u/apriprazole

My wife and I have approximately $500,000 in student-loan debt combined. We both work for nonprofit employers and are pursuing PSLF.

I’ve been an attending physician for about two years. During that time, I accumulated roughly $500,000 in taxable investments, partly through aggressive saving and options trading. If we paid off the loans today, we could essentially become debt-free, but we would be left with only our retirement accounts and perhaps $40,000 in cash.

I’m moving off SAVE, and our combined student-loan payments will be around $3,500 per month. The payments are recalculated annually based on income/AGI.

Mathematically, continuing with PSLF may leave us with more money. Psychologically, however, the income-based payments are affecting my decisions. I feel discouraged from picking up extra shifts, realizing investment gains, or doing anything else that increases AGI because the additional income is taxed at a high marginal rate and may also increase our future loan payments.

I’ve now simplified my investment strategy to low-cost index funds that I intend to hold long term. I enjoyed options trading, but the short-term gains created taxes and could raise our student-loan payments, making the strategy feel less worthwhile. Im also likely underperforming the market based off statistics.

Would it be unreasonable to liquidate approximately $500,000, account for any capital-gains taxes, and pay off all the loans for the psychological freedom—even if PSLF is probably the better mathematical decision?

Or should we keep the investments, make the required payments, maximize retirement contributions to reduce AGI, and stay the course with PSLF?

I’d especially appreciate input from anyone who faced a similar decision with a high income, a large loan balance, and enough invested assets to pay everything off. What numbers would you compare before deciding?

My income varies because I receive investment income and bonuses in addition to my regular salary. Last year’s tax return shows unusually high income due to investment gains, so it does not accurately represent my consistent current income.

I have also had investment gains this year, but the amount is unpredictable, and some of those gains could be offset by losses before year-end. My salary is my only stable and predictable source of income. My bonus is also variable.

Would it be permissible to document my current income using recent pay stubs and have my student-loan payment calculated from my employment income? Or would I also be required to estimate and report year-to-date investment gains and bonuses?

Hi everyone. A close family member of mine was recently diagnosed with triple negative stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer with diffuse bone metastases. We’re still trying to process everything.

She is about to start Trodelvy, and I was hoping to hear from others who have experience with it — either personally or with loved ones.

She has two kids under 2 years old, so this has been especially hard on our family. I know everyone’s situation is different, and I’m not looking for guarantees, but I would really appreciate hearing any success stories, longer-term responders, or even what to realistically expect with treatment and side effects.

Thank you for reading and for sharing anything you feel comfortable sharing.