Reasonable Debt?

Paying for College
1

<p>My wife and I will both graduating nursing school with a combined debt of 60k. Is this a reasonable amount considering a salary after taxes of about 72k-80k combined? </p>

<p>We will not own a house for several years and we both have fairly new cars that are paid for. </p>

<p>Is it more than just "manageable"? Will we be able to live comfortably?</p>

<p>Was accumulating this amount of debt for a nursing education worth it?</p>

<p>EDIT: BTW, this is a starting salary. Both of us will also be in a fully paid for graduate program (work pays) and in 2 years should be grossing 100-110k.</p>

2

<p>Buyer remorse? :wink: You’re at the end of the road, it is what it is. You should be able to manage it comfortably. You can even stretch it out to 20 years so the first few years the payments would be lighter. When you make more money, you can pay more so that it will not be ended in 20 years – could be 10, 12, 15 etc. depends on how much can you pay the principal.</p>

3

<p>LOL. Eh, not so much buyer remorse. I was just searching for other people’s experiences perhaps with this kind of debt with a similiar income. I woudn’t change what I borrowed or studied for anything. I love the work, job security, opportunities to live wherever, etc. etc. </p>

<p>It’s not as though I believe I will struggle to make payments so much as how reasonable it would be to have plans to save responsibly, travel, etc. </p>

<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>EDIT: I read dave ramsey ;). I plan on making one to two extra payments per year on top of regularly scheduled payments.</p>

4

<p>Why are you asking now? Isn’t it too late to be asking such a question?</p>

<p>That said, for two people, it’s not horrible. You will have to live modestly while you make those payments. What kind of payments are you going to have? About $700 a month total?? That’s like 2 extra car payments. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t be having any babies anytime soon. Get these loans paid off as soon as you both can.</p>

5

<p>above was cross-posted with the OP.</p>

<p>IF you plan on having a family within 10 years, it would be in your best interest to make more than 1 or 2 extra payments per year. I would try to get these loans paid off within 5 years. </p>

<p>And…well… I use the word “plan” loosely…babies have a way of surprising people.</p>

6

<p>Ah I see where this misconception is coming from. I don’t mean to ask these questions in a way of did I make a mistake!? I was just looking for similiar stories to mine.</p>

<p>“That’s like 2 extra car payments.”</p>

<p>2 Brand new cars, fully paid for. No debt in our names other than this. We’ve done all that we can while in school to avoid these things. However, this debt was unavoidable. On top of these loans parents are paying for some more, as they did not save for college but commited to helping me pay off loans that they approved of. </p>

<p>"And…well… I use the word “plan” loosely…babies have a way of surprising people. "</p>

<p>Woo, seen it happen to family memers…AIN’T gonna happen. Protection in many forms until we are 30.</p>

7

<p>Pushing to pay off loans early is such a key item. It gets a monkey off your backs, and allows you to move forward into other stages of life, like buying a home, having children,…</p>

<p>I suspect that nursing is still one of the more reliable job opportunities, and advanced practice nurses (sounds like you’re headed that way) should be in strong demand with the changes brought about by health reform.</p>

8

<p>Just want to echo the others who are encouraging you to pay the debt down as quickly as possible. I don’t think its an unreasonable amount for a nursing degree – you both should be able to earn enough to pay the bills – but you might want to play around with a spread sheet to see how much money you will save in interest by paying the loans down faster.</p>

9

<p>Here’s an example if you try to pay the debt off in 10 years, 7 years, and 5 years… You save $12k in interest if you paid it off in 5 years!!! That’s the price of some small cars.</p>

<p>Loan Calculator - 10 years</p>

<pre><code>Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80% (is that your rate??)
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $690.48
Number of Payments: 120

Cumulative Payments: $82,857.94
**Total Interest Paid: $22,857.94 **
</code></pre>

<p>Loan Calculator 7 years</p>

<pre><code>Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 7 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $899.71
Number of Payments: 84

Cumulative Payments: $75,575.21
**Total Interest Paid: $15,575.21 **
</code></pre>

<p>Loan Calculator - 5 years</p>

<pre><code>Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 5 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $1,182.42
Number of Payments: 60

Cumulative Payments: $70,945.09
Total Interest Paid: $10,945.09
</code></pre>

<p>Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 59 payments of $1,182.42 plus a final payment of $1,182.31.</p>