June
There's a reckoning halfway through the year -- or at least, there's always a shock when June 1st arrives and what you'd hoped to have accomplished by this time has not been... accomplished.
I'm going to take this moment to say that the things that I would like to be doing, and the things that would help me further my career btw, are things that take time, and time, as they say, is money. I/we live in a world where time=money, which means that the only things I really have time for are things that make money.
This is a blog which I hope catalogues my journey out of debt, but I'm ready super conscious of how much actual mortal time is spent thinking/working to this end at the expense of what I've cultivated while I was at school.
...
...
Anyway, I actually did make quite a bit of progress in net worth (where progress has been minimal), so yay! Let's look.
Debt
1. Credit card Mastercard: $986.83
2. CareCredit: $1,600
3. ConServe: who knows?*
4. Amex Gold Card: $3,400
5. Loan from parents: $1,300
6. Fedloan: $135,227
total paid down: $263
Assets
1. BoA savings: $2005.42 (broke 2k!)
2. Acorns: $414.16
total saved: $332.93
*I truly have no idea where I stand with ConServe because I have been locked out of my account -- last month I tried to log in to look at a few payment options and after a few failed password attempts, my IP address was blocked. When I called, the woman on the line gave me a figure that was substantially more than what I thought it was. After some time on the phone and a new password, I was able to log in again to see that the debt looked to be about $1200 (what? See mid-May) and then subsequently was blocked again. A complaint has been filed with the Better Business Bureau. I received an e-mail from ConServe saying that they would mail me everything pertaining to my account (statements, contract of the loan, etc.) but that hasn't arrived yet.
Now I would like to talk about Income Based Repayment plans for federal student loans. (!)
Except for that fucking institutional loan that's with ConServe, everything else is a federal student loan, which means that I'm (very much) benefiting from their repayment options. Which isn't to say that this doesn't suck, I'm already struggling to save you know, but on a traditional repayment plan my monthly bill would be like $1400 a month.
I urge you to fill out the forms for Income Based Repayment. Once you start making payments, the clock starts ticking in your favor. No matter what my remaining balance is 25 years from now, it will be forgiven (what a strange religious-y word to apply to matters of money). I will have to pay taxes on that forgiven amount, but I know that, and is it much more likely that I can save for that tax bill in 25 years than it's likely that I'd pay off the entire $134,506.46? Yes. Yes it is.
Some quick math: I am currently on the hook for $226.62 a month. If my income stays the same for the next 25 years, that's $67,986. My tax bill for the remaining balance, which thanks to interest will be even more than what is was, (studentloans.gov estimates that approximately $200,000 will be forgiven) I'll owe the IRS $53,451,56. Which is insane, but $53,451.56 + $67,986 = $121,437.56 is still less than the total of $135,227 that you see above.
Granted, this really only benefits me as long as I am poor. The scales start to tip out of my favor once I start looking at 80k a year (#GOALS). When I'm making that much more money, I'll have to review my options. At that point it might be smarter to move the loans to another lender for a lower interest rate.
Readers with student loans, hey hi, if you've dealt with Fedloans and have some advice, seriously, hit me up.
Until then, looking forward to those payments starting June 26th,
James
I'm going to take this moment to say that the things that I would like to be doing, and the things that would help me further my career btw, are things that take time, and time, as they say, is money. I/we live in a world where time=money, which means that the only things I really have time for are things that make money.
This is a blog which I hope catalogues my journey out of debt, but I'm ready super conscious of how much actual mortal time is spent thinking/working to this end at the expense of what I've cultivated while I was at school.
...
...
Anyway, I actually did make quite a bit of progress in net worth (where progress has been minimal), so yay! Let's look.
Debt
1. Credit card Mastercard: $986.83
2. CareCredit: $1,600
3. ConServe: who knows?*
4. Amex Gold Card: $3,400
5. Loan from parents: $1,300
6. Fedloan: $135,227
total paid down: $263
Assets
1. BoA savings: $2005.42 (broke 2k!)
2. Acorns: $414.16
total saved: $332.93
*I truly have no idea where I stand with ConServe because I have been locked out of my account -- last month I tried to log in to look at a few payment options and after a few failed password attempts, my IP address was blocked. When I called, the woman on the line gave me a figure that was substantially more than what I thought it was. After some time on the phone and a new password, I was able to log in again to see that the debt looked to be about $1200 (what? See mid-May) and then subsequently was blocked again. A complaint has been filed with the Better Business Bureau. I received an e-mail from ConServe saying that they would mail me everything pertaining to my account (statements, contract of the loan, etc.) but that hasn't arrived yet.
Now I would like to talk about Income Based Repayment plans for federal student loans. (!)
Except for that fucking institutional loan that's with ConServe, everything else is a federal student loan, which means that I'm (very much) benefiting from their repayment options. Which isn't to say that this doesn't suck, I'm already struggling to save you know, but on a traditional repayment plan my monthly bill would be like $1400 a month.
I urge you to fill out the forms for Income Based Repayment. Once you start making payments, the clock starts ticking in your favor. No matter what my remaining balance is 25 years from now, it will be forgiven (what a strange religious-y word to apply to matters of money). I will have to pay taxes on that forgiven amount, but I know that, and is it much more likely that I can save for that tax bill in 25 years than it's likely that I'd pay off the entire $134,506.46? Yes. Yes it is.
Some quick math: I am currently on the hook for $226.62 a month. If my income stays the same for the next 25 years, that's $67,986. My tax bill for the remaining balance, which thanks to interest will be even more than what is was, (studentloans.gov estimates that approximately $200,000 will be forgiven) I'll owe the IRS $53,451,56. Which is insane, but $53,451.56 + $67,986 = $121,437.56 is still less than the total of $135,227 that you see above.
Granted, this really only benefits me as long as I am poor. The scales start to tip out of my favor once I start looking at 80k a year (#GOALS). When I'm making that much more money, I'll have to review my options. At that point it might be smarter to move the loans to another lender for a lower interest rate.
Readers with student loans, hey hi, if you've dealt with Fedloans and have some advice, seriously, hit me up.
Until then, looking forward to those payments starting June 26th,
James
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