Ben White

Yes, PSLF is really happening

09.27.18 // Finance

People often ask if I personally know anyone who has gotten their loans forgiven via PSLF since the first crop of folks became eligible in October 2017. It’s a reasonable question, but it’s also the wrong one.

Because, despite the legitimacy of the PSLF program, there are very few people who could have actually benefitted in the initial crop. This stems from the fascinating(ly terrible) way the program was rolled out to discourage the older generation of folks who were already in repayment to utilize it.

Nonetheless, the proof that PSLF is real has arrived. The Federal Student Aid office recently released their new student loan report (conveniently summarized here):

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, which was established under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, permits Direct Loan (DL) borrowers who make 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan, while working full-time for a qualifying employer, to have the remainder of their balance forgiven. October 2017 was the first month that borrowers could potentially qualify for loan forgiveness under this program, provided they met all program requirements since the inception of the program.

As of June 30, 2018, approximately 28,000 borrowers had submitted almost 33,000 applications for loan forgiveness under this program. Of the approximately 29,000 applications that have been processed, more than 70 percent of them have been denied due to not meeting the program requirements (such as having eligible loans, 120 qualifying payments, or qualifying employment). In late May 2018, FSA initiated outreach efforts to those borrowers who may potentially qualify for the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) opportunity, which provides limited, additional conditions under which borrowers may be eligible for loan forgiveness if some or all of the Direct Loan payments were made under a non-qualifying repayment plan for PSLF.

Another 28 percent of PSLF applications were denied due to missing or incomplete information on the form. These borrowers have been advised to submit a complete application so a determination of their eligibility can be made. Almost 300 applications have been approved by the PSLF loan servicer as meeting all program requirements, resulting in $5.52 million in processed discharges for 96 unique borrowers.

99% rejection sounds terrible, but it’s actually exactly what you would expect if the feds were honoring the specifics of the program as advertised. Recent graduates—who essentially all hold qualifying loans—tend to focus on the qualifying employment aspect of the rules. But for the folks who would theoretically have been eligible in 2017, the lynchpin was really qualifying loans and, to a somewhat lesser extent (see below), qualifying repayment plans.

Allow me to explain.

The PSLF formula:

Eligible Loans
+ Qualifying Payments
+ Qualifying Work
x 120 months (10 years)

= Public Service Loan Forgiveness

 

The Loans

“Eligible loans” means Direct Loans. Direct loans are given “directly” by the government, which is what all recent students use who don’t take out additional private loans. Back in 2007, that wasn’t the case. Students received loans from private banks that were “guaranteed” by the government under the FFEL program. During the financial crisis in 2008, the government stepped in and used the Direct Loan program to provide most educational funding. The FFEL program was completely shuttered in 2010.

Anyone in repayment during the late 2000s or finishing school near 2007-8 would not have had eligible loans without taking additional steps to consolidate them into a Direct consolidation loan. No one who didn’t hear about the program back then and read the fine print would have done the right thing. Huge swaths of people who thought they were eligible and applied for PSLF were denied for exactly this reason. They were never eligible.

If any of these folks had filed a single PSLF employment certification form, they would have found out the news and been able to change course accordingly.

Take home point: loan forgiveness is too important to not plan.

 

The Payment Plans

This is the second reason for denial, but at least some of these folks will win out eventually.

“Qualifying payments” are full, on-time, payments while utilizing a qualifying repayment plan: IBR, ICR, PAYE, REPAYE, or Standard. The Extended and Graduated plans do not count. IBR, the first of the new generation of income-driven repayment plans, started in 2009. So again, by definition, the folks making payments toward PSLF back in 2007 and 2008 couldn’t have even been using it yet (the lucky ones were using ICR). Unfortunately, many applicants were on the graduated or extended payment plans, which—again—do not count. 

Luckily, Congress decided this technicality was too cruel and passed a temporary $300 million PSLF expansion to help people denied for this on a first-come-first-served basis.

In order to benefit from the new law, you need to apply to PSLF and also file a TEPSLF request.

Since the government doesn’t actually hold the FFEL loans, there is essentially no chance of them extending anything extra to the folks denied for having the wrong kind of loans.

 

The Future

The initial disappointment and underwhelming numbers from the initial stages of PSLF were an inevitability.

Over the next few years, the numbers of successful applicants will skyrocket. Not accounting for undergraduate borrowing, medical students graduating in 2012, for example, would almost universally have qualifying loans and been using qualifying repayment plans. Lawyers from 2011, some masters degree holders in 2009 and 2010, etc. Folks whose schooling began ten years ago will be part of a cohort that didn’t require the same big steps to have been made correctly early on that these initial failures succumbed to.

We’ll see a small uptick this year and then big rises thereafter. This is only the beginning.

Resident Refinance: Laurel Road vs LinkCapital vs SoFi vs Splash vs REPAYE

09.17.18 // Finance

[2020 Update: Since this post was written, but LinkCapital and Splash have shuttered their resident-specific programs and LinkCapital subsequently shut down completely.]

 

Let’s assume that you are a graduating medical student or resident and plan to actually pay off your loans (i.e. not attempt to qualify for PSLF.)

But before we assume that, let’s remember that PSLF makes the most sense for people destined for academic or government (city/county/state/federal) or with long residencies and big loans.

So, assuming you need to pay off this debt yourself, your goal is to get the lowest interest rate possible to reduce the growth on your loans while having a monthly payment that is feasible as a resident.

Low-debt residents can refinance with any company. If you owe less than you’ll make as a resident, you won’t need a special program. If you’re a resident who owes somewhere near $200k while making $55k/year, then your options are likely limited to the federal government options and the four private companies who offer medical resident programs with reduced monthly payments during training: Laurel Road, Splash Financial, SoFi, and LinkCapital.

Unfortunately, all special resident programs offer less good rates (at least during the training period) than refinancing as an attending, but for some borrowers, you can still save some real money. On the plus side, via the referral links on this page, most offer welcome bonuses.

 

Laurel Road

Laurel Road gets it. Back in 2015 when the company was just called DRB, they were the first to create a student loan refinancing program for medical residents. The deal hasn’t changed much since then.

Post-match MS4s and all residents are eligible for Laurel Road refinancing. The monthly payment is set at $100/month regardless of your income during residency/fellowship, and then switches when you finish training.

There is no maximum number of training years, and you can continue the reduced payment up to 6 months after finishing training to help get you through the fresh start.

The welcome bonus is $300.

 

Splash

Splash Financial is unique among the four programs as being a true forbearance alternative. The required monthly payment is exactly $1 for up to 84 months (7 years) of training. While most residents should not be forbearing and should hopefully be able to find $100 of flexibility in their monthly budget, many feel pinched and forbear anyway. While a lifestyle that requires forbearance is far from ideal, Splash is the only company that makes forbearance completely unnecessary in your quest to get a better rate.

Note, however, one sneaky wrinkle: while Splash offers the same 0.25% autopay discount as everyone else, the discount doesn’t apply to the $1 trainee payment period. So you’ll need to add that back on to compare apples to apples during residency.

Splash offers a $500 bonus for loans above $100k.

 

SoFi

SoFi is the biggest player in the student loan refinancing market, and they’ve grown and grown into a big corporate entity that offers all varieties of personal loans, mortgages, etc. Without that personal touch and scrappiness of the new companies, it took SoFi a long time to make a resident product, and they didn’t do anything creative.

SoFi offers residents $100/month payments for up to 4 years of training. You are eligible as a post-match MS4, but only if your training is 4 years or less in duration. The total reduced payment period is actually up to 54 months (with the final 6 months for the transition to becoming an attending).

If you apply to SoFi in your final year with a signed contract, you’ll automatically get the attending rate instead of the resident rate. Oddly, you will be placed in a mandatory forbearance during that year so that you won’t be able to get an autopay discount during that time.

The welcome bonus is $100.

 

LinkCapital

LinkCapital was the second company to join Laurel Road in offering a resident-friendly program. Link’s program is only available to PGY2’s and above, so graduating students and interns are not eligible. The required monthly payment is a bit lower at $75/month.

Unlike Laurel Road (but like SoFi), Link offers trainees in their final year to qualify for the attending rate with a signed employment contract. Unlike the other companies, Link also tells you your training and attending rates, and when you finish training, your rate automatically goes down. With other companies, you’d likely be on the lookout to refinance again.

As of August 2017, LinkCapital is no longer offering welcome bonuses.

 

IDR: REPAYE & PAYE

I’ve discussed REPAYE and even compared REPAYE/PAYE more at length previously.

With PAYE, your rate is your rate unless you have subsidized loans from college, and so comparing what you currently have to what the refinancing industry can offer is easy.

With REPAYE, there is the 50% unpaid interest subsidy to complicate (but improve!) matters. In short, the government forgives half of the interest that accrues each month that remains unpaid after applying your scheduled calculated payment. This effectively reduces your interest rate, in many cases substantially (especially if you’re single or married with a non-working spouse).

An example:

Loan: $200,000 at 6.8%
REPAYE payment as a single resident making $50,000: $270/month
Annual interest accrued: $13,600
Annual interest paid: $3,240
Annual interest unpaid: $10,360
Amount forgiven: $5,180
Effective interest rate: 4.2%

The more you borrowed and the less you make, the bigger your subsidy will be and the more it will lower your rate

If you’re married and your spouse earns income, the less your subsidy will be and the less it will lower your rate.

Also, note that REPAYE can be a particularly good deal for your intern year if you play your cards right. Even if refinancing is a generally good choice for your situation, unless you had substantial income as a family during your final year of school, private companies are going to have a really hard time beating the feds if you consolidate and apply for REPAYE right after graduating.

 

Summary & Verdict

All of these companies offer no-cost refinancing with zero fees. Picking a shorter term will result in lower rates (note: the term doesn’t kick in until you become an attending and start true repayment). A couple things to keep in mind: if you pay the minimum every month, you will definitely be in a negative amortization situation, likely even more than you would be using a federal plan (with their higher monthly payments). Second, unpaid interest will also capitalize at the end of the training period, so it would behoove you to try and reduce some of this accrued interest prior to graduation.

Most companies also offer referral bonuses where you can get some cash back with your refinance. This means that while you can never go back to a federal repayment plan after refinancing, there is literally nothing stopping you from refinancing multiple times, rate hunting, and even collecting multiple referral bonuses.

Assuming you have the financial flexibility to afford all four plans, the only reason to completely exclude a company is if their plan doesn’t conform to your current PGY status and training duration. Getting preliminary rates is a quick 2-minute process that is a soft credit check that won’t affect your credit. It’s only once you move forward with getting a final rate and the formal (but still short) application process that involves a real (“hard) credit check; even then, multiple checks for the same thing within a short period of time are considered rate shopping and should function as a single temporary hit. Applying to all of the options that are feasible is the best way to guarantee a good rate. Even the complete applications don’t take more than half an hour or so.

Most importantly, however, is to make sure that your effective REPAYE rate isn’t as good if not better than what the private industry can offer you. Be aware that advertised rates almost universally contain a 0.25% autopay discount, so make sure to account for that when comparing your federal rate. In many cases, REPAYE offers the straight up best rate for someone in training (particularly if single and not moonlighting substantially). Most residents should be in REPAYE in training and then refinance after training or only once they’ve signed a contract for a job that is not PSLF-eligible.

A few docs talk about early career financial mistakes

09.12.18 // Finance

A bunch of physician finance bloggers (and me) were asked to weigh in on early career financial mistakes for MDLinx’s relatively new PhysicianSense blog.

Everyone else said don’t buy a house and don’t try to beat the market. I largely agree with both of those sentiments.

I’m not exactly a finance blogger, even though I write about money with some frequency. My answer was instead largely about being purposeful with your time.

Many of us spend our lives reacting. We spend our days constantly reacting to crises, patients, and bureaucracy at work. We react to short bursts of free time or moments of boredom with our phones and social media. We consume media and television like we’re hardwired.

And when faced with financial troubles like student loans or other financial goals, we often react by either shutting down and ignoring our problems or by becoming obsessed with dollars and cents. There’s nothing wrong with moonlighting or trying to carve out some side income—I still do both routinely. But it’s also important to step back and see if and how your efforts are affecting your mood, health, and family.

The need to be cognizant of how you spend your money should be self-evident. The need to be cognizant of how you earn it is less obvious.

NYU and the slow coming wave of “free” school

08.30.18 // Finance, Medicine

A couple of weeks ago, NYU announced that they were making medical school tuition free for every student. Dean Robert Grossman stated, “This decision recognizes a moral imperative that must be addressed, as institutions place an increasing debt burden on young people who aspire to become physicians.”

My first thought on this news was, Man, Harvard is going to be so pissed that they weren’t first.

The idea of free tuition has been discussed and debated in multiple contexts across Ivy-type schools for years. These institutions are not immune to the burgeoning reality that their educations are financially untenable for most people and crippling for others. With many such schools fostering endowments numbering in the tens of billions of dollars, actual tuition dollars are no longer the bedrock of a healthy world-class institution. Over the past ten or so years, Harvard has often led the way on increasingly generous undergraduate financial aid, and many similar schools have made corresponding efforts to make undergraduate education more affordable, but until now, no one has taken meaningful steps to fix graduate schools, many of which are now considered mandatory for advancement across many industries. Even this move is largely a token effort, as every other extremely expensive NYU school will still keep its top-dollar cost in the shadow of this brilliant PR stunt.

As an illustration of the numbers involved in making one small school free:

The annual NYU med tuition was an exorbitant $55k per year, and there are 442 total active medical students, which gives a total cost of $24 million per year. “Paying” this requires (according to NYU) an endowment of $600 million because the school is utilizing the famous 4% rule that would make this massive endowment essentially guaranteed to last forever based on historical stock market returns.

Numbers aside, I do agree with the words of the dean (though I would expand them). There is a moral imperative to fix the cost as well as the delivery of medical education. The length, cost, and inefficiency are all otherwise mutable strong arms that are breaking healthcare and squeezing the joy out of young doctors in training from coast to coast.

NYU will not be the only school to offer free tuition. Other rich schools in and outside of medicine likely have been and certainly will be shoring up their endowments to join the club as is feasible. I anticipate this is the first in a salvo of private schools slowly making various programs free, and this will speed up if/when PSLF is eventually canceled, as the program is basically the only justification for charging otherwise unmanageable amounts of money to students who are destined to never be able to actually service their debt. Beleaguered state schools with their chronically strapped budgets will struggle.

My second thought is that free tuition will now make NYU about as affordable as the best-priced state schools (because the cost of living in New York is otherwise so high). Four years of living expenses will never be cheap, and it’s much harder to scrounge time to be gainfully employed during medical school compared with college. Clinical rotations are inflexible more-than-full-time jobs.

This will also result in, I imagine, a huge increase in applications to NYU. When my wife and I applied to medical school, we only applied to state institutions back in Texas where we were still residents while away for college. We were not keen to spend as much in a single year as we could on the whole package. People like me may now decide to add NYU to the list, especially since NYC is glamorous.

So, good on NYU for being the first to pull the trigger. I hope more schools join their ranks, and I hope most of all that this well-publicized confrontation of medical training costs will lead to a paradigm shift that allows schools and hospitals to rethink the whole process. We can do so much better, for our doctors and for our patients

Student loan books now on iBooks

08.24.18 // Finance, Writing

I’ve been a bit slow on expanding the availability of my two books on student loans, but as of today, Medical Student Loans and Dealing with Student Loans are now available on Apple iTunes/iBooks as well as from Amazon.

Get them here:

My books about Student Loans are free through the end of July

06.20.18 // Finance, Writing

Last year I published a book about managing student loans for medical students and doctors. Earlier this year I extensively revised that into a new book for a general audience. This week, I updated both books.

And now, I’m giving them away for free (at least until the end of July 2018).

Student loans are now depressingly the largest category of consumer debt outside of mortgages. With another graduating class hitting the workforce, I wanted to make my student loan books available to everyone. These are around 45k words, so they’ll take a few hours to get through, but it’s time well spent.

 

 

Amazon doesn’t easily let you give away free books these days, so I’ve discounted them to $9.99 $2.99.

To get a copy for free, you can download one from your inbox by signing up below for my forthcoming very infrequent/sporadic email newsletter. And, if you aren’t interested in ever hearing from me again, then just hit the unsubscribe link in the first paragraph of the download email. I don’t have any interest in cluttering your inbox.

 

[sorry, promotion is over!]

 

If you’re a medical student or physician, click the box for Medical Student Loans. If you’re anything else, click the box for Dealing with Student Loans. These are essentially the same book adapted for different audiences. You only need one.

Topics include:

  • Borrowing less and minimizing interest accrual during school
  • How Federal Loans Work & Federal Repayment Options
  • Income-driven repayment (IBR, PAYE, REPAYE, and ICR)
  • Federal “Direct” Consolidation
  • Forbearance & Deferment
  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness
  • Maximizing PSLF
  • Long-Term (IDR) Loan Forgiveness & Loan Repayment Programs (LRP)
  • Private Refinancing
  • Taxes & Retirement

Please consider sharing this. There are very few good resources for student loans and a lot of misinformation. I wrote these books because no one else had. I hope you enjoy them.

Graduated and Extended Payment Plans now count toward PSLF (temporarily)

03.27.18 // Finance

The new budget just passed ponied up an extra $350 million to help those ineligible for PSLF due to repayment plan technicalities. Here is the language, followed by the translation.

From the recently passed budget (aka Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018), SEC. 315 (pages 1008-1010):

For an additional amount for ‘‘Department of Education—Federal Direct Student Loan Program Account’’, $350,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall be for the cost, as defined under section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, of the Secretary of Education providing loan cancellation in the same manner as under section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)), for borrowers of loans made under part D of title IV of such Act who would qualify for loan cancellation under section 455(m) except some, or all, of the 120 required payments under section 455(m)(1)(A) do not qualify for purposes of the program because they were monthly payments made in accordance with graduated or extended repayment plans as described under subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 455(d)(1) or the corresponding repayment plan for a consolidation loan made under section 455(g) and that were less than the amount calculated under section 455(d)(1)(A), based on a 10-year repayment period: Provided, That the monthly payment made 12 months before the borrower applied for loan cancellation as described in the matter preceding this proviso and the most recent monthly payment made by the borrower at the time of such application were each not less than the monthly amount that would be calculated under, and for which the borrower would otherwise qualify for, clause (i) or (iv) of section 455(m)(1)(A) regarding income-based or income-contingent repayment plans, with exception for a borrower who would have otherwise been eligible under this section but demonstrates an unusual fluctuation of income over the past 5 years: Provided further, That the total loan volume, including outstanding principal, fees, capitalized interest, or accrued interest, at application that is eligible for such loan cancellation by such borrowers shall not exceed $500,000,000: Provided further, That the Secretary shall develop and make available a simple method for borrowers to apply for loan cancellation under this section within 60 days of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary shall provide loan cancellation under this section to eligible borrowers on a first-come, first-serve basis, based on the date of application and subject to both the limitation on total loan volume at application for such loan cancellation specified in the second proviso and the availability of appropriations under this section: Provided further, That no borrower may, for the same service, receive a reduction of loan obligations under both this section and section 428J, 428K, 428L, or 460 of such Act.

Mhmmm, almost English.

This Republic-passed bill signed by a Republican president includes a seemingly random $350 million for temporarily expanding PSLF. (The Dems, of course, were pushing for $2 billion.)

Even while the ultimate fate of PSLF remains hotly debated, there are additional funds to allow individuals with Direct loans to have their payments under the “Extended” and “Graduated” plans count toward the 120 necessary monthly payments for PSLF forgiveness. Normally, only payments made while in an income-driven repayment (IDR) or the standard plan count toward PSLF.

A lot of people who gave up on the idea or were told they don’t qualify should go back and do some basic arithmetic to see where they stand.

All of the other requirements still apply: as in, you’ll need Direct (not FFEL) loans and have had made 120 on-time monthly payments while working full-time in a qualifying public service job with a qualifying employer. A new application form will be released in the next 60 days.

An unusual caveat is that this particular expansion is first-come, first serve. This makes some sense when you consider that this expansion is really about trying to further the spirit of the original program; these new inclusion criteria are not part of the master promissory note but are really just throwing frustrated borrowers a bone.

See more about the TEPSLF program here.

 

 

Review: WCI’s “Fire Your Financial Advisor” Online Course

03.14.18 // Finance, Reviews

I’ve been reading Jim Dahle’s White Coat Investor blog for years. And by “blog” I mean watching the WCI empire grow from blog to book to advertising magnate to website network to now e-course.

The newest WCI endeavor is a video course on the Teachable platform called “Fire Your Financial Advisor.” Because of the site you’re currently reading, I was invited to review the course a couple months back when it was first released. Which means I got it for free. In this case, it also means if you buy it for yourself after clicking that link that I also get a few bucks.

But lest that dissuade you: I don’t think this course is for everyone. Or even most people?

But before we get to the review, there’s a special deal in honor of Match Day:

Instead of the normal $499 for the course, now through Sunday, March 18 (at midnight), the course is $425 and you get a signed copy of The White Coat Investor book thrown in for free. There’s a no-questions-asked 7-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk (though no free book until then either). Just enroll here if you’re interested and enter coupon code MATCHDAY18 at checkout.

The Review

The WCI course is unsurprisingly like a more interactive and version of the WCI book and website with a lot of video (a good chunk of which is reading from a teleprompter with bluegradient background). Though scripted, the delivery is solid but not flawless. There’s also an audio bug (which they are in the process of fixing) that plays the mono audio as single channel stereo (i.e. it comes out of only one of two speakers). The default speed was a bit slow for me but easy to change, either for the whole course or on a per video basis (I’m always a 2x kind of guy).

The big plus side to this particular course, as opposed to most books and finance websites, is that the lessons include a game plan that once completed will result in a real on-paper financial plan for you and your family such as you would get from an actual financial advisor. Actual financial advisors also cost money, often a lot of money (either upfront or in fees), and thus the big-ticket price for admission here is far more reasonable in comparison. A course like this is an investment in yourself.

The thing about financial literacy is that anyone, and especially a high-income professional, should be literate enough to understand and evaluate the work of their financial advisor. It’s the people that blindly trust their advisors and don’t know what they’re paying for that get fleeced. I don’t care if he’s an old buddy from your fraternity days or your best friend’s neighbor’s cousin. So even if you never plan to spend $499 (or even $425) on a course, you should learn enough to know what’s happening in your financial life even if you ultimately decide to outsource it.

So, the theoretical niche for this product or people who want to become financially savvy and are willing to spend a good chunk of change to guilt themselves into becoming so but thus far have not had the motivation required to read very much on the subject. Sound like you? Read on!

Breakdown

Section 1 is the introduction. Section 2 is mostly background and discussion of how financial advisors get paid. Section 3 is about insurance. Section 4 is about housing. All of these are well covered in the White Coat Investor book.

Section 5 is about my favorite topic, student loans, and is substantially enlarged and updated relative to the old book. Since this is my area of greatest focus, I noticed a few minor factual mistakes: one toss away error is that medical residency does not qualify for the graduate fellowship program deferment. It’s really just forbearance as an option for residents who can’t make payments. It’s also not possible to start making PSLF payments during the last few months in school as he mentions (must be working full time, cannot consolidate in-school status loans). The simplified advice to switch from REPAYE to PAYE when you become an attending is often true but not necessarily great blanket advice, as it depends entirely on if your attending income will break you past the 10% payment cap. Plenty of folks in academics will never experience this problem. And switching from REPAYE to PAYE doesn’t require the same decreased vs. full standard payment as switching from IBR does.

Dahle offers a solid overview of the basics, enough to figure out what your options are, but not necessarily always enough to really evaluate those options. He does cover PSLF well. When it comes to student loans, there are a lot of details. Some may say a whole book’s worth. While the course absolutely gets the big picture right, the bottom line is that the student loan component here probably isn’t worth the price of admission.

Section 6 is “living like a resident” and basic personal finance. Important stuff.

The remainder of the course (Sections 7-12) is really where the class differs from most books and gets you to the point where you should feel comfortable handling your own finances. That’s because Dahle walks you through how to set your goals, make your budget, and even use Excel to crunch your own numbers (which he makes much less intimidating than it sounds). He goes over asset allocation and estate planning. All of this is part of writing your detailed financial plan, which he also walks you through as you go. As in, he helps you do the things your financial planner would sit down with you to do for a lot of money.

Bottom Line

This information is not supersecret copyrightable stuff. No one has a monopoly on it, and you can find it in many places in print and online, including on Dr. Dahle’s site and in his book. This course is selling convenience, and most of all, accountability. If you spend $400-$500 on an online course, I imagine you will take it seriously. And that shouldn’t be discounted out of hand. Guilt and shame can be powerful motivators.

That accountability doesn’t come cheap, however, and the kind of person ready to plunk down several hundred dollars for an online video course may also be motivated enough to read some books and fish around online. Of course, with the 7-day guarantee, the unscrupulous learner could take the whole course and then ask for a refund.

Price aside, there’s no denying that the course is well-made and convenient. If you want a doctor-to-doctor one-stop-shop to hold your hand as you go through finally understanding personal finance, then this is it.

While you could go through the videos in few hours, it will take several more to really do the class assignments.

And, if you do, it would be money well spent.

Big Update to Medical Student Loans

03.08.18 // Finance, Reading, Writing

In addition to publishing my “general audience” student loans book last week, I also pushed a pretty sizable update to the original doctor’s version last week.

Medical Student Loans has been revised for 2018 with a slew of small updates and a few new features, including expanded sections on the “married filing separately” loophole and its pitfalls and updates in the world of private refinancing for residents. On top of that, I’ve updated all numbers and figures for the 2018 tax year and made several bug fixes and clarifications throughout the text.

It remains a living document, so feedback is always welcome.

All new buyers will always receive the most recent version.

But, if you purchased the book previously, you can download the updated revision through the “Manage Your Content and Devices” on your Amazon account. Enjoy!

My newest book is Student Loans: A Comprehensive Guide

03.05.18 // Finance, Reading

I just released my third book. OK, it’s really more like my 2.5th book, because Student Loans: A Comprehensive Guide is a line-by-line reworking and expansion of my second book, Medical Student Loans: A Comprehensive Guide.

As with all of my longer projects, I drastically underestimated the amount of effort and time it would take to complete this task, as this book still took the better part of a year to complete.

Student Loans is temporarily exclusively available on the Kindle platform, and I’m running a free book promotion until the end of Friday.

So, if you are or will be a physician, read my other book; I wrote it just for you, and there’s nothing else like it.

If you’re anything else, please enjoy this new book (for free), and tell your friends who are in school, have been in school, or will be in school to get their free copy now (there’s nothing else like it).