“You’ve got to be kidding me. THAT is how much we owe in loans + interest?!” Insert really loud groan here.
That was a conversation I had recently with my husband. We were figuring out some things financially and it lead to us figuring out exactly how much we owe in student loans thanks to medical school. To put it into perspective (and being as vague as I can) – we owe close to half a million dollars. Half a million dollars. Let that sink in. If you’re going to be taking out a loan for medical school, now how do you and/or your spouse feel about becoming a doctor?
In all honesty, I know that it will be worth it and we’ll pay off the debt. That I am not concerned about. Both of us are determined to bring our debt down as soon as possible. No matter how you try to spin it though, it’s a lot of freaking money. This is why it grinds my gears when people say to me “Oh, you’re going to be a doctors wife. You’re set.” It’s even worse when they hear the specialty that my husband wants to go into – Anesthesia. “Oh wow, that’s awesome. They make lots of money.” I have mentioned this on the blog before in my post I Don’t Want to Hear It. Yes, I will be a doctors wife. And I’m damn proud of it. There was (and still are) lots of sacrifices that are being made so that we can have an abundance of blessings later.
The most important thing we can do is start looking at ways we can pay this debt off as quickly as we can while still saving for our future. There are several options out there and to make sure that we’re not choosing incorrectly, we will seek out the advice of a financial advisor/planner. It can be hard to work with a financial planner as they obviously want your business, so they might try to push their services, but you don’t want to be pushed into anything either. When you’re dealing with money, whether it be a large amount of debt or a surplus of money, you cannot just go with the first suggestion provided to you. It is important to seek advice from multiple people. We consult our fathers individually as well as professional advice (on a couple of other occasions) from those in financial planning.
The day that we become debt free is going to be so sweet and I cannot wait! Let’s get this ball rolling now….
Navigating Life as a Doctor's Wife 