Podcasts

Debt Management Discussion with Jeremy Campfield | VETgirl Veterinary CE Podcasts

Today’s VETgirl podcast is an interview with Dr. Jeremy Campfield, an emergency veterinarian from southern California. He’s a blogger for DVM360 at Death to Debt, and recently lectured as an IGNITE speaker at NAVC 2015.  In today’s podcast interview, he discusses his views on how to pay off the overwhelming, massive debt associated with veterinary school. Here, Dr. Campfield reviews a few key tips on how to pay off your veterinary school loans. Please note that Dr. Campfield is not a financial advisor, and the opinions expressed here are his own!

Money

Also note that we at VETgirl are not financial advisors, and have some different opinions on this – we follow Dilbert’s financial rules:

Everything you need to know about financial planning*

  • Make a will.
  • Pay off your credit cards.
  • Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
  • Fund your 401(k) to the maximum.
  • Fund your IRA to the maximum.
  • Buy a house if you want to live in a house and you can afford it.
  • Put six months’ expenses in a money market fund.
  • Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement.

*From Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, 2002

VETgirl’s philosophy? Be frugal. Cut your cable. Don’t pay for a data plan on your phone if you don’t have to. Get roommates. Stop splurging on Starbucks more than once a week. Before buying something, ask if you really need it. Buy the smallest house in the nicest neighborhood. Look at your interest rates. If your interest rates of your student loans are very low, yes, pay them off, but consider investing into a higher interest rate such as the stock market S&P 500 if it’s percentage is higher! Make an extra 1-2 mortgage payments a quarter. Make an extra 1-2 student loan payments a quarter (It will help whittle away at your debt!). When in doubt, seek a financial advisor (Skip the insurance requirements unless you have a family) who fits what you’re looking for.

And hang in there!

Good luck! Any comments on what you do to save?

Please note, VETgirl does not endorse the financial advice given in this podcast. When in doubt, please consult with your financial planner for information.

  1. Overall I agree with many points that Jeremy brought up and that I have considered myself, especially the high interest rates of school loans in comparison to other loans and the ROI (return on investment) from mutual funds. I think that in his shoes and many of our colleagues it is imperative to pay down your loan as quick as possible if you’re on a standard 10-25 year repayment plan. Where it gets a bit trickier and perhaps Jeremy is not familiar with this material is for more recent borrowers. I’m not sure if you have heard about PAYE (pay as you earn) or IBR (income based repayment), which are both repayment options through the federal government that allow you to pay a certain percentage of your income (10-15% depending on the plan) and then after 20-25yrs you are forgiven for the rest of your debt, the remaining balance is treated as taxable income. More information can be found here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven. VIN has a great simulator on their website that crunches the numbers to show you exactly how much interest you will be paying off on a loan and it is surprisingly small (1-3% usually even with loans $160k+ range). While there was plenty of great information from the discussion with Jeremy I think it would be good to touch on this material for newer graduates since the advice of paying off your student loans as quick as possible is no longer as simple as it once was.

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