Hello! Looks like I am moving against the tide:-)

[Bestwifeever]

In answer to your original question (paying for school), I'd go with the max home equity loan first and then federal loans.

Do you have to move if you're going to a top 3 school (I'm thinking the top 3 are in Massachusetts or California)--are those costs included in your loans?

[haha]

Let me post a small but I hope polite counter idea. This plan has so many ifs, so many moving parts, so many separate personalities who like like all people are changing through time and circumstance that though it may work, ex ante it is a very weird idea. Maybe only a little weird until the baby was mentioned, then pretty weird. Then the MIL and who knows what is next, pretty soon we have entered the twilight zone?

Don't forget this whole thing is in the context of FIRE and ER. Money spent developing deveoping human capital, even big money like $200K may be well spent (but often not) if one plans a 40 -50 year payoff. But ER? It is like running rearward for the first 25 meters of a 100 m sprint.

And since OP has never been a lawyer, has never spent even 3 months as a law student, has never been a mother, has likely never been an au pair, there surely is an awful lot of highstakes shooting in the dark.

One of the most high stakes bets a married couple can make is that they will survive a return to a full time demanding school regime for one of the members, while the other continues to work.

A wise couple would just get divorced now, while it is relatively inexpensive, and before you both go through the wringer.

An old friend of mine was "caretaker" for a pretty young woman while she went through Boalt on her poppa's dime. My friend was retired, there were no children involved, she was young and pretty, but it was a still a real struggle for my buddy to let her cry on his choulder about all the aggressive nasty, untrustworthy sharks and barracudas who filled her life. And those were the nice ones!

She hightailed it into a state job as soon as she could find one. Good job, but no way would it pay off the kind of loans OP is anticipating. Neither will many outcomes; only the créme de la créme.

Overall this plan is a string of low to moderate probability bets.

Ha

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever (I'm thinking the top 3 are in Massachusetts or California)

Good call. According the most recent US News and World Report rankings, they would be Yale, Harvard and Stanford.

[PaddyMac]

I don't know if you've been following the various threads on Andrew Sullivans' blog, but it should give you pause:

The Law Lottery - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast which links to

http://www.tnr.com/article/87251/law...etown?page=0,0

The Law Lottery, Ctd - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

Over the past few months I've read similar threads, so you might want to search for them. Very sobering.

[DangerMouse]

Thanks PaddyMac. The comments in the last link tell how it really is for a couple of folks.

[Sarah in SC]

Wait, you want to have kids, go to a top 3 law school, get a job good enough to pay those loans back in 3 years, AND take the CFA exams?
Um, yeah. Why not throw world peace, running for President, and curing cancer in there?

I'm sorry if I sound abrupt or curt, but this just sounds like a recipe for disaster. 27 is young, but you may be glossing over the really grim parts of your plan like when Mom changes her mind about being your caregiver, or somebody gets sick right about the time you have some time-critical assignment.

God, this really does exhaust me just to think about it, and I'm 40 with a comparatively easy life.

But you asked about loans, not about the advisability of your plan, so you might PM Fuego, I know he's done a lot of calculations on student loans and such quite recently.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Why not throw world peace, running for President, and curing cancer in there?

Thanks for saying what I have been thinking ever since I read the OP's post.

Unfortunally, I've been a "bad boy" and have to hold my tougne unless I receive another message from the admin's ...

[Aiming_4_55]

Hmmm - trying not to jump on the bandwagon, but a few examples from my life...

- while I was single, I prepped for law school, had scholarship lined up and stipend for housing. I declined as it meant longer work hours after graduation and would negatively impact my personal life. Starting salary from an average school was $30k in the early 90s and I was making high $30s with overtime already with a few years of experience

- I decided on MBA and MIS, paid by employer, opened doors at good companies, but the ongoing hard work was required. Once I expressed I no longer wanted to be a professional babysitter, extensive travel, or long hours, my career advancement stopped/changed.

- Married @ 30 and wanted to start our family within the first year. Healthy adults but ran into unknown fertility issues, seeing specialist by 32, childless until 38, family of 4 by age 41 along with about 100k out of pocket, not including 100k + lost earning opportunity. It was a personal choice, not all will agree. My previous boss didn't.

At age 42 with 2 younger kids, career/job is a filler and provides a paycheck. The quality time is before and after work which I keep at 40 hours a week or less.

Since OP is married, have more very honest conversations as this impacts both parties. Is DH ok with being a single dad at times while DW is at work? Some plans get delayed, can your relationship handle it? It may sound nice to be a highly paid corporate attorney, but you have to earn it over time. With limited hours in a day/week/year, everything can't be a priority, odds are against it. If you complete law school and have an opportunity at 50k... what would you do? The higher the salary, the lower the openings.

- DW and I had many discussions and happy we did everything, i.e. grad school, grad school, relocation, medical services/adoption, job changes, etc. as the end result is/was worth it. Anything and everything is possible, if you want it bad enough, just be prepared to adjust the map a little if it doesn't work out in 3 years or if the starting salary is not exactly what you planned.

Just my 2 cents.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC But you asked about loans, not about the advisability of your plan, so you might PM Fuego, I know he's done a lot of calculations on student loans and such quite recently.

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha She hightailed it into a state job as soon as she could find one. Good job, but no way would it pay off the kind of loans OP is anticipating. Neither will many outcomes; only the créme de la créme.

To the OP: If I were in your shoes, I would forgo law school completely or choose a much lower cost school somewhere else. I also question whether $250k in loans would really be needed. Just taking a look at Yale Law School, tuition plus fees plus books are around $55000. Times three, that is still much less than $250k. Are you planning on living separately from your spouse and hence incurring another set of living expenses? So maybe the loans are closer to $160-170k-ish.

If you choose to pursue this path, I would consider going 100% federal student loans that would qualify for the income based repayment plans and public service loan forgiveness (PSLF). PSLF would allow you to work 10 years in a public service job and pay a percentage of your income each year toward your student loans. After 10 years, they forgive all remaining debt. Of course you won't make the $160k starting out of law school this way, but you will have a fairly normal life as a government attorney (or non-attorney working in some field where your law background is useful). Heck, you could even do the BigLaw thing for a few years (to make some BigMoney) then switch to the public or non-profit side and work out your 10 yrs to get the remainder of your loans forgiven.

As to successfully doing biglaw and having kids, I'm quite sure it is possible, but I do not know anyone from law school currently doing it.

[Bestwifeever]

Tic Tac, I don't know if you're still reading this thread, but your OP to me sounded like your plan was well-thought out, your DH is on board, and you've already been accepted at the school you want to go to. With that in mind and at your age I would say go for it and have no regrets later if it doesn't work out.

(I just met someone whose DH started med school at about your age--ten years of school for his specialty, everyone thought he was crazy at the time. It all worked out.)

[Calgary_Girl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby tic-tac: Let me suggest that "seeing a return on our investment" should not be a substantial factor in your decision to go to law school. In the first instance, that return is speculative. Even going to a "top 3 law school" does not guarantee that, upon graduation, you will obtain a job that will generate the earnings necessary to pay back the loans as aggressively as you believe you will. Similarly, the days of huge, high-paying, big firm summer associate programs are in the past; you may not be able to contribute as much as you think to the family coffers while you are in school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html

Gee, I thought my life was busy enough being a SAHM but good luck to you! Personally, I wouldn't want to juggle so many balls because life does have a way of throwing you a curve ball when you least expect it.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl I wouldn't want to juggle so many balls because life does have a way of throwing you a curve ball when you least expect it.

Ah, the vitality of youth ...

While I wish the OP well, I don't think that she has incurred many "aw shi*" situations in her life. Of course, I could be wrong.....