120 months or 300 months?

[Anonymous]

Hi there.

I'm looking for anyone with actualy experience in paying off student loans. Not stories or heresay from strangers/friends. I'd love to hear your input on your loan repayment plans - as in, how you chose to pay off your debt.

Some background... I have approximately $160k in debt from schooling; currently working full-time and I'm thinking of doing a 25 year plan. 

Thanks.

[trix_r_4_kids]

Hi:

Welcome to the forums.  My current student loan balance is $102,957.75 (gulp -- I know this is a mortgage for a lot of people).  I am currently in an income based repayment program with 240 months ahead of me.  However, I do work in public service and plan to get my loans forgiven after 10 years.

In your position, I couldn't imagine paying back $160K in 10 years.  I know more interest will be paid throughout the life of the loan when amortized over 25 years, but at least the interest is tax deductible.

[Jazzzy]

I also put my loans into the longest payment plan possible. I'm also in public service, so in 10 years they should be gone....or even sooner because I work in healthcare in an underserved area. Applying for National Public Health Service repayment.

So, I'd say your decision comes down to whether or not you'll be having to pay them all back yourself or if you are in a job where you will get some help. If paying them all back yourself, you might want to speed up the timeline. What will your interest rate be? That makes a difference.

Also, I was advised to not use IBR because my income would go  up high enough that the payment would have been higher on IBR than they are with the extended payments.

There are a lot of moving parts to making the decision.

[pizzadude]

I'm curious ~ for those of you who are planning to have loan balances forgiven, are there any tax implications ? Do you owe tax on the forgiven debt ? Also is there a ceiling on the amount that can be forgiven ? And does this apply only to federal loans ? Thanks for humoring me with these questions.....

[creditnocash]

im curious about this as well. 

for my mom. 

she has about 50k in school loans between a bacheolrs in business and her registerd nursing degree. 

and she is now a registered nurse for a big hospital in our area. would she apply? 

[trix_r_4_kids]

Pizzadude:  I was also curious about the tax implications of PSLF, so I did some research.

re: 10-year Public Service Loan Forgiveness
– The amount cancelled is not taxable income.
–Clarified by letter from the Department of Treasury to Members of Congress on September 19, 2008.

I could not find information about a "ceiling" on the debt.  It is only for federal Direct Loans.  More information about PSLF can be found here: http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service