Congrats, predents! Now do yourselves a favor.

[Big Time Hoosier]

Again. REPAYE. Monthly payment = 10% of what you will make discretionarily per month. My student loans could be 1 million. If I make 120k a year my monthly payments are 1k a month. I make 1M my monthly payments are 8,333.33. I make 60K payment is 500 a month. You get the jist…

If I make 120k a year, and pay the 1k a month(10%), The other 9k I can do whatever the heck I want with.

And what happens when your monthly payment doesn’t cover your accrued interest? Your loans snowball, that’s what happens. At $500,000 you need to be paying over $30,000 a year just to cover your interest. If you’re not paying at least that your going to watch your loan balance grow. That’s how the infamous Mike Meru went from $600,000 at graduation to a projected $2,000,000+ when his loans will be forgiven. That’s going to be one heck of a tax bomb.

Big Hoss

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[SkinnyT]

And what happens when your monthly payment doesn’t cover your accrued interest? Your loans snowball, that’s what happens. At $500,000 you need to be paying over $30,000 a year just to cover your interest. If you’re not paying at least that your going to watch your loan balance grow. That’s how the infamous Mike Meru went from $600,000 at graduation to a projected $2,000,000+ when his loans will be forgiven. That’s going to be one heck of a tax bomb.

Big Hoss

Tax bomb exactly and I’ll pay the minimum on that too 😂 at least Dr Meru will die knowing he prioritized living his life to the fullest and not sacrificing it to fulfill his student loans. Life > Loans. Pick your L. Like someone previously said, banks can’t go after dead people 😂

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Tax bomb exactly and I’ll pay the minimum on that too 😂

And if it’s not enough I’m sure the IRS will be happy to seize your home.

Big Hoss

 

[SkinnyT]

And if it’s not enough I’m sure the IRS will be happy to seize your home.

Big Hoss

There’s a way to everything. No IRS will expect one to pay millions at once in tax. There’s a way to finance that too. IYKYK

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

There’s a way to everything. No IRS will expect one to pay millions at once in tax. There’s a way to finance that too. IYKYK

Have fun with that! 4 years of education turning into a decades long nightmare. Maybe one day you’ll be able to wear this...

Big Hoss

 

[anondent20]

Have fun with that! 4 years of education turning into a decades long nightmare. Maybe one day you’ll be able to wear this...

View attachment 346423

Big Hoss

Truthfully did not recognize there was a need to your repetitive number of "cheapest school" comments until reading comments here. To each their own I guess. If you're sane listen to current dental students and dentists: no school is worth $10k-$100k+ more than another (they actually all are pretty horrendous for one reason or another). Go to the cheapest school you get into.

 

[SkinnyT]

Totally agree: Always go to the Cheapest school. But if the only school you got in is 500k after numerous attempts and you really have to become a dentist? Give up? Don’t let loans dictate how you live your life. Its out of our control why they raised tuition. You got a life to live. I’m not saying don’t pay it back. I’m just saying life is short so set your priorities straight. Again, I respect everyone’s opinions, just sharing mine. Totally ok to disagree. Consider all the facts. 👍🏻

 

[charlestweed]

Tax bomb exactly and I’ll pay the minimum on that too 😂 at least Dr Meru will die knowing he prioritized living his life to the fullest and not sacrificing it to fulfill his student loans. Life > Loans. Pick your L. Like someone previously said, banks can’t go after dead people 😂

Banks can’t go after a dead person, but they will go after the spouse and take away the house that they bought together. With only one income, the spouse can’t continue paying the home mortgage. I guess you don’t have kid right now. I think you will think differently when you become a parent. When I still had debts, I used to have the fear that I might not be healthy enough and live long enough to work to take care of my kids before they turn 18. It’s not uncommon to see people who get cancer and other terminal illnesses in their 40s, 50s. The disability ($5k a month policy) and the life insurance ($1million policy) that I have right now are not enough. Now that I am debt-free, I no longer have this fear. And I am glad that I will be able to give something to my kids when I am gone. Now I am more worried about gaining weight….from working less and going out and eating out too much.

 

[charlestweed]

And if it’s not enough I’m sure the IRS will be happy to seize your home.

Big Hoss

One of my employees was delinquent on her tax. The IRS sent me (because I am her boss) a letter instructing me to a take small portion out of her paycheck every 2 weeks to pay the IRS until the total owed amount is paid off. The problem was this amount was a lot for her. She is a single mom with 2 kids. Since she has been my very loyal employee, I helped her by writing a big check to pay the IRS the entire amount. And then I just asked my CPA (who did the employee payroll for me) to take out a much smaller amount from her paycheck every month until the owed amount is paid off.

I guess if you can’t pay the tax bomb and you no longer work (you retire), the IRS will either seize your house or take whatever you have on your saving accounts, your 401k, your social security money etc.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Big Hoss

 

[SkinnyT]

$1 Million? Why Dr. Mike Meru is Paying Too Much on Dental School Loans

Here's my response after reading the Wall Street Journal piece about orthodontist Mike Meru with $1 million of student debt.

www.studentloanplanner.com

“Most dental students (people in general) don't understand debt as much as they should... What about debt is bad? When it comes down to it, its all about liquidity. Liquidity is what is important. Debt is a great tool.

Because most people don't understand debt, the advice is to just go into as little as possible. Its just like stocks or bitcoin, avoid IF you don't know what you're doing. I'd bet 90% of dental students are wanting to pay off loans as fast as possible; bad move IMO.” A.K.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

I won’t speak for every predent, but I am looking forward to having a mountain of student loans almost as much as I am looking forward to being a dentist!

You have fun with that!

Big Hoss

 

[macsak]

$1 Million? Why Dr. Mike Meru is Paying Too Much on Dental School Loans

Here's my response after reading the Wall Street Journal piece about orthodontist Mike Meru with $1 million of student debt.

www.studentloanplanner.com

“Most dental students (people in general) don't understand debt as much as they should... What about debt is bad? When it comes down to it, its all about liquidity. Liquidity is what is important. Debt is a great tool.

Because most people don't understand debt, the advice is to just go into as little as possible. Its just like stocks or bitcoin, avoid IF you don't know what you're doing. I'd bet 90% of dental students are wanting to pay off loans as fast as possible; bad move IMO.” A.K.

who is A.K.?

 

[anondent20]

$1 Million? Why Dr. Mike Meru is Paying Too Much on Dental School Loans

Here's my response after reading the Wall Street Journal piece about orthodontist Mike Meru with $1 million of student debt.

www.studentloanplanner.com

“Most dental students (people in general) don't understand debt as much as they should... What about debt is bad? When it comes down to it, its all about liquidity. Liquidity is what is important. Debt is a great tool.

Because most people don't understand debt, the advice is to just go into as little as possible. Its just like stocks or bitcoin, avoid IF you don't know what you're doing. I'd bet 90% of dental students are wanting to pay off loans as fast as possible; bad move IMO.” A.K.

Debt is indeed a great tool when you're leveraging it for something. I guess its subjective whether or not student loans are helping you gain income or wealth, especially if two vastly different tuitions get you to the same end investment, a DMD/DDS degree. I'd take on debt for a practice, real estate, business, or any investment in which my resulting income is likely going to be greater than the debt's monthly P&I. I don't think that holds true for student loans. You are getting a degree, and thus income, no matter the amount you pay for it.

You come off as extremely stubborn and ignorant because at minimum you fail to even acknowledge the other side. If its all about liquidity, why would you run up your monthly debt repayment in the first place? Keep it bare minimum by choosing the lowest priced school you get into. Also, tell the bank you're super liquid because you're not even covering interest on your loans and have a ridiculous DTI ratio and see what kind of pre-approvals you get. It's not going to be pretty. You're banking on government programs and forgiveness without knowing the landscape of it in a few decades. You, nor whoever A.K. is, knows something the rest of semi-financially literate people don't already. You are running off screaming about REPAYE like its a miracle for student loans. Understand, some debts just don't make sense. I hope you don't also go around telling people how great credit card debt is for liquidity while screaming "BANKRUPTCY".

/rant

 

[SkinnyT]

Debt is indeed a great tool when you're leveraging it for something. I guess its subjective whether or not student loans are helping you gain income or wealth, especially if two vastly different tuitions get you to the same end investment, a DMD/DDS degree. I'd take on debt for a practice, real estate, business, or any investment in which my resulting income is likely going to be greater than the debt's monthly P&I. I don't think that holds true for student loans. You are getting a degree, and thus income, no matter the amount you pay for it.

You come off as extremely stubborn and ignorant because at minimum you fail to even acknowledge the other side. If its all about liquidity, why would you run up your monthly debt repayment in the first place? Keep it bare minimum by choosing the lowest priced school you get into. Also, tell the bank you're super liquid because you're not even covering interest on your loans and have a ridiculous DTI ratio and see what kind of pre-approvals you get. It's not going to be pretty. You're banking on government programs and forgiveness without knowing the landscape of it in a few decades. You, nor whoever A.K. is, knows something the rest of semi-financially literate people don't already. You are running off screaming about REPAYE like its a miracle for student loans. Understand, some debts just don't make sense. I hope you don't also go around telling people how great credit card debt is for liquidity while screaming "BANKRUPTCY".

/rant

Have a nice week 👍🏻

 

[anondent20]

Have a nice week 👍🏻

View attachment 346487

You're right; I shouldn't have name called or probably included that last sentence. I apologize for that, but genuinely have a nice week as well. We're all just trying to make it through a hellish time in dental school.

 

[deleted994703]

what if both the schools i got into are expensive then how do i decide?

 

[SkinnyT]

You're right; I shouldn't have name called or probably included that last sentence. I apologize for that, but genuinely have a nice week as well. We're all just trying to make it through a hellish time in dental school.

Apology accepted. I hear you, finals week over here. We got this 🤜🏻🤛🏻

 

[2TH MVR]

Debt is debt. Which we will all have. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to cope with it without sacrificing your lifetime or what is important to you.

Tax bomb exactly and I’ll pay the minimum on that too 😂 at least Dr Meru will die knowing he prioritized living his life to the fullest and not sacrificing it to fulfill his student loans. Life > Loans. Pick your L. Like someone previously said, banks can’t go after dead people 😂

No one is suggesting not to live life. But I assume you are still young and most young people have this perception that life and paying off debt gets easier as you get older. Not true. It's not automatic. Those successful, older individuals planned, made the right early decisions, and worked hard during their peak earning years. I've posted many times that as you LIVE your life (marriage, kids, home, insurance, taxes, older parents, retirement, health care, etc.etc.etc.) your expenses of living life just keep increasing. It never goes down. Just up. At some point for most of us ..... your income will plateau and start to go down. As you get older .... working more hours, days, making more $$ just isn't what life is about.

Put a dent into your DS debt. Don't let your loan grow. Delay "life" for a few more years to pay down that loan. I cannot imagine being in my late 40's, 50's knowing I have this large tax bomb. You can still LIVE LIFE and pay down that DS debt.

 

[TanMan]

There's an exception to a degree is a degree, which I would think is a rare one. Don't go to a school where you could get kicked out without a degree. The worst thing is to have sunk costs in trying to get a degree without having a degree.

 

[deleted994703]

There's an exception to a degree is a degree, which I would think is a rare one. Don't go to a school where you could get kicked out without a degree. The worst thing is to have sunk costs in trying to get a degree without having a degree.

which school kicks people out?

 

[TanMan]

which school kicks people out?

Some schools have a lot less tolerance for poor academic performance and/or academic infractions. Ideally, you would want a school that would stick by you rather than kick you out. I don't know where to get the information from, but you want one that does not have a reputation for high first/second year attrition rates (or any attrition rates for that matter).

 

[Ivy.ch]

There's an exception to a degree is a degree, which I would think is a rare one. Don't go to a school where you could get kicked out without a degree. The worst thing is to have sunk costs in trying to get a degree without having a degree.

Not sure many schools do this nowadays when they can punish you with an extra year of sweet sweet tuition.

But yeah, don't cheat on tests or do unethical stuff with patients. Schools will kick people out occasionally. Even if you win the lawsuit, you're still in the red.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Big Hoss

PS: You get a bonus point if you’ve ever been in this T-rex’s mouth.

 

[princeafrica]

Congrats to many of you celebrating acceptance to dental school! Now for those with multiple offers and before I see threads popping up about School X vs. School Y, GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL YOU GET INTO!!! Dental school is only 4 years long, but the financial ramifications may last decades. Literally decades. That’s a seriously long time. Don’t worry about the education from school to school. Regardless of where you go you will graduate knowing just enough to not be dangerous. And for my fellow gunners out there, you can specialize coming out of any school! It will all come down to you putting in the work. Your school’s name won’t do it for you.

Big Hoss

Wow time flies.......
I remember this thread back when I got accepted. Saw the many threads here saying that I needed to go to my most expensive option to specialize. Instead I followed Big Hoss advice and I am going to specialize with less than $90k DSchool debt. It may not have been my top choice school at the time but ultimately I realized once I got started that it was the right choice.

Always wise to take some advice from those that have walked the road before you!

 

[macsak]

Wow time flies.......
I remember this thread back when I got accepted. Saw the many threads here saying that I needed to go to my most expensive option to specialize. Instead I followed Big Hoss advice and I am going to specialize with less than $90k DSchool debt. It may not have been my top choice school at the time but ultimately I realized once I got started that it was the right choice.

Always wise to take some advice from those that have walked the road before you!

but but but but "prestigious".....

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Instead I followed Big Hoss advice and I am going to specialize with less than $90k DSchool debt.

That’s got to be worth some kind of royalty payment after you get your first paycheck as an endodontist.

Big Hoss

 

[Ivy.ch]

View attachment 363325

Big Hoss

PS: You get a bonus point if you’ve ever been in this T-rex’s mouth.

Went to my state school because of guys like Hoss. Matched to my top OMS residency. Ignore the BS from the expensive schools. Save yourselves a decade of debt.

If only my private medical school was as cheap as my state dental school 😭

 

[GoDental101]

Wow time flies.......
I remember this thread back when I got accepted. Saw the many threads here saying that I needed to go to my most expensive option to specialize. Instead I followed Big Hoss advice and I am going to specialize with less than $90k DSchool debt. It may not have been my top choice school at the time but ultimately I realized once I got started that it was the right choice.

Always wise to take some advice from those that have walked the road before you!

I also went to my state school/cheapest option and I'll be at 170k debt at graduation this Spring. I bet I would've liked some of the other schools I got into better, but paying off my debt at this at amount does not seem too bad. The interest on 170k is significantly lower and easier to reduce the principal month by month. Hoping to have this all paid off in like 5 or so years.

 

[askadds]

Again. REPAYE. Monthly payment = 10% of what you will make discretionarily per month. My student loans could be 1 million. If I make 120k a year my monthly payments are 1k a month. I make 1M my monthly payments are 8,333.33. I make 60K payment is 500 a month. You get the jist…

If I make 120k a year, and pay the 1k a month(10%), The other 9k I can do whatever the heck I want with.

You are funny but clueless.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Big Hoss

 

[Bollex]

Interesting read. My question is "what total amount of loan is reasonable for dental school"

 

[Roto Picante]

Interesting read. My question is "what total amount of loan is reasonable for dental school"

I would argue that none are reasonable at this point. Good luck.

 

[mst0330]

Here I was stuck b/w two schools, then I remembered: CHEAPEST

 

[charlestweed]

Interesting read. My question is "what total amount of loan is reasonable for dental school"

If you want to have easy work schedule (just show up for work 4 days/wk, do easy low risk procedures, and refer difficult cases back to the GP owner or to outside specialists) and you don’t want the headache of opening/running your own office, then your salary will likely be capped at $120-150k/year. You will be no different from a pharmacist or an optometrist who works at Costco/Wallgreen/CVS store. If you are content with such “average” income for the rest of your life, then you shouldn’t take out more than $200k in student loan for your dental education. Unfortunately, most dental schools (even the public ones) charge at least 2x that amount. Getting financial help from the parents is the only way to keep the loans as low as possible. Many of my friends’ kids (including my 3 nephews and 4 nieces), who are currently attending professional schools (medical, dental and pharmacy), only have to take out student loans to pay for their tuitions…..their parents have helped pay for undergrad education + rent and food for all 4 years of professional schools.

It’s possible for dentists to make 2-3x more than this average ($120-150k/yr) income if they willing to work hard and are not afraid to challenge themselves to perform difficult procedures instead of avoiding them. When you open your own office, the sky’s the limit. But to get to this level, it requires a lot of hard work, sacrifices, "rice and beans", no vacation, and a lot of sleepless nights. Just ask some of the successful dentists in your area and they’ll tell you….it’s non-stop effort…and not luck. If you think you can make sacrifices and don’t mind the hard work, then dentistry is a very rewarding profession even with the massive amount of student loan debt. Nothing beats being your own boss.

Debt actually helps motivate a person to work harder. Many of my dentist friends, who graduated from expensive dental schools like USC (I know them because my wife went there also) and Loma Linda, are doing very well….they are doing better than some of the dentists who had zero student loan and inherited the practices from their parents.

My wife’s dental classmate’s son has just graduated from dental school. The son doesn’t want to work at the dad’s office because (according to the dad) he looks down on the dad’s bare bone low tech office. He works at another private office instead.