<prompt> Human: Ive been dating my gf for over a year now and were both in our early 30s. Shes American and I am in the country on a work permit for my job. Considering things between us were going extremely well, we began to talk about marriage and I started to consider living in the States on a more permanent basis.Ive recently discovered she has student loans from her undergraduate and medical school graduation, that have been sitting unpaid in a forbearance state and have now ballooned into a massive 400,000 sum total, once consolidated into a single federal loan. She is set to finish her residency next year and does not have a job lined up as yet. Once she does get a job, shes looking at a starting pay for 60-80k. She is however in a very specialized field of medicine that has very few job openings from what I can tell.My financial situation on the other hand is fairly straight-forward - I have zero debt and I also own nothing of great value in this country, besides my car. I have job that pays me 120-140k and currently keeps me comfortable in my no-debt situation i.e. I have the means to buy a home etc. when I want to. Note, I also live in an area where a 6-figure income is very commonplace and really not as much as it sounds. Me learning so late in the game of my gfs loans has our relationship in a strain, simply because Im unable to wrap my head around how Im going to pay of a 400k loan thats growing at 7 every year. Ive looked into all sorts of loan forgiveness programs but those go as far as making monthly payments for 10-25 yrs depending on public vs pvt employment and leave you with a massive tax bill from the IRS at the end of the forgiveness. Does reddit have any advice for me?EDIT: Thanks for the extremely helpful responses! Ive added some more info after further research on my end: Her starting pay will be 55-60k for a fellowship, and closer to 100-120k after that assuming her secures full time employment after the fellowship Medical specialization is Podiatry DPM. On talking to other medical professionals in the area and running job searches, there seem to very few openings in our region, due to a saturation of similar specialists. We are considering IBR Income-Based Payments and seeking loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness PSLF for 10-yr public service. Still confused about the tax burdens in the 10th year. Question now is - How does a combined salary of 200k go about paying off a 400k loan 7, while also hoping to purchase a first home, etc.  <response>: Something isnt right here.Nobody who has completed residency makes only 60-80k a year. Perhaps you are talking about a fellowship program?Even the lowliest pediatrician in a tight market starts off at 120k. 