<p>Ok I have been pondering this scenario for quite some time because I want to do it but I don’t know if it can be done.</p>
<p>Here it is:</p>
<p>You graduate from undergrad and medical+residency/business/law school with a total debt of 200K dollars. The first year out you get a job that pays 250K/yr (Unlikely, but this is hypothetical). Could you pay off the entire loan in your first year? (Assuming you are living on bare bones, say with your parents or something). Because I have never heard of anyone do this, and I thought it might be possible.</p>
<p>Not likely.
You still have to pay taxes on that $250k, social security will be deducted and then even more taxes on top of that and that’s assuming you don’t need to pay for transportation and other expenses.</p>
<p>Not likely, also you could try to get into the NBA, just get into it, even if you are the worst player in NBA history, I think the minimum pay is still $300K a year…</p>
<p>I think the real question here is “If I’m willing to live on ramen noodles and sleep on a park bench, how long will it take me to pay off my college and grad school loans?”</p>
<p>To which the answer is, “If you are willing to live as though you had almost no money, and you are prepared to commit yourself to true fiscal discipline, yes mdoc, you can pay off your loans in less time than it takes most other people.”</p>
<p>The key here is to really, truly, control your expenses. You can start that now by living below your means now. It is much easier to maintain a habit of frugality than to begin one.</p>
<p>And, I’m guessing that living below your means NOW would also mean picking a cheaper college to go to for your undergraduate degree, so that you don’t start piling up those student loans until graduate school. Don’t justify a whole bunch of unneccessary loans now by promising yourself (and your family) that you will live cheap later.</p>