Deborah and Dan are married. Both are doctors pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Both have been making payments regularly and are well on their way to the 120 end goal. Dr. Deborah is further along, having made over 90 payments. In her head, she’s more than three-quarters there, but she’s not so sure. Every time she calls, a different representative tells her that she’s made a different number of qualifying payments, way fewer than she really has. 

Knowing this, Dr. Dan—who’s a couple years behind her on payments—is ready to call it a draw. It’s too stressful getting competing answers, being told there’s still one more hoop to jump through every time you have to call. He’s been saving tens of thousands of dollars he’d hoped to use to start a family, but now he wonders if now is a good time to make a clean break and use that money to pay off his debt. New year, new plan, right ? 

Money is stressful and this year has been stressful enough, don’t let it ruin your fiscal plans because of a stressful system. PSLF is a long and complex process, but the payoff is worth the wait. You already made the plan, make a resolution to stick with it.