[Tina]

Our young adult children are debt-free, even with college degrees. Two of them want to go to med school now. One in the US and the other not in the States. (One is a US military vet).

Even with scholarships, the price is significant; and they are both really wanting to stay debt-free.

Would be grateful to hear any advice, suggestions, etc.

We (parents) have equity in property available; limited amount of other assets, but there are some. We are retirement age.

We don’t have the means to gift them the funds.

However, we could perhaps use our equity to be their lenders. Do you have thoughts about using our equity as loans to them?

Thank you!

[Lauren]

After med school they should have a good salary and be able to pay off loans.

I went to vet school, graduated with the same debt load and andar lower salary and paid off my loans within 5 yrs

[Juliett]

Nope. They’re adults. They’ll figure it out.
They can move back home after residency and put every last dollar to debt.

They can be out of debt in a handful of years.
Never sacrifice your retirement.

[Jennifer]

Head on over to White Coat Investors and ask there. It’s difficult to graduate med school debt free, but there are strategies to lower debt, and then after graduation they emphasize the importance of “Living Like A Resident” until all debt is paid off.

[Denise]

It doesn’t sound like you have enough in retirement to comfortably afford to pay for them to go debt free.

Can there be some type of understanding that they’ll pay you back for a portion of med school once they graduate?

They may not know your situation and assume that this is something you can comfortably do.

I know I would never put my parents retirement at risk for something I could take care of.

Once they’ve graduated they should be able to pay off the loans fairly quickly if they live frugally.

Can you help them in other ways, like letting them live with you or offering childcare if they have kids so their spouse can work, etc.?

[Nicole]

They’re Adults with a College Degree, if they want to go to med school debt free, then I advise they start saving their pennies.

Wouldn’t we all love a debt free education…oh wait, they already had one.

[Negrita]

I have a friend whose angel went into med school debt free. Came out with a HUGE amount of debt.

But when she started working she poured every single penny into her debt and she was debt free very quickly.

She had roommates. She had a used car paid in cash. She rarely ate out. She budgeted very well.

She didn’t let lifestyle creep set it AT ALL.
It was TOUGH. But she did it.

She was willing to live on MUCH LESS than she made.
Not ideal but she proved that it’s 100% doable.

[Kara]

It sounds like you are considering using your assets to fund their graduate school, when your assets are needed to support yourself in retirement. Don’t do that.

Your retirement is your first priority. Your adult kids can take out loans for graduate school. I went to law school.

I lived entirely on student loans for 3 years. But I came out of school with a great salary, kept my expenses low and paid off my loans within a few years.

The goal of being forever debt-free may require taking on smart debt along the way. Medical school debt can be smart debt because it significantly increases your earning power for the rest of your life.

The only other way I know of to graduate from medical school with no debt is to join (or re-join for one of your kids) the military and have the military pay for medical school.

But in that situation you still have a heavy burden to repay, it’s just structured as years of obligation working for the military and not cash repayment.

[Jeremy]

I’m with everyone else, you’ve given them an incredible start in life and you should be REALLY proud of that. But it’s time that they start finding their way in life and you focus on making sure you are financially secure.

It doesn’t sound like you are feeling super confident in your retirement savings.

I think one of the best things you can do for your children is making sure you are financially secure as you age so that they are not trying to support you, while potentially also starting their own family at the same time.

Give them a big hug and wish them luck on their journey!

You’ll always be there in emergencies, but they’ve got this!

[Travis]

There are programs where you can promise to practice in an underserved area (rural, inner city, etc) and they will pay for a significant part of your education.

They key in med school—you have to graduate and practice.

If you don’t finish, the debt is often debilitating.

[Erica]

Do not sacrifice your retirement. They can take out loans. If they are going to med school, they will have large incomes to pay off their debt.

They are adults and will figure it out. They are much too old for you to be meddling in their finances at this point.

Let them figure it out.

[Diznee]

This is amazing and oh so hard! Congratulations on raising amazing kids! How about something in the middle since there are no loans for retirement and they may find themselves somewhere that has loan forgiveness down the road (and/or a great salary).

Let them take loans and gift them what you feel comfortable with to help with living expenses etc….if it doesn’t stretch you to far you can help with loan repayments as you go.

But don’t sell assets You may need down your own road. Think we may have some volatility for awhile.

[Alice]

Based on the limited information you provided it sounds like you do not have the means to provide support for your adult children to go to med school debt free.

I would first focus on providing for your retirement.

[Joyce]

There’s a relatively new medical school in Scranton Pa. I believe the tuition is free if you serve the area for a number of years.

Also, my obgyn served in the navy after college to earn his medical degree.

[Jodi]

Looks up Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Awards through the NIH.

They are also known as T32 training grants.

They pay a stipend and tuition expenses for pre and post doc medical students.

[Rebecca]

Air Force has their own residency program-so on the back end of school they have two chances to make it into a residency program.

Not sure on exactly the years they have to stay in the service per year of medical school, but the government will (well at least historically have) covered the medical school cost.

[Eri]

Some med schools are now free if under a certain family income. Look into NYU and Johns Hopkins.

Per google AI:
Several medical schools in the US offer tuition-free programs, including NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J.

Tyson School of Medicine, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which now offers free tuition for students from families earning under $300,000.

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