I'm a little confused about what his average interest rate is, but if you assume .0725 (or .11) then the following math holds: if he had choosen a ten year repa

I'm a little confused about what his average interest rate is, but if you assume .0725 (or .11) then the following math holds: if he had choosen a ten year repayment plan after he graduated then his payment would have been $7k/month or $85k/year (under 11%: $8.3k/m $99k/yr). $85k/year is roughly $120k in gross pay. What do you think his starting salary was as a dentist? I bet at least $120k and probably closer to $150k or more. That means that if his wife had a job paying roughly $50k, then they could have afforded a frugal, but comfortable lifestyle for the ten years to pay back the loans then gone nuts. (Under the 11%: his gross pay would have been $140k which would have hurt a bit). I'm not sure if I'm being clear here, but my point is if he made $150k and his wife made $50k, then their household income would be $200k. Subtract out the $120k gross pay equivalent of his loans and you have a household income of $80k. There are lots of families in Salt Lake City that survive on half that much. But the guy got a $390/month loan for a Benz while in school... That's nuts. I suspect the big mistake the guy made, and I may be wrong here, was becoming an orthodontist. It sounds like becoming an orthodontist added 50% more to his debt but I doubt it increased his salary 50% over being a dentist.