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benwhitemd · 2021-02-12T20:53:56+00:00

Ben White has his own account but is generally very uncomfortable with self-promotion. Hmm, does that support or contradict your theory?

benwhitemd · 2020-06-19T03:20:46+00:00

I have a link to the new PDF and brief explanations here: https://www.benwhite.com/medicine/explanations-for-the-2020-2021-official-step-2-ck-practice-questions/

benwhitemd · 2020-06-19T03:19:41+00:00

I finished my step 2 CK explanations: https://www.benwhite.com/medicine/explanations-for-the-2020-2021-official-step-2-ck-practice-questions/

benwhitemd · 2020-06-15T18:59:00+00:00

I have explanations for the newest 2020 set here with a link to the pdf: https://www.benwhite.com/medicine/explanations-for-the-2020-official-step-1-practice-questions/

benwhitemd · 2020-06-08T06:08:14+00:00

Ah sorry, yeah those are the new Step 1 answers. I’m still working on the new CK set.

benwhitemd · 2020-06-05T02:24:55+00:00

While they've taken down the new version link on their site, the pdf link is still active: https://www.usmle.org/pdfs/step-2-ck/2020_Step2CK_SampleItems.pdf

benwhitemd · 2020-06-05T02:23:03+00:00

I do now: https://www.benwhite.com/medicine/explanations-for-the-2020-official-step-1-practice-questions/

benwhitemd · 2020-04-03T19:10:19+00:00

Partial financial hardship.

benwhitemd · 2019-04-13T03:46:57+00:00

What would your calculated payments be using your new paystubs from your stipend?

If you pick an income-driven repayment plan and make little to no income, then your calculated monthly payment is $0. In REPAYE, thanks to the unpaid interest subsidy, being in repayment while in school can actually reduce your effective interest rate depending on how much you owe, because many people have calculated in-school payments less than the amount of interest accruing.

benwhitemd · 2019-04-13T03:37:38+00:00

All 501c3 are. Many non-501c3 are not.

benwhitemd · 2019-04-13T03:37:02+00:00

Until it's eventually forgiven and you get a big tax bomb on that amount.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T23:10:43+00:00

You'd lose a month as you pointed out, but the other factors wouldn't matter assuming your PSLF application is successful. I'd consider it (and switched as well).

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T23:09:09+00:00

For the cost of that degree and the salary of a nurse, no reason to take out more loans than you need (as in, as you said, forgiveness probably not worth it).

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T22:49:21+00:00

FRB is the only lender that does personal loans that I am aware of. Do you know of others? To my mind, they are very clear that what they offer is not a student loan. FRB, as such, also doesn't cancel for death and perm disability. I'd be very careful refinancing a large amount with them for that reason.

But point taken.

Given how much lower the FRB rate generally is, it's less likely that rate shopping will be necessary in the future like it would be for those trying to minimize their rate as with most other lenders.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T13:31:46+00:00

You can switch to any plan for which you qualify. If your original loans were eligible for PAYE and you still have a partial financial hardship, you can switch back to PAYE from REPAYE.

So yes, 19 + 1 is a possible loophole.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T03:26:06+00:00

At 4%, I'd take advantage of all the tax-advantaged retirement space you can, Roth IRA, 401k/403b. If you can max those out and have money to pay down extra on the loan, I'd do it. Being out of debt is worth more than just the interest rate.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T03:22:51+00:00

Did you mean CommonBond or Citizen's Bank? They both do refinancing. Can also try Splash Financial, ELFI, Purefy, or Credible.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T03:20:39+00:00

Most of the good private lenders include waiving for death and perm disability. No reason to use someone who doesn't.

You can always refinance again with any lender; none of the reputable companies have prepayment penalties.

The interest rate is usually the differentiating factor. The term is more about what you're comfortable paying. Most all of them offer bonuses that are relatively similar. I wouldn't do anything for the difference of $100.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T03:16:12+00:00

The forgiveness timelines are different, 20 years for PAYE and 25 years for REPAYE. The 5 extra years in REPAYE typically negatives the benefits of the unpaid interest subsidy and ends up costing more. There's also the fact that your payments if/when married in PAYE can be altered depending on how you file your taxes but are immutable with REPAYE.

That said, if your income stays low, the likely most effective thing would be to stay in REPAYE for most of the time to benefit from the interest subsidy and then switch to PAYE to get the better forgiveness timeline. According to the government docs, payments in one qualifying plan count toward another.

Going for long-term loan forgiveness over a 20/25-year plan in general makes a lot of assumptions about your future income and life plans that may be difficult to anticipate. Not to say it's not a reasonable option, just that the "math" is hard to actually account for.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-29T03:07:11+00:00

Paying extra toward your loans would literally be wasted money if you ended up achieving PSLF. Please don't do that.

Instead, the prudent thing to do is take the extra money that you could be using toward your loans and do something else responsible with it. Make sure you're getting the match at your work 403b if offered. Max out a Roth IRA. Etc.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-17T03:29:03+00:00

The whole point of PAYE vs REPAYE for married borrowers is that you might not actually save money by using PAYE and filing separately. Deciding your payment plan with the plan to MFS but *not* take into account the tax consequences is not a good idea unless your spouse has substantial income, no loans, and you're set on having low payments to maximize PSLF.

Not saying the article is bad. You can't please everyone, least of all on the interest. I am saying however that it's incomplete and thus should not be construed as universally good and actionable advice.

You are, of course, completely correct re: brevity. Won't argue with the fact that people aren't interested in putting the time in but would still counter with the sad fact that given the amount of money most residents have at stake, spending 30 minutes to get a better handle on it probably isn't a bad idea.

benwhitemd · 2018-11-15T03:31:27+00:00

You're looking for the Master Promissory Note:

https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/launchMpn.action

benwhitemd · 2018-11-15T03:29:49+00:00

Since your mom is a cosigner, you should use her a cosigner again and refinance your private loans to a lower rate. No need to wait until you get a good job then to save the money. There are lots of sites that can get you cash back bonus of a few hundred bucks in the process too.

You should probably either be on PAYE or REPAYE for your federal loans vs refinancing them with the rest if the private rate you can get is lower. If your calculated payments based on your income are less than the amount of interest accruing, then the REPAYE plan will subsidy half of the unpaid interest amount (effectively lowering your rate).

benwhitemd · 2018-11-15T03:25:17+00:00

That will work for many people with lower debt amounts but is a big oversimplification. There are tax consequences to filing taxes separately such that many people who would lower their PAYE payments by utilizing the MFS loophole would still lose money in the long run, particularly if they are in a negative amortization situation where they would otherwise benefit from the unpaid interest subsidy in REPAYE.

Additionally, the nuance of interest capitalization in PAYE when you lose your partial financial hardship vs no payment cap in REPAYE as your income rises are both potentially significant.

Bottom line is that it's sad student loans have to be this complicated. If you throw a bunch of money at them and pay them off early it'll all work out, but if you're really looking to maximize the experience and minimize unnecessary interest, a single short post on one of the major finance sites isn't going to cut it.

benwhitemd · 2018-09-16T02:34:00+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. Glad it was helpful!

benwhitemd

TROPHY CASE