Is it worth it to wait for public service loan forgiveness for student loan relief

Debt
#1

Hey Jeremy,

I currently am in $70,000 debt from student loans. I work for a government agency and am eligible to apply and receive loan forgiveness.

In case you don’t know how it works, the gist of it is you have to make 120 consecutive monthly payments towards your student loans. So basically after 10 years of paying at least the minimum of your student loans, the remainder is forgiven.

I was paying about a little over $380 a month (the minimum) but since my salary has increased since the previous year it now will be over $550 monthly. I’m currently on an income based repayment plan so my monthly payments can change year to year depending on my income. My question to you is do you think it is worth it to wait it out the 10 years making the minimum payment and have what’s left of my loans forgiven or should I be paying it off as quickly as I can?

#2

Hey @Melimel592!

I wouldn’t wait for the student loan forgiveness. At your current payment, you’ll almost end up paying the entire amount anyway ($550 x 120 = $66,000… that ignores interest, but broad strokes). And more than that, I’m concerned about the uncertainty in your life in the next 10 years. What if you don’t get forgiveness for some reason, or you pass up a better career opportunity and keep a lower salary to hope for the forgiveness. I’d go HARD at the loans, get them paid ASAP and always be trying to increase your income and grow your career as much as possible!

Here’s a post I did on them: