[quote=squat250]I left law school in 1995 with $95,000.00 in debt. Not sure what that is inflation-adjusted. Probably a lot.
Timing is everything. That debt was a good deal at the time for me, in retrospect. It still might be a good deal. It’s just, there’s less room to change direction nowadays. You better be damn sure what you’re doing when you have 250,000 in student debt.
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I left law school about a decade later, with about $50k more debt (total for undergrad and law – although most was law). The debt was a good deal for me also. I disagree about room to change direction – I have a lot of friends and colleagues who have done so less than a decade after graduating. Admittedly, I went to a high-ranking law school, which plays a key role in the ability to switch course in a way that is not financially disastrous. Most of these people went to big firms, were miserable for a few years, paid their law debt, then found something they loved doing (opening small offices, non-profit work, government work, moving to africa with the peace corps, etc). So, my addendum to “damn sure what you are doing” is “or put yourself in a position where you can quickly dig yourself out if you aren’t sold on that course.”
And BG – you are right about holding off on some larger financial purchases (like a house) – I just bought last year, despite making a low 6-figure income for 5 years prior, because qualifying and saving for a decent down payment was harder with paying off law school debt. But the flip side to that is that my income is easily 2-3 times what I would be making if I hadn’t gone to law school (I took a year off and worked as an accountant, so I have a good basis for saying this). The difference in monthly debt payments vs. monthly income, and the type of house/area where I was able to purchase, is more than worth it.
