re: When do the DEMs/Biden get serious about some Student Loan Forgiveness?

quote:

---

You realize that people with medical degrees, engineering degrees, and other very useful degrees...(useful not just for them personally, but for our society) who graduate with hundreds of thousands in loans.

I know several physicians who have over 200k in loan debt.

JMO but we should offer loan forgiveness on a graduated scale. Base it on how much your degree benefits America - if we need more folks in that field, then more loan forgiveness. If we don't need anyone in that field, then no loan forgiveness.

---

Most medical debt is from federal loans. Most of them have two distinct pathways to forgiveness already- 120 qualified payments under an income-based repayment plan after consolidation through fed loan while working for a 501c3 . This forgiveness is tax-free
The other is something similar but requires you to qualify for hardship, pay a specific amount/percentage of discretionary, not miss payments, and hit the 20 or 25 year mark and still owe. This gets you a gift that is taxable.


If you don't choose one of these paths, you are on the hook for what you took. $200K in debt isn't that bad when you make $200K or more a year, and I certainly expected to pay it back.


Personal touch: Wife and I combined around $300K in debt upon graduation from residency in 2018 (just from undergrad, medical school). This is on the leaner side of debt for two docs. She had a bit of help from her parents. As it sits, we will be debt free in about 7 months.


Other interesting point:
You can usually deduct student loan interest from taxable income, but most doctors (who it would benefit the most) phase out of it at essentially any "normal" doctor income.


I don't think offering big rewards to the highly-compensated is a particularly useful exercise when it's very easy for those people to live within their means and stick to the terms they have agreed to.