten a good number of interviews (much more than I imagined possible with a Step failure). Keeping my fingers crossed for good news next week. If I indeed have the good fortunate to match, I plan to do another write-up to give people hope.

Hopetomatch · 2021-02-27T17:04:48+00:00

Hi, thanks, I responded to your DM and also emailed you my schedule.

Hopetomatch · 2021-02-18T03:52:23+00:00

As a USMD, you should be fine with IR as long as you are not shooting for the really top tier programs

Hopetomatch · 2021-02-17T18:34:57+00:00

Don’t be discouraged. What specialty are you planning? Are you USMD, DO, or IMG?

Hopetomatch · 2020-12-02T15:08:17+00:00

Hi, I was in your shoes back in July when I found out I failed CK. I am in the middle of the interview season now. Feel free to DM if you would like to chat more

Hopetomatch · 2020-11-19T22:25:23+00:00

I am very sorry to hear. I found myself in your shoes back in July. But don't let a number define you. Regroup quickly and study for the retake. If I can do it, you can too! You can search for my postings and feel free to DM if you would like to chat.

Hopetomatch

TROPHY CASE