The unintended consequences of private refinancing

There’s a pretty good chance that if you have student loans (and even if you don’t), you have received a flyer or some type of marketing piece describing how much interest you would save if you “refinanced” your student loans. There has been tremendous growth in the private student loan market and with that growth has come lots of marketing that has left recent grads confused and unsure about their debt. This post will discuss various aspects of refinancing your loans with a private lender and some of the potential negative consequences.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Is it worth it?

female dentistPublic Service Loan Forgiveness is a government program in which federal student loans get forgiven after 10 years of work at a qualifying non-profit or government organization. I’m going to assume for the purposes of this article that you are at least a little familiar with the plan. You can read more about it here.

There are a variety of considerations one must take into account when considering a job that qualifies for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Often times the dentistry isn’t very exciting and the areas that offer these kinds of jobs can be somewhat remote. But I want to answer the economic question. How valuable is Public Service Loan Forgiveness from an economic standpoint?

Disability income insurance tips for new grads

new gradThe completion of dental school (or residency) brings a whole bunch of changes and new responsibilities. As this blog has made clear many times before, there are several financial changes a new grad must deal with. One of those financial questions new grads are often confronted with revolves around disability insurance. While not exhaustive, I’ll attempt to give a few tips on disability insurance in this article.

How to manage your first 401K

filling out paperworkWhen you get your first job, there is a good chance that you are going to have to make some decisions about participating in a retirement plan right away. In some cases that decision will be made for you. If you go to work for a corporate dental office, there is a pretty good chance you will end up with the option of a 401k. 401k Retirement plans are less common in smaller and private practices, but it would still be beneficial to have a basic understanding as one will likely be recommended to you at some point in your career. One other thing to keep in mind is that you could also end up working as an independent contractor, in which case you would not be able to participate in the employer’s retirement plan although you could set up your own. There are other types of retirement plans but for the sake of brevity, we will focus on the 401k. Here are some things you need to know.

Read this before you buy a car

buying a carI’m pretty sure that the first thing most new dental school and resident grads do when they get their first paycheck is go down to the dealership and buy a new car. And why not? After all, most of you have been slaving away, living on loans or the meager salary of a resident which is barely enough to cover your loan payments and rent. So here you are, finally ready to buy the car you have been thinking about for 7 years. Hopefully this article will help you get a better deal. In addition to getting a good deal, my hope is that this article will help you think through the steps involved with a large purchase.