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> But, rolling back to your post: why can you not retire? Currently a SWE at $BIG_TECH_COMPANY making very good money. 100% of my income goes to paying off deb

> But, rolling back to your post: why can you not retire? Currently a SWE at $BIG_TECH_COMPANY making very good money. 100% of my income goes to paying off debt which, like the OP of this post, was acquired by attending school with no support from addict parents. I have ~80k in debt. At 12.5%, 8.5%, and ~6% APR. I think I will at some point be able to retire if the next 20 years are the same as the past 20 years. Although: the stock market is at record high values and property prices are at record highs. I don't know how to explain why this is the case though. Nothing is preventing our 401ks from buying into stocks at today's price and the rug getting pulled and getting completely screwed.

konfusinomicon 5y ago
you definitely gotta refinance. I went from a 7.3 to a 3.0 and now I'm actually making progress on the payments instead of just paying a bunch of interest every month. the favorable(ish) terms with the government are not worth the extra money
toomuchtodo 5y ago
Sofi has some really solid educational loan refinancing options if you’ve got good finance fundamentals (income, credit), might consider refinancing as much of the high rate debt that you can to enable faster payoff (which leads to more free cash flow for investment, leading to financial independence faster).
bigbillheck 5y ago
100% of a SWE salary at a big employer should melt that $80k in no time flat.
- gravypod 5y ago
  > 100% of a SWE salary at a big employer should melt that $80k in no time flat. 2 years left at my current plan with 401k contributions, taxes, holding stocks, etc.
mbrodersen 5y ago
12.5% is crazy. Refinance! Take a lower % loan to pay off all your current debt.
- chii 5y ago
  The problem is who would lend you money for a lower % with zero collateral, which you could bankrupt yourself out of? Education loans persist through a bankruptcy, which is why they exist in the first place. But i do agree that 12.5% is really high - not credit card debt high, but pretty close!
  - gravypod 5y ago
    Exactly. I can take out a personal loan and use that but those aren't a good interest rate and it would possibly effect my credit. By just paying off my loan in advance of their schedule my credit is being effected very positively.

konfusinomicon 5y ago

you definitely gotta refinance. I went from a 7.3 to a 3.0 and now I'm actually making progress on the payments instead of just paying a bunch of interest every month. the favorable(ish) terms with the government are not worth the extra money

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Sofi has some really solid educational loan refinancing options if you’ve got good finance fundamentals (income, credit), might consider refinancing as much of the high rate debt that you can to enable faster payoff (which leads to more free cash flow for investment, leading to financial independence faster).

bigbillheck 5y ago

100% of a SWE salary at a big employer should melt that $80k in no time flat.

gravypod 5y ago
> 100% of a SWE salary at a big employer should melt that $80k in no time flat. 2 years left at my current plan with 401k contributions, taxes, holding stocks, etc.

mbrodersen 5y ago

12.5% is crazy. Refinance! Take a lower % loan to pay off all your current debt.

chii 5y ago
The problem is who would lend you money for a lower % with zero collateral, which you could bankrupt yourself out of? Education loans persist through a bankruptcy, which is why they exist in the first place. But i do agree that 12.5% is really high - not credit card debt high, but pretty close!
- gravypod 5y ago
  Exactly. I can take out a personal loan and use that but those aren't a good interest rate and it would possibly effect my credit. By just paying off my loan in advance of their schedule my credit is being effected very positively.