re: How would you prepare/save for a $200k tax bill you will have 25 years from now?

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On a side note, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is only a 10-year payback and taxes on the amount forgiven is waived.

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Public service loan forgiveness covers a huge swath of borrowers....you can be working in government (state, fed, or local), for an educational institution, or for ANY not for profit organization. Yes, any 501 c 3 no matter the service/mission/purpose, whether it's Harvard University, the local food bank, or the New Orleans Museum of Art. So many, many people qualify for this sort of repayment that has NO tax consequences.

Literally thousands of jobs in the legal field (both degreed/licensed attorneys and paralegals) in the education and nonprofit sector. Not only DAs, public defenders, and other governmental attorneys, but nonprofit legal aid clinics, etc. You don't have to be working IN your field to qualify, just working in some capacity for gov't/ed/nonprofit.

I personally know at least a dozen university faculty who are going to have loan forgiveness in 2017 (the first 10 year/120 payment qualifying period began in July 2007). Know bunches of attorneys who qualify as well.

Louisiana also has loan repayment assistance for both district attorneys and public defenders; money is awarded by judicial district through the John R. Justice program. Repays about $5K annually, can be re-awarded for up to 3 years in a row. More info here: LINK

There is a glut of attorneys, but I don't know ANY in Louisiana (who didn't struggle to pass the bar and/or aren't borderline dumb/incompetent) who struggle to make over $35K. Hell, part-time public defenders in rural areas make more than that, and contract PDs in better paying parishes can make twice that. No, a law degree isn't a guarantee of six figures, but they're damn sure making more than $35K. Administrative assistants with no degrees in major metro areas in LA make more than $35K. Anyone with a grad degree who can't swing more than that needs to relocate to a different area.