I would also love to know more about this. Is that specifically for teachers or does that apply to other industries? I work for a credit union. Thanks!!

I highly recommend the PSLF sub-Reddit, which is a wealth of useful information: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/. I also helped a family member receive PSLF forgiveness, so if you have questions, please reach out to Mrs. FW for my contact information.

Best of luck!

😀 you have explored so much! A kindred spirit.

I know part of the answer about disability insurance but not all of it. Disability insurance is in case you become disabled (& cannot work, or at least cannot work much, I am not sure of the specifics and it may depend on the policy). For example, I have both long term and short term disability through work. My plans replace my full salary for a while on short term disability, and then replace a percentage of my salary throughout my entire life (with some exceptions). So it’s designed to help you live even if you can’t work to make money. There are government disability benefits too, but that is separate and less $, and I think that impacts how much insurance payout you get. For your question about the testing, I’m not sure. In my employer plan, I don’t remember needing to prove any health information – the fact that I was currently working was enough. But I don’t know how it works with non-employer disability plans.

Life insurance is different because you are not the beneficiary of yoir life insurance payout. Instead, it’s designed to help provide for anyone else (child, partner, etc) who relies on your income to survive. In the event that you died young, life insurance could help anyone who needs your income. So the need for life insurance probably doesn’t apply to you right now, but could become important in the future if you choose to have kids. Versus the need for disability insurance does apply to you right now, because you would need $ to replace your income if you became disabled.

Also, you may already have read about this, but just to make sure – there are two types of life insurance, and one of them is basically a scam.
Whole life insurance: pays out whenever you die no matter what age, and is the one that is scammy – you would make more money just investing the same amount as you would be paying for this
Term life insurance: pays out if you die within a certain term / period of time (you would pick what time period you want, generally up to 30 years). This is the one that actually makes sense as insurance if you have kids or other dependents.

Confusingly there is also a totally separate thing called long-term care insurance, which is not at all the same as long-term disability. It’s for the risk of needing to be put into long-term care aka assisted living or nursing home (or something similar to that – I don’t know these details as well). Its something that people consider for aging, but I personally am not a fan of it cause it tends to have a lot of limits (like it really isn’t as long-term as the name implies), so I tend to think that most people are better off either saving/investing to pay for their own care (if they can afford to) or just ending up paying with Medicaid (if they cannot). But again this part is kinda at the limits of what I know, because I don’t have it and neither do my parents or grandparents.

1. We love Wingspan!
2.I understand the hesitation with other dental avenues but wanted to share I have watched my sister use Smile Direct and my daughter use Invisalign and the trays and process is truly seems identical. Other than the Invisalign costing double)
3. You mentioned a minor in dance. Would you consider teaching a dance class for part time income?
Best of luck to you !

Brilliant comments and ideas, all of it! Done a lot of these trips before but always love to go back! I think this summer will be great for some CR trips now that line work is done.

Re: working a lot, this is what I have been thinking…I’m already pretty tired a lot of the time so I think something like Rover might be out. But summer work at the cider house doesn’t feel impossible. always nice to meet someone who understands <3

Much to think about with my parents…

Question for the crowd: am I wrong in conflating disability insurance with life insurance? A few years ago I was referred to a geneticist and ultimately opted to not undergo genetic testing as the geneticist suggested it might impact my eligibility to buy life insurance and the research in this specific case is likely not there right now (in 5 years, maybe). I could probably live the rest of my life not getting this testing done. Would that also apply to disability insurance?

No, no FFEL loans…too young to have those.

Yes, the low quote is from a dental school.

I love the chart! I will have met full eligibility at age 58 and will be able to retire with full benefit at 60 since I started early and after 2012.