Student Loans: In Print and Online

I published the first edition of Medical Student Loans: A Comprehensive Guide in 2017. Waiting almost three years to put out a print version is what happens in the perfect storm of total DIY, extreme retentiveness, and being a generally lazy procrastinator. Oops!

But I’m happy to say I finally put the finishing touches on the print editions for both of my loan books this month, so those of you hankering for the perfect beach read need wait no further:

Hurray!

Even better?

But in what is surely a terrible business move, I’ve also put the entire text up online at benwhite.com/studentloans/.

So yes, you too can join the ranks of folks still exchanging money for that hard-fought knowledge (thanks!).

And yes, you definitely still download a nice ebook file in the format of your choice in temporary exchange for your email address so I’ll have a nice big audience for that infrequent newsletter I’ll probably never actually start. (PS I even put the unsubscribe link in the first sentence of the download email; did you know it actually costs a bunch of money to have an email list? Crazy.)

But if you just want to scroll through 45k words in a web browser, now you can do that too.

Student loans are crippling a generation of Americans and have a chilling effect on personal+financial wellbeing. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help you get the information you need to make thoughtful decisions about managing your debt.

2 Comments

Ben Ramona 02.20.20 Reply

Been following your blog for a while now! Great info!

Thoughts on doing Traditional during residency, then converting that to Roth afterwards, given increase in income (assuming PSLF).

What’s your favorite business book?

Ben 02.20.20 Reply

The conversion is treated as income in the year of conversion, so this would result in a higher PSLF payment the following year unless you already hit the payment cap in IBR or PAYE with your increased income. So not good for PSLF unless already capping.

Mathematically, with the higher income, it doesn’t usually work in your favor at that point unless you anticipate higher taxes in retirement than during the conversion year. But sure, if you really want more Roth space and the conversion won’t actually result in higher payments, it can be done. There is a strong argument to made that a combination of Roth and pretax contributions are helpful in retirement, so having extra Roth probably won’t hurt given that most of your contributions would likely be pretax going forward.

I think The Personal MBA is a useful non-personal-finance business book.

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