Loans, loans and more loans

[Jennyfour]

Hello all,

This is more of a "freak out" moment for me to say the least. I recently graduated with my BSN and will start to pay back my loans. As I gathered all my papers, I realized that for the 5 years I went to college, I bulit up over $100,000 in loans, which makes me sick to my stomach. I don't have a house, a boat, a car or anything to show for that debt but my BSN. Wow. To add to the dilemna, nursing wasn't my dream career, so aside from being miserable at my job (which I AM greatful to have one, dont get me wrong), constantly stressed, constantly crying...I have this wonderful debt to pay off at 23 years old. I wanted to go back to school (not sure for what, which is more frusterating), get out of hospital nursing (those jobs are hard to come by, ugh..), I wanted to retire one day but all these things seem impossible and I feel quite "stuck" where I am, which is a miserable feeling. Feeling pretty hopeless to say the least...Any words of wisdom or advice? I could use some at about this time.

Thanks.

[AlsgalRN]

Canesdukegirl,

I think we are in the same general area of the state. My husband has ALS. That caused financial issues that I never expected. Are you able to send me a private message with the info about your financial planner?

Thank you,

AlsgalRN

(I picked the name Als gal since his name is Al. I never thought it would read ALSgal. I hate the %^&* disease.)

[hopefulwhoop]

$100k?!?!?! I have never heard of such a large figure for a BSN or even any other Bachelor's degree. I'm not trying to attack you, but I am curious about what school you went to and what exactly you spent the $100k on.

[workingspaz]

ditto canes- i'm no spring chicken and would be interested in financial planning. i've been very lucky so far to have all 3 of my degrees paid for by work. recently i've been considering msn with a dual mba, but not so excited about the potential pricetag (25k)...as many prev posters have stated to the OP pay the first degree significantly down prior to jumping back into the debt ocean.

advice from someone who swam in debt r/t my husband getting ill.

best of luck

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I've spent my time preaching on the dangers of student loan debt! Now that your stuck in the trap make staying current your top priority! Do not default as they will garnish wages, steal tax returns, take your license to practice and go after your co-signers.

Consolidate your federal loans to stretch out the payments and make them more reasonable. Private loans can't be consolidated and have high and variable interest rates. Make paying off your private loans first priority!

Re retirement start a Roth IRA 5,000 year max which will serve as your defacto emergency savings till you can get on your feet!

Contribute to 403B only to the company match at this point you need financial flexibility. Get disability insurance as soon as possible if your hospital doesn't provide it with the same job rider! Nursing is a dangerous and stressful job with risk of back and neck injures and contagious diseases!

Cut your expenses to make sure you can manage your debt load! Student loan debt has no consumer protections, no bankruptcy, no time limit and they will even go after your social security and disability. Even if you were to be ruled disabled by the govt that is not enough proof for the student loan people and they have no pity and will garnish your social security disability!

So make paying them off your top priority, starting with the private loans while staying current on your federal loans! Later when your finances improve, you can always repay extra on the federal loans!

Also if you can get into the VA system they do have very good benefits and help pay off some of your student loans. Otherwise look into if you can get some reimbursement by working in a poor urban city or rural hospital!

Good luck to all of you who are struggling. Go to http://www.studentloanjustice.org and you will see you are not alone!

If you are able and on good terms with your folks/family I would consider living with them to cut down on rental and living costs to make sure you stay current on your student loans. Very good idea. My brother lived at home for years before he bought his house and he is in a much better financial place then me because he was able to save a lot of money in those years! I had my independence but paid the cost in more student loans and credit card debts from those early years.

Lastly to everyone make sure you keep all your student loan documents and payments in a safe place because I've heard of the occasl indicent where bill collectors came after them years later for student loans that were paid off but they had no proof of it. Sallie Mae is one of the worst offenders! They love to put people in default because they get more money, the govt pays them off, then they own the bill collectors that would come after you and they get more money!

Just be careful and keep all your loan documents to make sure they don't try to pull a fast one. This whole economic crisis started from the greed and predatory mortgage loans given to many people, many were tricked and I know coworkers who have had to declare bankruptcy and lost their homes in foreclosure due to the predatory practices.

Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, and even Personal Finance for Dummies can give you a lot of financial info. Stick to a credit union, they are fair and non-profit, unlike the greedy banks that will try to profit off your misery and lack of knowledge!

I would hold off on the 403B till things are stable because I've seen many people have to raid their retirment account in later years because of illness or job loss and then you are hit with a 10% federal 10% state penalty plus ordinary income taxes.

At least the Roth IRA is not taxed and you can take it out the principal at any time without penalty and we need financial flexibility these days above all!

I think even regular investing is better than the 403B because it is only 15% capital gains you don't have penalties for early withdrawal. Between the banking, student loan and govt they are not doing us any favors for our money! It's a buyer beware world these days!

[spore2008]

Undergraduate education can be VERY expensive. Some of the most expensive (and selective) colleges and universities in the USA can run around 50K/ year. Whether this educational investment makes sense is certainly up for debate. I am retuning to school for an accelerated BSN at a private university...three terms and about 40K. There are some well-known accelerated BSN programs that have tuition approaching 80K.

Law school is over 60K/year and a medical student will graduate with about 250K in debt-not including undergraduate loans.

[PediLove2147, BSN, RN]

Not everyone is financially irresponsible as OP..

Ouch! I have debt but I would no way consider myself financially irresponsible.

[Jenni811, RN]

Oh dear,

im in the same exact situation!! im 23, just graduated with a butt load of loans. I consolidated my loans and payed off the interest right away. So the money i made from like June-October went to JUST paying off my interest in school loans. however; it made my monthly payments after that a lot less, which helps in the long run.

It really stinks, because i work my butt off and feel like i am getting nothing from it. My fiance also graduated from a private school. his loans are even more. So between the 2 of us....we are in a lot of debt. We know it, and we are living off what we can. We don't do fancy dinners everynight together like we would like to. We just make supper together on Sunday nights, (except on sundays i work). And NEVER go out to dinner, unless invited by our parents who always insist on paying (Hey....they are still our parents). We literally live off sandwhiches, left overs, casseroles that last us several days and cereal. Our apartment is kind of a crap hole.

it is frustrating, i agree. i look at my friends who have 0 school debt and they have fancy cars, nice apartments, and can afford vacations and whatever. however, i KNOW this will pay off in the end and will get better soon. We are just in the rocky part right now....

best of luck. Let me know if you want to talk, i know how it feels and its nice to talk to someone that feels the same.

[xenogenetic]

You have to play good offense and defense. Offense is how much you earn. Defense is how much you save by cutting expenses.

Nursing is one of the unique professions where you are able to work any of 3 shifts during the day. You can work large amounts of overtime and earn over $100,000.00 per year. If you only live off of $50,000.00 of that salary you can knock out around half of your debt in one year! Two years of many hours of OT and you're out of the woods. Be grateful that you have yourself a profession like that where overtime and per diem work is almost limitless. If you were an engineer or teacher you would only be able to work day shift and be out of luck for doing overtime at time and a half or double time.

Break things down into small pieces, use your tax refund each year to pay off debt, and before you know it you'll be all set.

[Spikey9001, BSN, RN]

You have to play good offense and defense. Offense is how much you earn. Defense is how much you save by cutting expenses.

Nursing is one of the unique professions where you are able to work any of 3 shifts during the day. You can work large amounts of overtime and earn over $100,000.00 per year. If you only live off of $50,000.00 of that salary you can knock out around half of your debt in one year! Two years of many hours of OT and you're out of the woods. Be grateful that you have yourself a profession like that where overtime and per diem work is almost limitless. If you were an engineer or teacher you would only be able to work day shift and be out of luck for doing overtime at time and a half or double time.

Break things down into small pieces, use your tax refund each year to pay off debt, and before you know it you'll be all set.

This is some good advice. Hell, you could live on $30k a year, because millions of FAMILIES do it, so it shouldn't be impossible for a single female.

Live in the ghetto or somewhere housing is cheap. Just live like a poor person and throw all your money at knocking those loans down. It is hard, but it can be done.

[noahsmama]

Consolidate your federal loans to stretch out the payments and make them more reasonable. Private loans can't be consolidated and have high and variable interest rates.

Not true. I just recently consolidated my private loans, and the interest rate is now lower than the rate for my federal loans. What's true is that you can't consolidate your private loans with a federal consolidation loan -- you have to get a private consolidation loan.

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

You might be a step ahead actually. Now you have this mountain of debt and can appreciate having a steady job. You will learn to handle it as most of us do. Education usually incurs some debt. Just work at it, but remember to live a little once in awhile too.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I agree with Juli. As hard as it will be for the next 10 years, bite the bullet and pay as much as you can to get rid of the debt. I came out last year owing 35 000 and I now owe 19 000. Fortunately, I make a great wage, but I also live on a budget and I pay at least 700 a month to my loans.

You're young, so that's the bonus. The money will be paid.