Short answer
Three boxes: the right kind of loans (government direct loans), the right kind of employer (government or nonprofit 501(c)(3)), and 120 qualifying payments. Check all three for federal income tax-free forgiveness, and certify your employment every year.
A short clip from his webinar for residents and fellows, with captions.
Watch the full webinar from 12:39The three boxes
PSLF rolled out in 2007. There have been some bumps along the way, but it's alive and well. I know plenty of people who have qualified. To set the stage for federal income tax-free loan forgiveness, you need:
- The right kind of loans: government direct loans.
- The right kind of employer: a government or nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity.
- 120 qualifying payments.
Certify every year
It's not mandatory, but it's highly suggested that you complete the certification form every year. That's you checking in with your servicer so you agree on where you work and how many payments you've logged.
You may change employers, bank accounts or loan servicers. If there's an issue and you haven't certified, you'll have to go back to multiple servicers, banks or employers to find where the discrepancy happened. Certify yearly and it's much easier to put the pieces back together.
Where Jay covers this
Jump to each moment in his webinars.