How to Attack your Student Loans Debt | Refinance
You are probably looking at your massive student loans right now, thinking to yourself, “How the heck did I take this much out? This is the price of a freaking house”. The sad reality is that the average optometry student take out a whooping average of $200,000 for optometry school and will likely be in debt for the next 20 years.
The United state student debt crisis exceeds $1.3 trillion for 2018 and has been an epidemic in society, shunting the growth of many young professionals. This forces new and talented doctors to live at home with their parents because they cannot to afford to pay rent or begin to think about buying a house. This in turns, delays this young generation in starting a family simply because they can’t barely take care of themselves.
What do most optometrists normally do? Pay the minimum amount for 20+ years, hoping that our government will miraculously forgive their loans after 20-25 years. This is sadly the norm. Don’t be normal, normal sucks. Normal people don’t get rich or become wildly successful.
It is okay. Take a deep breath. Relax. I know it feels overwhelming at times but we are going to help you through this. We are going to walk you the step needed in tackling with your student loans.
The Optometrist's Guide to Student Loans
- Chapter 1: Harsh Reality
- Chapter 2: Federal Programs
- Chapter 3: Loan Forgiveness
- Chapter 4: How to Refinance
How to Eliminate Debt and What should I do first?
Related Articles
6 Massive PSLF Changes + 3 Student Loan Tips for Optometrists
On Wednesday Oct 6, 2021, the US Department of Education announced a massive overhaul to their 10-year Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, essentially affecting all optometrists working for non-profit clinics like VA, IHS or non-profit universities.
7 Updates on Managing your Student Loans in Mid-2021
We are halfway through 2021 and close to 1.5 years since the COVID pandemic lockdown; but most importantly, we are approaching the end of the federal 0% student loan interest relief (set to end September 30th). Here are 7 important updates in the world of student loans to help every OD be financially successful!
8 Financial Mistakes that New Optometrists Make
The average new optometrist graduates at an average age of 28 year old (significantly behind non-OD peers in terms of income generation), with an average student loan debt of over $220,000+, with little or no retirement investments. Often new grad optometrists find themselves practicing in oversaturated cities and most importantly without any formal financial education. This is the perfect storm that often leaves many doctors mentally overwhelmed and prone to devastating financial mistakes. In this article, we will address 8 common financial mistakes that new OD graduates make and how you can avoid them to be financially successful.
America Rescue Plan Stimulus Bill: Five Student Loan Updates
On Wednesday March 10, 2021, the House approved President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill called the “American Rescue Plan”. The legislation is one of the most sweeping economic recovery plans in the nation’s history. Stemming of the American Rescue Plan, this article will focus on 5 take-aways for student loan borrowers.
Annual Report: 2020
Well 2020 has surely been a year! Let’s be honest, we all went into the year 2020 with big expectations – but the so-called Year of the Optometrist had some nasty surprises up its sleeve. Despite the trials and tribulations that 2020 brought, it also brought important lessons, and the looming importance of financial education…
8 New Year’s Financial Resolutions
The year 2021 is here. In our opinion, 2021 has it pretty easy. I mean, how much worse can it get after 2020? Joking aside, the beginning of the year presents a great time to take inventory of life and evaluate your financial health for the next 365 days. Here are a few New Year’s financial resolutions to get you started.
10 Practical Tips on How to Pay Off $221K+ Optometry Student Loans in 5 years
Like many optometrists, I graduated from Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) with over $221,245 in student loans back in June 2015. It was a combination of both federal loans ($198,303) and high interest private loans ($22,942) that I took out for other living expenses during my 4th year rotations. In early October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I made my final and last student loan payment, roughly 5 years later.
6 Lessons That Dave Ramsey Get Right, and 6 Lessons That Are Completely Wrong
We have quite a few ODs on Finance members who are big Dave Ramsey fans, and quite a few who are Dave Ramsey Haters. Here are 6 Lessons That Dave Ramsey Get Right, and 6 Lessons That Are Completely Wrong and how each OD can optimize them to be even more successful!
How Dr. Justin Jackman Eliminated $220K Through Practice Ownership in 7 years #InspirationalStudentLoansSuccess
My loan payment story is similar to many others out there at first. I started out making less ($100K the first year). I was married and had two kids at the time, so my income based payments were around $150 a month for the first 1 to 2 years. Then my loans jumped to $900 a month (they threaten you that if you don’t fill out the tax return application each year your loan will jump to $2500 a month which sounds terrifying when making $100k).