A doctor explains which income counts toward Income-Based Repayment plans and how filing taxes separately versus jointly changes what you owe. Filing status can dramatically shift your monthly payment during residency.
Does IBR include spouse's income even if we are married filing separately? If you file separately, they are only going to look at your income when they are considering if you're eligible for IBR or not. You got $300,000 of student loans. Let's say you make 250,000 and your spouse makes 250. If you file jointly, that's above your student loan balance. You're probably not going to be able to enroll into ibr. Right? But if you file separately, you should be eligible for ibr. Then you ask, well, what if my income gets greater later on? That is a okay. That's totally fine. As long as you get into IBR or into pay before your income jumps up, you can stay in that for the duration of repayment. So what we usually say is when you're in training, when you're in residency, or when you're in fellowship, get into pay or get into IBR.
Physician Takes a Youth Sports Team to the State Championship - MtoM Podcast #236
