<prompt> Human: I have a 250,000 mixture of subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans. It took me about a year after law school to get on my feet financially. Now that I have, my loan debt has ballooned to this absurd amount. Today I make 40kyr with no benefits.My recommended payment is something like 2kmo, which is obviously impossible on 40k. I currently pay right around 400mo on an IBR plan. By the plans calculations, when I hit forgiveness in 20 years of timely payments, my balance will be 500,000, which essentially forces me to forego forgiveness to avoid the tax liability for discharged debt. The prospect of paying loans for the rest of my life is terrifying.I drive a pos car and live with a roommate, try to live far below my means. Do you reddit financiers have any advice for me? I just want to feel like I have a plan going forward.tl;dr - how does one plan to repay 250k in student loan debt without hitting the lottery andor robbing banks?Assistant: Thanks to many of you for your sound advice. I will stick to min IBR payments and although it should go without saying am always working to up my earnings. Im on the partnership track at a small firm in a low-cost of living area, and I like my job and my life. I came here because I dont like my debt, and I sincerely appreciate those of you who took the time to help.Now, to the others, who essentially came here to say Haha OP is idiot for taking out such loans, gg idiot OP, theres not a lot I can say. I chose my law school on my schools 2010 financial prospectus, on promises of a 66kyr median salary with 80 employment upon graduation. Those numbers were not accurate, and were subsequently adjusted after law schools were caught fudging these numbers by including anyone with a job as employed for that percentage, but only those employed in the legal field for salary. Factor in the pride incentive not to report your shitty post-JD income and youve got yourself a recipe for soul-crushing student loan debt that will haunt many lawyers in my generation for the rest of their lives.Special thanks to uBitcoinPatriot for his scathing review of my life decisions. You shall be tagged as Captain Hindsight forevermore. Ive known I wanted to practice law for many years, and I really like my job. I dont care if I have to pay these loans down forever, this was the only way for me. I am not sorry if I upset you by coming here to ask for advice. I am proud of my achievements, and if that makes me crazy, well, so be it.  <response>: Dude, fuck the redditors who ride in on high horses. Its easy to criticize. I graduated with 210k in loans from law school. Im doing PAYE even though I make 100k a year. I lived like a pauper for 7 years while in law school and undergrad. Im not going to continue to live like a pauper for the next eight years while I pay off my loans and miss out on the better half of my 20s and 30s. With that said, I do try and pay 1300 each month to cover the interest plus some principle. Im going to get options and a bonus each year, and I plan to put 100 of my bonus towards my loans. Your income isnt going to stay at 40k. Sign up for PAYE, pay as much as you can each month and live comfortably. Live your life and enjoy it.I love the law, its what I wanted to do. It sounds like youre the same way. 