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Old 05-14-2008, 01:42 PM
Saving in So Cal Saving in So Cal is offline
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As other posters have said, you cannot really make this type of decision with ballpark estimates. You need accurate information. A few points you may want to think about:

If your fiance knows where he'll be working, then he should know what he will be making. Employers do not offer employees jobs without telling them what they will be paid.

If your fiance does not know where he'll be working, then do not count on him having a job until after he passes the bar exam. Even then, it could be tough going as the job market for new associates is definitely cyclical.

If your finance ends up working at a medium-size law firm, he should make a decent salary but he may have to pay more than average for his benefits and its unlikely his employer will contribute much toward reirement. In addition, associates at law firms are generally required to work extraordinary hours and many find they can't or do not want to keep doing so indefinitely. After a few years, many will leave to find more meaningful work and more humane working conditions, usually for significantly less pay. For instance, where I live, public sector attorneys make about half of what a comparable attorney would make in the private sector. Non-profit sector attorneys make even less.

The student loan amount you've listed is a little frightening to me and I suspect it does not factor in the possibility of your fiance needing a bar loan to pay for his bar review course and living expenses while he is studying for the bar. I know of a few other lawyers with similar debt loads and I can tell you that it weighs heavily on them. Debt loads like that usually include private loans with higher interest rates. Your fiance should have copies of loan disclosure statements estimating what his payments will be when the loans become due. You should add those all up so you have a better idea of what his loan payments are going to be when he graduates. You may be surprised at how much it is.
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