Hi guys,
I'm not sure if this is the right place for something like this but I'll give it a shot anyway.
I'm a 100% finance virgin, and am looking for any advice I can get for the long term in my given situation
I'm a medical student in a joint MD/PhD program, where I get a stipend during PhD years.
Current $$ out
She nets about 25k a year and has zero debts (no OSAP, no credit card debts)
I will net about 25k a year for the next 2-3 years of PhD, then head back to finish med school where I'll pay ~35k total for the remaining time.
I currently have ~60k in OSAP debt, but have zero debt anywhere else (200k LOC which I have not touched at all).
She has ~30k total in savings.
I have 59k total in savings (15k in TFSA, 5k in USD, rest in savings).
We are already very frugal due to our lifestyle. I'm interested to know what sort of things we can start doing to save/plan/maximize money for our futures, if anything. We are getting married next year, and budgeting about 15k of which we will be covering 100%.
UPDATE EDIT
Thanks for all the responses everyone. I suppose I should clarify my position and objectives to help you guys help me:
1) I will be pursuing residency with subspecialty training, which will take about 6 years. I should be ~33-4 before I'm finished. During this time, I'll make about 50k, but that gets taxed, unlike my current income.
2) I will be completing PhD with the plan of doing a 60/40 clinical/academic setup. Probably joining a residency program that supports this as well
3) I plan on attempting to pay my entire OSAP in full as soon as I graduate, and covering whatever extra with my LOC, as the interest is lower there (prime).
What I want to know is the following:
- One huge perk of being in graduate school is that I've got cash flow, free time (comparatively), and I'm young. Is it "safe" to spend a little extra here and there, perhaps go into a little more debt, and enjoy ourselves more? We don't go on fancy vacations or eat out much, or own expensive stuff - we are very comfortable living below our means and are as a result, good at saving. I have substantially less debt than my classmates and am pulling in an income. There is also the promise of future income. Is it reasonable to start spending a little more now? How much would that amount be - how much play room do we have?
- CJOttawa: Your post was great. This was the kind of thing I was looking for... I want to know where/how I could put the fairly large percentages of our incomes into low risk low yield long term investments. I don't have a problem letting it sit for 20 years. The critical thing is having an investment where we DO NOT have to worry about losing the money (otherwise I'm content leaving it where it is, in a savings account).
Thanks everyone!
I'm not sure if this is the right place for something like this but I'll give it a shot anyway.
I'm a 100% finance virgin, and am looking for any advice I can get for the long term in my given situation
I'm a medical student in a joint MD/PhD program, where I get a stipend during PhD years.
Current $$ out
- Rent and utilities incl internet: 1250/month (overestimating). This is split in two between myself and my fiance (eg, I cover half of this)
- Cell phones: 110/month (both of us together)
- Food/entertainment: ~6-700/month
She nets about 25k a year and has zero debts (no OSAP, no credit card debts)
I will net about 25k a year for the next 2-3 years of PhD, then head back to finish med school where I'll pay ~35k total for the remaining time.
I currently have ~60k in OSAP debt, but have zero debt anywhere else (200k LOC which I have not touched at all).
She has ~30k total in savings.
I have 59k total in savings (15k in TFSA, 5k in USD, rest in savings).
We are already very frugal due to our lifestyle. I'm interested to know what sort of things we can start doing to save/plan/maximize money for our futures, if anything. We are getting married next year, and budgeting about 15k of which we will be covering 100%.
UPDATE EDIT
Thanks for all the responses everyone. I suppose I should clarify my position and objectives to help you guys help me:
1) I will be pursuing residency with subspecialty training, which will take about 6 years. I should be ~33-4 before I'm finished. During this time, I'll make about 50k, but that gets taxed, unlike my current income.
2) I will be completing PhD with the plan of doing a 60/40 clinical/academic setup. Probably joining a residency program that supports this as well
3) I plan on attempting to pay my entire OSAP in full as soon as I graduate, and covering whatever extra with my LOC, as the interest is lower there (prime).
What I want to know is the following:
- One huge perk of being in graduate school is that I've got cash flow, free time (comparatively), and I'm young. Is it "safe" to spend a little extra here and there, perhaps go into a little more debt, and enjoy ourselves more? We don't go on fancy vacations or eat out much, or own expensive stuff - we are very comfortable living below our means and are as a result, good at saving. I have substantially less debt than my classmates and am pulling in an income. There is also the promise of future income. Is it reasonable to start spending a little more now? How much would that amount be - how much play room do we have?
- CJOttawa: Your post was great. This was the kind of thing I was looking for... I want to know where/how I could put the fairly large percentages of our incomes into low risk low yield long term investments. I don't have a problem letting it sit for 20 years. The critical thing is having an investment where we DO NOT have to worry about losing the money (otherwise I'm content leaving it where it is, in a savings account).
Thanks everyone!