Paying back student loan- High earner

clivetastic

I studied veterinary nursing at university, knowing that as a veterinary nurse, I would never earn enough to pay back my student loan. I never concerned myself with the finances or the interest etc as I knew it would be written off before I paid it off.
3 years after, I have realised that veterinary nursing is not for me, and I have now become a train driver. After the shock of the largely increased salary sunk in, I've now realised that I may be likely to pay back my student loan plus the extortionate interest that is being added on. I've tried to read anything that Martin Lewis has written about this but I can't really come to any conclusions.
How do I figure out if it is worth overpaying my student loan to ultimately pay less?
I think I may pay it off within the 30 years, ultimately potentially paying my initial borrowings plus almost 100% on top of that in interest (I've obtained this info from a couple of different student loan calculators online). Being a higher earner I will be accruing the highest interest possible on top of this loan so I think it would be best to repay ASAP but being a new homeowner and not having had children yet it's a big decision to make that I feel like I don't have enough information on. 
If anyone could point me in some direction I'd be really grateful. Blogs, videos, books, etc. Otherwise I suppose I'll get a financial advisor to look at it for me?
Thank you to anyone who may be able to help.

es5595

I was in a similar situation to yourself, I was luckily on plan 1 but after bumbling along for many years, on becoming a train driver realised I’d have to start paying it back sharpish! 

I’d get a spreadsheet drawn up to work out your salary, payments, interest etc. It also makes quite a bit of difference on whether you’re planning to have children, and if so, would you take a career break? Or go part-time? Once you start drawing up the spreadsheet you can edit it for these scenarios to calculate if it’s worth overpaying to get the interest rates off your back. 

Best of luck!

becky_rtw

Do you use the gov login? It updates with your salary payments every month and means you can track interest and payments. I then tracked forward in time on a spreadsheet to see when I would pay mine off. 

dont_use_vistaprint

I cant really sympathise, sorry! You chose 3 years of post cumppulosry  education and even though you are a train driver now, its added a lot value to you as a person. And now have to pay higher tax because of that choice , its not a loan, education is free in the UK for anybody that makes that choice. It took me 8 years to pay my free education tax back

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

dont_use_vistaprint said:

I cant really sympathise, sorry! You chose 3 years of post cumppulosry  education and even though you are a train driver now, its added a lot value to you as a person. And now have to pay higher tax because of that choice , its not a loan, education is free in the UK for anybody that makes that choice. It took me 8 years to pay my free education tax back

+1 for the no sympathy. You have plenty of cash now. If you don't the debt free wannabe forum is nearby

Jami74

I don't think the OP was looking for sympathy. They were asking about the most money saving way of paying back their debt.

Sorry clivetastic I don't know the answer but if I was you I'd be thinking along the same lines of paying it off asap. Will you definitely carry on being a full time train driver for the next 30 years though? The advantage of the student loan is that if you lose the ability to work for money (or choose to take a career break) then you just stop paying, unlike a mortgage or loan. So for that reason it doesn't make sense to borrow to pay it. It's easier if you think of it as a graduate tax rather than a loan, but of course one day you might look back and realise you could have saved thousands in interest.

clivetastic

dont_use_vistaprint said:

I cant really sympathise, sorry! You chose 3 years of post cumppulosry  education and even though you are a train driver now, its added a lot value to you as a person. And now have to pay higher tax because of that choice , its not a loan, education is free in the UK for anybody that makes that choice. It took me 8 years to pay my free education tax back

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

I cant really sympathise, sorry! You chose 3 years of post cumppulosry  education and even though you are a train driver now, its added a lot value to you as a person. And now have to pay higher tax because of that choice , its not a loan, education is free in the UK for anybody that makes that choice. It took me 8 years to pay my free education tax back

+1 for the no sympathy. You have plenty of cash now. If you don't the debt free wannabe forum is nearby

Thank you for your very kind and incredibly useful comments.
As Jami74 said, I wasn't asking for sympathy. Can you point out in my original post where I was asking for sympathy? Is this what you both do? Go around, reading posts and offering sympathy or not? I doubt it. So what compelled you to comment on my post? In the future please think about whether you are actually contributing to the conversation or just being sour.

clivetastic

es5595 said:

I was in a similar situation to yourself, I was luckily on plan 1 but after bumbling along for many years, on becoming a train driver realised I’d have to start paying it back sharpish! 

I’d get a spreadsheet drawn up to work out your salary, payments, interest etc. It also makes quite a bit of difference on whether you’re planning to have children, and if so, would you take a career break? Or go part-time? Once you start drawing up the spreadsheet you can edit it for these scenarios to calculate if it’s worth overpaying to get the interest rates off your back. 

Best of luck!

Great idea, thanks very much. I'll get started on a spreadsheet.

clivetastic

Jami74 said:

I don't think the OP was looking for sympathy. They were asking about the most money saving way of paying back their debt.

Sorry clivetastic I don't know the answer but if I was you I'd be thinking along the same lines of paying it off asap. Will you definitely carry on being a full time train driver for the next 30 years though? The advantage of the student loan is that if you lose the ability to work for money (or choose to take a career break) then you just stop paying, unlike a mortgage or loan. So for that reason it doesn't make sense to borrow to pay it. It's easier if you think of it as a graduate tax rather than a loan, but of course one day you might look back and realise you could have saved thousands in interest.

Thanks for your kind words. 
This is the problem really, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life for the next 30 years! It's a bit of a gamble either way I suppose but my gut does tell me that it would probably be better to try and get it paid off. 
Thanks again

[Deleted User]

clivetastic said:

I studied veterinary nursing at university, knowing that as a veterinary nurse, I would never earn enough to pay back my student loan. I never concerned myself with the finances or the interest etc as I knew it would be written off before I paid it off.
3 years after, I have realised that veterinary nursing is not for me, and I have now become a train driver. After the shock of the largely increased salary sunk in, I've now realised that I may be likely to pay back my student loan plus the extortionate interest that is being added on. I've tried to read anything that Martin Lewis has written about this but I can't really come to any conclusions.
How do I figure out if it is worth overpaying my student loan to ultimately pay less?
I think I may pay it off within the 30 years, ultimately potentially paying my initial borrowings plus almost 100% on top of that in interest (I've obtained this info from a couple of different student loan calculators online). Being a higher earner I will be accruing the highest interest possible on top of this loan so I think it would be best to repay ASAP but being a new homeowner and not having had children yet it's a big decision to make that I feel like I don't have enough information on. 
If anyone could point me in some direction I'd be really grateful. Blogs, videos, books, etc. Otherwise I suppose I'll get a financial advisor to look at it for me?
Thank you to anyone who may be able to help.

I forget which plan I am on for student loan, it's for loans taken out before 2012 I believe where I pay back more, the more I get paid through my employment.

It is not classed as a loan per se, in that id does not count against you for any credit applications in future; and you only pay it back when you are in employment so less chance of missed payments or CCJ etc. It's taken out your salary every month so you don't really see that money anyway. And if you decide to pay it back then you will be forking over an amount of money that you could otherwise benefit you in other ways.

I have a high-ish salary and pay around 350 a month for student loan and i've reduced it from 32K to 7K since I graduate in 2012.

Never had any intention of paying it back, because I could use that money for other things ... so it depends on your financial circumstances in mapping out what you intend to do over the next 5 years.

Have a sit down and weigh up the pro's and  con's of paying it back early, versus using the money to finance something else in your life that is higher priority.  Most guides I have read out there advise AGAINST paying it back early.

Emmia

I wouldn't actively seek to overpay - but the loan is something you knowingly took out when you studied and so you should repay it. You had the education you paid for, even if you didn't then pursue the career...

You're now in a secure and well paying job with presumably a good pension and other perks - so you can afford to pay.

I paid mine off about 8-9 years after graduation - it's just an extra tax like National Insurance.