Student Loans: High-Income Professionals Must Exit the SAVE Plan

In my early days of real estate investing, I learned that small mistakes cost big over time - like doing a 15 year mortgage cause I thought I was saving interest. The same applies to student loan plans.

As a high-income professional pursuing PSLF, the SAVE plan — while appealing on paper — is a trap.

Here’s why:

SAVE is currently paused by court injunction. Those $0 payments? They don’t count toward PSLF. Even worse, if your income climbs past a certain threshold, you could become ineligible for switching to IBR, the only Congressionally approved PSLF-safe plan.

A client of mine, a surgeon earning $400K, stayed in SAVE too long. By the time he tried to switch, he didn’t qualify. He’s now stuck without a forgiveness path — despite being 9 years in.

Takeaways:

• Don’t assume SAVE = PSLF credit (it doesn’t right now)

• Switch to IBR before your income gets too high

• Use your last filed tax return to lock in a lower payment

This is something I also touch on in my book, The Wealth Elevator, where I break down the passive investing journey floor by floor.