Personal Finance for PhDs

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Previous Hosts

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Previous Hosts

Boston University 5/11/2020, 11/5/2020, 2/9/2021, 3/15/2022, 2/6/2024

Brown University 11/19/2020, 2/4/2021, 10/21/2021

Case Western Reserve University 12/11/2015

City University of New York Graduate Center 5/10/2017, 5/18/2017

Columbia University 4/19/2017

Cornell University 4/6/2016, 4/17/2017, 2/14/2019

Duke University 11/13/2014, 6/5/2015, 8/17/2015, 3/7/2018

Einstein College of Medicine 4/19/2017

Emerson Collective 1/21/2023, 1/27/2024

Emory University 9/15/2015, 9/20/2023

Georgetown University 3/19/2019

Georgia Institute of Technology 2/24/2016

Harvard University 11/8/2019, 11/12/2020, 2/3/2022, 2/8/2024

Harvey Mudd College 4/16/2015

Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance 7/18/2022

Howard Hughes Medical Institute 9/20/2022

Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis 2/2/2021, 9/1/2022

Mayo Clinic 7/22/2020

McNair Scholar Success Institute 6/22/2021, 4/21/2022, 4/23/2022

Michigan State University 2/9/2018, 1/27/2021, 10/3/2022, 8/28/2023

National Enhancement of Underrepresented Academic Leaders (NEURAL) Conference (University of Alabama at Birmingham) 6/21/2018

National Science Policy Network 6/28/2021

New York University 4/18/2017

North Carolina State University 1/14/2015

Northeastern University 11/7/2019, 11/16/2020

Pennsylvania State University 11/16/2016

San Diego State University 3/24/2021

Scripps Research Institute 2/5/2018, 9/1/2020, 2/22/2021, 3/1/2021, 10/20/2022, 10/28/2022, 8/17/2023

Stanford University 4/10/2017, 3/17/2021, 10/3/2023, 2/20/2024

Stowers Institute for Medical Research 11/4/2019

Syracuse University 10/22/2021

Texas Christian University 9/30/2020, 11/10/2021

The Academic Society 12/5/2021, 6/22/2021, 7/21/2022, 7/23/2022, 6/20/2023, 6/21/2023

University at Buffalo 2/7/2023

University of Alabama at Birmingham 1/22/2016, 2/27/2018, 2/28/2018, 2/23/2019, 2/24/2019, 3/19/2021, 3/23/2021

University of Arizona 3/14/2019

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 10/12/2017, 10/9/2019

University of California at Berkeley 3/22/2021, 4/2/2021, 9/9/2021, 9/17/2021, 2/17/2022

University of California at Davis 10/14/2015, 10/12/2016, 10/10/2017

University of California at Irvine 5/10/2021

University of California at Los Angeles 4/15/2015, 2/13/2018, 1/30/2019, 4/22/2024

University of California at Riverside 5/10/2021

University of California at San Diego 9/9/2020, 2/3/2021, 5/10/2021, 9/7/2021, 9/1/2022, 9/2/2022, 8/22/2023

University of California at Santa Barbara 10/21/2015

University of Colorado Boulder 4/12/2022

University of Delaware 3/10/2021, 2/25/2022, 3/4/2022

University of Houston 10/17/2022, 10/24/2023

University of Iowa 11/12/2015

University of Kentucky 2/4/2020

University of Louisville 3/11/2021

University of Massachusetts 3/8/2023

University of Miami 3/26/2021

University of Michigan 2/15/2019

University of Minnesota 3/18/2022, 4/8/2022, 3/7/2023, 9/26/2023

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1/12/2017

University of Oregon 11/18/2016

University of Pennsylvania 5/5/2016, 3/16/2023

University of Pittsburgh 11/3/2015

University of Rochester 1/26/2016, 5/4/2021, 2/9/2022, 10/4/2022

University of South Florida 1/28/2016

University of Texas at Austin 3/4/2020, 3/5/2020, 3/5/2021, 9/15/2021

University of Virginia 11/11/2019

Vanderbilt University 1/22/2019, 1/25/2019, 9/24/2019, 2/3/2020, 2/4/2020, 2/8/2021, 3/8/2021, 4/12/2021, 2/28/2022, 1/30/2023

Versatile PhD 11/29/2018

Washington State University 9/27/2016

Washington University in St. Louis 11/5/2019, 10/14/2020, 10/5/2021, 10/12/2021, 10/19/2021, 10/26/2021, 11/2/2021, 10/6/2022, 10/20/2022, 11/3/2022, 11/17/2022, 9/6/2023

West Virginia University 11/2/2016, 3/5/2018, 4/2/2018, 4/3/2018

Yale University 5/5/2021, 2/28/2024

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Seminar Reviews

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Personal Finance for PhDs’s seminars, webinars, and workshops consistently receive very positive feedback from hosts and audiences.

From Hosts

“Emily’s talk has been a huge success at Washington University. Her presentation is engaging, informative, and useful to our graduate students as they begin to think about their financial as well as their professional lives. She was generous with her time, staying to answer everyone’s questions after her talk. I would highly recommend inviting Emily to speak to graduate students and post-docs at your institution!” – Rachel Pepe, Operations Manager, Liberman Graduate Center, Washington University in St. Louis

“Emily’s presentation was extremely popular among our graduate students. Her knowledge on financial planning as a graduate student was informative, thorough, and engaging and our students gained valuable information that they can use to plan their personal finances. Emily was also great to work with and stayed longer to make sure all of the students’ questions were answered. We look forward to working with her again come tax season!” – Brittany Leclerc, Operations and Enrollment Management Specialist, Graduate School, Brown University

“Emily is uniquely positioned to answer questions specific to graduate students and postdocs because of her experience as a PhD-trained scientist. This makes her examples directly relevant to our trainee population, and in combination with her extensive knowledge of personal finance planning and options, allows her to suggest methods and goals that are both realistic and achievable. This was reflected in student comments at and after the event, which identified her contributions to their knowledge as important for motivating them to make immediate changes and spur on conversations to further their own financial planning. Further, Emily is extremely professional and easy to work with, making her an outstanding presenter. If you think you have a local expert that knows it all, consider the added benefit of bringing in Dr. Emily Roberts for PhD and postdoc audiences! Her personal knowledge and expertise makes a huge difference in helping to translate this knowledge into action for our trainees.” – Beka Layton, Training Initiatives in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (TIBBS), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“The feedback was incredibly positive, with many students thanking us for bringing [Emily] in to talk about such an important topic.” – Beth Overman, Preparing Future Leaders, North Carolina State University

“Inviting Dr. Emily Roberts to speak to our members and other graduate students was a fantastic choice. Her presentation was informative, relatable, and achievable for our student body. Although graduate students experience a rocky financial journey, Emily’s talk was directed to meet all types of financial well-being, and provide easily digestible steps to achieve financial goals. Her enthusiasm in answering all the questions from attendees and her empathetic understanding of everyone’s unique situation demonstrates that Emily has a deep passion to help others with their financial journey. Working with her to plan this event was a breeze, and we received tons of positive feedback. We plan to invite Emily back again, and can’t recommend her highly enough to other graduate students and programs!” – Ellen Bloom and Steve Voinier, College of Engineering EmPOWER, University of Delaware

“Emily’s talk was very popular and well received among Georgia Tech students who continue to be concerned about finances. The breadth of the talk has provided our students with a solid foundation from which to build a reasoned financial plan to alleviate their financial stress. We hope to bring her back to our campus for in-depth talks on some of the concepts introduced in ‘The Graduate Student’s Guide to Personal Finances.’” – James Black, Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of Graduate Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology

“Emily’s talk on graduate student personal finance is thorough, insightful, and a must for all graduate students.  Although some may be reluctant to consider their finances at this stage in their career, Emily’s presentation is both reassuring and a call to action at the same time.” – Teresa Dillinger, Manager, Professional Development Programs, Graduate Studies, the University of California at Davis

“Inviting Dr. Roberts to discuss taxes with students was an excellent investment in our community. Many students struggle with and feel heightened stress during tax season. Her expertise and presentation was extremely helpful and gave students the advice they needed and helped address a major concern and source of stress in our community.” – Meagan Hamblin, Fellowship Mentoring Chair, Stanford Biosciences Student Association, Stanford University

“Emily is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the personal financial planning that many graduate students are struggling with. Topics covered in “The Graduate Student’s Guide to Personal Finance” are exactly what we were looking for and people loved the seminar – we received extremely positive comments! Being a event host aiming to organize professional development workshops for peers, I couldn’t be happier to work with Emily and build up such environment for people to learn how to manage/use our money wisely.” – Chen-Yi Wu, Professional Development Coordinator, Marine Laboratory, Duke University

“Emily is a great speaker who has clearly done her research. Her comprehensive talk offered a helpful framework for developing individual financial goals and then provided an impressive overview of what graduate students (or anyone first figuring out their finances!) need to know to get there. ” – Amanda Davis, President of the Graduate Student Association, University of Rochester

“Emily’s “The Graduate Student’s Guide to Personal Finance” was a hit among graduate students at UAB. Many students were excited to attend the workshop, and we only wished we had more time to continue digging into the material. Emily provides a comprehensive overview of personal finances from the perspective of someone who has lived it. By sharing personal experience and communicating financial information clearly, Emily empowers students to take control of an often stress-inducing part of graduate life.” – Haley Medved Kendrick, Professional Development and Leadership Committee Chair of the Graduate Student Government, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“Not only was it informative, it was inspiring as well.” – Irene Jasper, Personal Finance @ Duke, Duke University

“Dr. Emily Roberts was very professional and attentive to the questions and interests of our audience. She knows what she’s talking about and cares about making it understandable to all grad students. The students who attended especially found the overview of saving and investing valuable.” – Victoria DeLeo, Science++ Co-Chair, Graduate Women in Science, Pennsylvania State University

“It’s clear that Emily really knows her material, and it was inspiring to see someone who has navigated graduate finances and come out on top.” – Kathy Myers, President of the Biological Sciences Council, University of California at Los Angeles

“Emily spoke to our Path to the Professoriate program geared towards demystifying graduate school for first year PhD students at Berkeley. Not only were students excited to gain her valuable insight on the important topic of personal finance, but they valued the fact that she was approaching the conversation from her lived experience as once being in their shoes.” – Denzil Streete, Chief of Staff and Assistant Dean for Diversity, Graduate Division, University of California, Berkeley

“Emily’s talk on Personal Finance for PhD students was very well received by the graduate students at Mayo Clinic. Not only was Emily comprehensive, professional, and inspiring, but she went above and beyond to personalize the presentation to our particular stipend-receiving audience and answered all questions thoughtfully.” – Emma Goddery, Co-Chair of Student Life and Wellness Committee, Graduate Student Association, Mayo Clinic

Emily’s workshop on personal finance for PhD students was very enthusiastically received by our graduate Neuroscience students. Emily is clearly very knowledgeable in the area of personal finance and her approachable presentation all contributed to the success of the workshop. – SandraJean Grasso, Assistant Director, Graduate Neuroscience, Boston University

“Emily was extremely knowledgeable regarding various financial strategies for students planning to attend graduate school or entering the workforce. Her presentation was professional and her communication style was appropriate for our audience.” – Heidi Bird, Assistant Director, Office of Career Services, Harvey Mudd College

“Emily gave an amazing presentation on understanding and preparing taxes for graduate students and I highly recommend working with her. Prior to her giving a seminar to our students, she learned all about our crazy and complicated stipend system which goes to show her thoroughness.” – Cheryl Friedman, Graduate Program Coordinator, The Scripps Research Institute

“Emily’s visit at the University of Kentucky was a wild success and drew both graduate students and postdocs to come learn about personal finance, an often overlooked topic of discussion. Not only was the feedback from trainees overwhelmingly positive, as a host, working with Emily was a breeze!” – Joseph Lutz, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs, University of Kentucky

From Trainee Attendees 

“This is a great topic for grad students of all years.” – a student at North Carolina State University

“Emily [is] an amazing speaker! Clear and concise. The outline/flow of the talk was very well structured and simplified finances well.” – a student at the University of California at Los Angeles

“This is an amazing experience for students. We NEED this!” – a student at Case Western Reserve University

“I liked how [Emily] had recently been in grad school and so was able to give trusted advice.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“[Emily] was very knowledgeable and practical which made a difficult topic so much more approachable.” – a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

“This was awesome! Please continue every year.” – a student at Stanford University

“The talk covered a lot of topics which was extremely useful. I found it to be a great overall view of finances and it was extremely helpful.” – a student at the University of Rochester

“I thought it was honestly exactly what I was searching for in terms of content and presentation.” – a student at Duke University

“Extremely helpful and demystified many aspects of personal finance for me. [The seminar] also improved my confidence to manage my finances through grad school and beyond.” – a student at Pennsylvania State University

“Very great presenter, appealing slides, and wonderful pace.” – a student at Emory University

“Very accessible and very interesting/playful approach to finance.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“Really clean and direct wisdom. Easy to access and a very directed talk to this audience.” – a student at the University of California at Los Angeles

“Dr. Roberts is very conversational and relatable, and was able to give specific examples about her time in graduate school – that really helped me!” – a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology

“The investment section was highly informative, and served as a good introduction. My thanks for Dr. Roberts!” – a trainee at Cornell University

“Very happy with the amount of well organized info in just one hour.” – a student at Duke University

“I found [the talk] very informative and it has inspired me to think about my own financial circumstances differently.” – a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara

“[Emily] understands grad students.” – a student at Case Western Reserve University

“The suggestions of what to do before going to grad school motivated me to get started now.” – a student at Harvey Mudd College

“[The talk] was very logical and particularly helpful to me.” – a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology

“10/10.” – a postdoc at the University of California at Davis

“Emily is very knowledgable – even about obscure tax law.” – a student at Duke University

“I thought it was really great to have a workshop like this. I already take care of my personal finances, but it was helpful to see how someone else did it as well.” – a student at Stanford University

“[Emily] had an excellent PowerPoint to go with her presentation, and she knew the material thoroughly. She was also extremely organized and easy to follow.” – a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

“The speaker was very knowledgable about the subject and lots of info was covered.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“I like how [Emily] makes her points very convincing by sharing her own experiences in personal finance. I also like her approach of giving us some big picture view.” – a postdoc at Columbia University

“Really smoothly flowing talk. Everything was very clear and I loved that it was geared towards grad students.”- a student at the University of California at Los Angeles

“I found the entire program to be very useful as I am not well-informed about finances. The budgeting information was very helpful.” – a student at North Carolina State University

“Tax stuff… In the presentation it was very easy to understand.” – a trainee at Cornell University

“[Emily] is an excellent speaker and she knows from experience what she is talking about.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“The talk was nicely tailored specifically for the needs and mindset of graduate students, and did a good job addressing different financial concerns that graduate students may have.” – a student at the University of Rochester

“Extremely informative.” – a postdoc at the University of California at Davis

“Incredibly useful, well presented, and took all the stress out of finances to look at it objectively, like scientists are good at handling, while recognizing the importance of personal values (but in an objective and logical way as it relates to finance).” – a trainee at the University of North Carolina

“[I] would have loved to go to this seminar earlier on in my graduate career!” – a student at Emory University

“Emily was very thoughtful about her word choice, which made her seem very knowledgeable about the complexities of financial advice.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“Very informative. [Emily] covered a broad range of topics, made them applicable and understandable, and was a very engaging speaker.” – a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

“[Emily] articulated ideas and principles in a new and season-appropriate way. She provided resources and encouragement.” – a student at Duke University

“Went at a good pace and covered a lot of practical material. Practicality was [the talk’s] biggest asset.” – a trainee at the University of North Carolina

“The speaker’s presentation and engagement with the audience was spot on.” – a student at Duke University

“Excellent talk.” – a student at Case Western Reserve University

“AMAZING, INSPIRING, INFORMATIVE.” – a student at the University of California at Davis

“I loved it.” – a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Articles

A Grad Student’s Guide to Personal Finance – Recap (North Carolina State University)

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Seminar Descriptions

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The intended audience for these seminars is funded graduate students and postdocs. The content is specifically tailored to cover what trainees need to know to take control of and improve their finances in the present.

Each seminar can be presented in either a virtual or in-person setting.

The titles of each seminar available in the 2022-2023 academic year are below:

The Graduate Student’s and Postdoc’s Guide to Personal Finance

  • Most popular selection for first-time clients
  • Covers multiple personal finance topics
  • Live lecture and Q&A format
  • 2 hours

Optimized Financial Goal Setting for Graduate Students and Postdocs

  • Details my 8-step financial goals framework: how to choose which financial goal to pursue
  • Live lecture and Q&A format (1 hour)
  • Live workshop format (2 hours)—includes lecture content plus worksheets, spreadsheet templates, and/or discussion prompts
  • Flipped classroom workshop format—includes recorded lecture content, worksheets and/or spreadsheet templates, and a live call (up to 1 hour) for discussion and Q&A

Why and How to Passively Invest as a Grad Student or Postdoc

  • The subject PhD trainees are most intensely interested in (after taxes)!
  • Explains why passive investing is the most effective, least expensive, and most cost-efficient manner of investing
  • Teaches about IRAs and workplace-based retirement accounts
  • Discusses how to choose which brokerage firm to use
  • Lecture and Q&A format (1 hour)
  • Workshop format (2 hours)—includes lecture content plus worksheets, spreadsheet templates, and/or discussion prompts
  • Flipped classroom workshop format—includes recorded lecture content, worksheets and/or spreadsheet templates, and a live call (up to 1 hour) for discussion and Q&A

Whether and How to Pay Off Debt During Graduate School or Your Postdoc

  • Details methods of debt repayment
  • Explains how to choose which debt to prioritize
  • Gives an overview of student loan repayment options
  • Lecture and Q&A format (1 hour)
  • Workshop format (2 hours)—includes lecture content plus worksheets, spreadsheet templates, and/or discussion prompts
  • Flipped classroom workshop format—includes recorded lecture content, worksheets and/or spreadsheet templates, and a live call (up to 1 hour) for discussion and Q&A

Up-Level Your Cash Flow as a Graduate Student and Postdoc

  • Teaches how to budget for large, irregular expenses
  • Explains how to stay “on time” with budgeting and credit card usage
  • Gives a framework and ideas for increasing income
  • Includes my frugality quadrant: where to focus your frugal efforts for maximum effect
  • Lecture and Q&A format (1 hour)
  • Workshop format (2 hours)—includes lecture content plus worksheets, spreadsheet templates, and/or discussion prompts
  • Flipped classroom workshop format—includes recorded lecture content, worksheets and/or spreadsheet templates, and a live call (up to 1 hour) for discussion and Q&A

Hack Your Budget

  • Collects spending data on necessities from attendees in advance through a survey
  • Presents the group’s spending data
  • Leads a discussion on how to manage spending in each expense category
  • Live workshop format—1 hour

I also create custom seminars upon request.

Looking for tax content?

My tax education seminars are now available as pre-recorded videos with live Q&A calls and support materials. Email emily at PFforPhDs dot com to discuss a bulk purchase for your group.

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Are You Ready to Invest Your Grad Student Stipend?

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Having been sufficiently convinced that it is a great idea to start investing during graduate school, you’re eager to get your money working for you. But as beneficial as investing is for the long-term growth of your personal net worth, you must make sure that your finances are sufficiently prepared in the here and now. Once you can answer “Yes!” to the five questions below, you’re ready to invest your grad student stipend.

invest your grad student stipend

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Do you have excess cash flow/cash savings available to invest?

Right off the bat, of course, you have to have some money to invest. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money by any means, but you must have either some cash flow available every month or savings that you are willing to devote to investing. If you are going to invest your grad student stipend on a regular basis, write your investing goal into your budget and pay yourself first through an automated transfer. Investing a lump sum of cash savings at one time is a fine approach as well, though you must make sure that you still have enough cash on hand (more on that in question 3).

Do you have zero high-interest rate debt?

Even if you’re super gung-ho about investing and highly optimistic about your prospective long-term rate of return, it’s not the best idea to put money into investments while you have high interest rate debt. When you pay down debt, you receive a guaranteed “rate of return” on your payment that is equal to the interest rate of the debt. On the other hand, investing comes with a degree of risk and you are not guaranteed any specific return, especially in the short term. Given an interest rate on debt equal to or slightly less than the expected long-term rate of return on your investments, mathematically it makes more sense to pay down the debt.

Generally speaking, you should pay credit card debt down immediately and with gusto (even 0% introductory offers) before beginning to invest. Any car or personal loans that have a very low interest rate and subsidized student loans can take a back seat to investing if you like, though it’s also a great option to pay them off before beginning to invest if they weigh on your mind. Unsubsidized student loans can fall into either category. The interest rate tipping point above which you should pay off debt and below which you should invest is up to you and will be related to the long-term rate of return you expect on your investments.

Do you have sufficient short-term reserves?

It’s important to have some cash savings available to you before you begin to invest your grad student stipend. Even though that money will not earn much of a return sitting in a checking, savings, or money market account, it serves as a safety net. You don’t want to have to go into debt or pull out the money you already invested if a short-term problem pops up. It’s much better to have cash available to smooth out any rough patches.

There are two forms of short-term reserves that you should build to a sufficient level before you begin to invest: an emergency fund and cash for short-term spending. Every grad student should have at minimum a $1,000 emergency fund and perhaps even a larger one before moving on to any other financial goals. The other type of cash to keep available to use is money to use for irregular expenses, which are expenses that occur once or a few times per year that are difficult for you to cash flow.

If you’re incredibly eager about investing, you can build these two types of cash funds to a fairly low funding level – perhaps just $1,000 in your emergency fund and $1,000 for short-term spending. But as you grow your investment accounts, consider continuing to build your cash reserves as well.

Do you have an investing goal?

Before you begin to invest your grad student stipend, you have to be very clear about what you are investing for. The most common investing goal for grad students is for retirement. It’s rather counter-intuitive, but you should actually start investing for your longest-term goal first. Some grad students may also create a mid-term goal for about 5 years out. The time horizon of your goal will determine your asset allocation (the level of risk you want to take for the amount of return you want to get). You should invest as aggressively as you are comfortable with for your retirement/long-term investments, but somewhat more conservatively for your mid-term investments.

For the specific goal of investing for retirement, you will need to decide whether to invest inside a tax-advantaged retirement account like an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA). If you decide to use an IRA, you will have the choice between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA. In my experience, virtually all grad students choose the Roth IRA.

Do you know where and in what you will invest?

Your final decision before beginning to invest your grad student stipend is what brokerage firm to invest through and what specific investments to put your money in. When you are deciding on a brokerage firm, look at their selection of investments, cost, reputation, and minimum balances. Passively investing in broad index funds is the most effective and time-efficient approach. You can learn all you need to about passive investing in as little as an hour or two, so don’t let yourself get bogged down in analysis paralysis. Getting started investing with a good but imperfect strategy is better than waiting around to develop a perfect strategy.

Once you have five ‘Yes’ answers to the questions above, don’t delay your first contribution to your investment account! You are well prepared to take the next step with your finances.

If your answer to one or more of these questions was ‘No,’ don’t despair. Put the energy and excitement you have toward investing into turning your ‘No’ into a ‘Yes.’ This might take as little as a couple hours of contemplation for the last two questions or as much as months or years of refining your budget and diverting your cash flow for the first three questions. But if you apply yourself diligently, you’ll be ready to start investing before you know it.

Are there any additional steps you with you had or hadn’t taken before starting to invest your stipend? What steps are you working on before you begin investing your stipend?

Why Pay Down Your Student Loans in Grad School?

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While you’re in graduate school, you have the option of deferring payments on the student loans you have previously taken out. This is a very standard procedure that your lender should have no trouble helping you with once you make the request. Deferment means that you are not required to make payments on your student loans. You are allowed to defer student loans when you are enrolled at least half-time in graduate school.

That’s where many graduate students stop thinking about their student loans. “I don’t have to pay? Awesome!” But just because you defer your student loans does not mean that you should ignore them. Even in deferment, you have the option of making payments of any size you choose on your student loans. Depending on the rest of your financial landscape and the interest rate of the loans, it can be a good idea to pay down your loans while you are in graduate school.

When your student loans enter deferment, you don’t have to make payments but the loans still accrue interest at their given rate. In the case of federal subsidized student loans (which are now only available to undergraduates), the federal government pays the interest for you, so your loans don’t grow any larger. In the case of federal unsubsidized and private student loans, the accrued interest adds to your balance due. When your loans exit deferment, the interest capitalizes, which means it becomes part of the principal due, making your accruing interest and minimum payments even higher.

Interest rate is crucial

The higher the interest rate on your unsubsidized loans, the faster the loan balance will grow during the deferment period. Let’s look at a few examples. Direct unsubsidized loans for undergraduates are offered at 4.45% and direct unsubsidized loans for graduate students are offered at 6% (as of June 2017). Private student loans might be offered anywhere from 3 to 12%.

This table illustrates how much your loan balance would grow at the given interest rate if you made no payments (deferred) for five years.

You can see how much the interest rate itself affects the balance after five years. And remember, interest will continue to accumulate throughout the entire life of the loan! Not making payments just allows the problem to grow larger.

If your student loans are currently deferred, you have a decision to make: Should you make payments on your student loans even though you don’t have to, and what amount should you pay? There are different answers depending on your exact situation.

You can’t pay – period

Some graduate students have no choice here; they are simply unable to make any payments on their student loans. This might be because they are taking out more student loans or consumer debt during graduate school or because their stipend only just covers their bare-bones living expenses. This is a situation in which deferment is sorely needed. The best course forward is to finish graduate school in a timely manner, get a well-paying job, and start repayment when the deferment ends.

You might be able to pay, but you’re reluctant to free up the cash flow

Many graduate students who receive stipends technically have the ability to make payments toward their student loans if they want to, but they either don’t recognize their ability or are unmotivated to make the sacrifice to their lifestyles. When you’re not compelled to put money toward your future, it’s easy to let your lifestyle inflate to your income level.

When you’re dealing with compound interest, like with debt repayment or investing, the question comes down to how much you value an amount of money now vs. a larger amount later. How much larger an amount depends on the interest rate. Yes, it would be a sacrifice to cut $100/month from your budget, for example, to make a regular payment on your debt, and it would almost certainly be easier to sacrifice $100/month out of your larger post-grad school income. But remember that we’re not comparing $100 now to $100 later – more like $100 now with $120 or $140 or $160 later.

What the tipping point is between those two options is up to each individual to decide based on his risk tolerance, post-graduation income prospects, and lifestyle desires.

You have available cash flow, but you’re not sure if it should go toward the loans

Other graduate students have already identified some amount of cash flow each month that they want to put toward their financial goals, but they’re not sure if their loans should be their top priority. Maybe they feel they could also use some additional cash savings on hand or are excited about investing.

As long as the student has a satisfactory emergency fund and/or cash for short-term spending and no higher-interest rate debt, putting the cash flow toward either the debt repayment or long-term investing is a good choice. Which one comes out on top should be determined based on two primary factors: the math and your personal disposition.

The math: Compare the interest rate on your debt with the average annual rate of return you expect on your investments. If your interest rate is much lower than your expected average annual rate of return, that’s a big argument in favor of investing over debt repayment. If your interest rate is comparable to or higher than your expected average annual rate of return, that favors debt repayment.

Personal disposition: How you feel about this investing vs. debt repayment decision matters, too. If you can’t sleep at night for thinking about your looming debt, just work on paying it down. If the math doesn’t sway you strongly to one side and you are super excited about starting to invest, go ahead and do that (but keep in mind that losing money is a distinct possibility).

Remember that subsidized loans are effectively at a 0% interest rate, so repaying those loans would only be a top priority for someone who really hates their debt.

Payment strategies

If you have decided to repay your student loans to some degree during grad school, you have some options on how to do so.

The first is that deferral decision that we assumed at the beginning. Even if you don’t feel you have to defer because you can easily afford the minimum payment, deferring still may be advantageous for two reasons: 1) If something ever came up that prevented you from making your required payment, your credit score would take a hit. 2) With no minimum payment required across all your loans, you can choose to pay down one loan at a time.

Second, assuming your loans are deferred, you can make regular payments or save up for some time and make larger, lump-sum payments. It might be easier to make fewer payments over the course of a year, but if your loans are unsubsidized you would lose a little bit of money to interest accumulation. Talk with your lender to see how willing they are to accept payments of variable amount and at irregular times. For subsidized loans, you wouldn’t be penalized for building up your payoff money in your own coffers up through the entire deferment period as long as you paid the sum before the loans exit deferment.

Third, within your set of student loans, you may have multiple different interest rates, perhaps including both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. If you have decided to commit a certain amount of money to loan payment, you should put the whole payment toward the unsubsidized loan with the highest interest rate (the debt avalanche method).

Pay just the interest

One option that I haven’t yet mentioned is the common suggestion to pay off only the accruing interest during the deferment period so that the loan balance you have upon exiting deferment is exactly the same as the loan balance that you had upon entering deferment. While it is a fine idea to pay some amount toward the loans during deferment, I don’t see a compelling reason why that number should exactly equal the amount of interest accruing. If you have the ability to make interest-only payments, why stop there? You should pay as much as your budget allows.

I do think it’s a good idea to defer your student loans while you are in graduate school. And on top of that, to the greatest extent you are willing you should put your money toward increasing your net worth. Both debt repayment and investing fulfill that goal well, and which one you choose will depend primarily on the math and your personal disposition. The higher the interest rate on your student loan debt, the more compelling the argument for paying it down while you are in grad school.

Birthing a Baby Before You Birth Your Dissertation

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Financial considerations for graduate students becoming parents.

If your relationship with your graduate advisor can be compared to a marriage, the dissertation you create together is your child. You conceive it together in early days and then spend 5 (or 6 or 7 or…) years raising it up until it can make its way into the world independently. That creative process is time-, energy-, and emotion-intensive, not to mention financially limiting due to the small stipend you receive in those years.

Is it possible to bring a human child into your family in the midst of your graduate degree and still see it to a successful completion? Plenty of newly minted PhDs celebrate their accomplishment alongside their children. But having a baby during graduate school may be even more of a challenge to your time and finances than doing so before or after.

When you are deciding whether to have a child during grad school or preparing for one already on the way, the two key areas in which you need to make space are your time and money. In this article, I outline the largest monetary costs that you will incur in the first year of your child’s life and discuss ways to minimize those expenses. The first things to come to mind when you think of these costs may be clothing, toys, or a crib, but those are actually among the more minor expenses.

Medical Care and Insurance

Prenatal, postpartum, and ongoing medical care are necessary for mother and baby, so check your insurance policies. Research the out-of-pocket costs for an uncomplicated birth with each of the providers and settings you are considering, and ask your insurance company about your deductibles and co-pays. Midwifery care tends to be less expensive than obstetric care, but that may or may not be in line with your birth preferences or affect your bottom line. You have time to save up a fund to pay for your part of the birth expenses. You should also make sure your emergency fund is a healthy size in case mother or baby experiences complications that will add to the expense.

After the birth, you can choose to add the child to either parent’s insurance policy; assuming the care options are comparable, you can choose the one that you expect to be less expensive to you between the premiums and the out-of-pocket costs. An open enrollment period prior to or during pregnancy also provides an opportunity to switch the mother’s insurance provider if that is advantageous.

If you are adding the baby to your graduate student insurance policy, expect to pay a (higher) premium. Also be aware that while a typical health insurance premium would be paid incrementally with each paycheck, your grad student insurance might require a lump sum up front for each term or year.

Parental Leave

Your university or department may have a parental leave policy in place. It should outline the amount of time you are permitted to take off; whether the leave will be unpaid, paid, or at partial pay; and whether benefits such as insurance will continue. If there is no official parental leave policy, there may be one regarding leave for a medical or an unspecified reason that will apply or a vacation policy. Failing that, it will be down to you to negotiate your leave with your advisor and possibly department. This is also a great opportunity to negotiate a different schedule for after the baby arrives.

The reason leave is included as a major cost is because of the potential loss of income. The length of your leave might be influenced by what you can afford. Similar to your medical expenses, use the time you have leading up to the birth to save a dedicated fund out of which you can pay your expenses during your unpaid or partial-pay leave.

Childcare

Childcare is easily one of the largest costs you will incur in the first year of your baby’s life, and it can be paid in either money or the caregiver’s time (i.e., opportunity cost).

If you are going to pay for childcare, compare all your local options: daycare, a nanny or nanny share, or babysitters. As a graduate student, you may be eligible to receive a subsidy for daycare on- or off-campus. Consider whether you need full-time or part-time care; if you have flexibility in when you work and money is more scarce than time, perhaps you only need part-time care.

Some families may be able to arrange for childcare that does not involve an exchange of money. One parent can cease working or move to a part-time schedule, both parents can work different ‘shifts’ so one is always with the baby, or another family member may donate his or her time. This is highly dependent on your existing resources, the flexibility of your work, and how you want to spend your time.

Be very cautious about assigning your time a value equal to that of your stipend ‘hourly rate.’ This line of thought leads many lower-income workers to the conclusion that it is financially advantageous to quit a job to become a full-time caregiver rather than to pay for childcare. This is short-sighted because it does not consider future career advancement and income increases. While you are in graduate school, your income is suppressed, but you can greatly increase it by finishing graduate school and moving on to a higher-paying job. It can make financial sense to pay a comparable or higher rate for childcare than you earn from your stipend if it speeds your progress toward your post-grad school job.

Space

Just about every year a new ‘cost of raising a child’ calculation is performed. For example, in 2015 the headline cost of raising a child to age 18 was $230,000 (this is an average over all income levels and parenting choices). The largest component of that cost calculation (29%) was for housing. If you decide to move to a larger dwelling to accommodate your new child, you must account for that additional monthly cost. Depending on your parenting decisions, that’s not necessarily a cost you will incur immediately – the American Academy of of Pediatrics recommends sleeping in the same room as your infant for the first year – but eventually more space will become necessary.

Insurance

If you have not yet had reason to purchase life insurance, the birth of your first child will almost certainly motivate you to do so. The purpose of life insurance is to provide for anyone who would be financially impacted by your death. The most cost-effective type of life insurance to buy is term life insurance, not whole life or universal life. You can shop online or through an independent insurance broker to find the best policy and price for you.

Food

While the average American spends less than 10% of their disposable income on food (both at home and out), I consider food to be a major regular budget line item for graduate students (often third-largest after housing and transportation). Therefore, an infant’s food could also have a significant impact on the family’s budget. The choice to breastfeed or formula-feed – to the extent that it is a choice – is a parenting decision that has a monetary cost either way. Expect to spend some money in this category, whether on formula, bottles, breastfeeding supplies, or extra food for the mother. Starting between 4 and 6 months of age, you’ll also start purchasing solid foods for your child.

Further reading: Breastfeeding Ain’t Free

Diapers

Another significant cost in a baby’s first year of life is waste management, i.e., diapers, wipes, diapering supplies, etc. This cost is less avoidable than some of the previously listed ones (except by practicing elimination communication and potty training early), but it can be minimized. If you are using disposable diapers, it’s all about sourcing the least expensive diapers that work for your baby. Cloth diapering requires an up-front investment, but becomes less expensive than disposable diapering within the first year and realizes large savings in subsequent years and for subsequent children.

Further reading: Cloth Diapering in an Apartment

Stuff

Most of the remaining money that you will spend in your child’s first year of life are one-time purchases of various items, such as a car seat, stroller/carrier, furniture, linens, clothing, toys, and books. If you receive gifts or hand-me-downs, they will likely be in this category, so some of the cost might not be borne by your budget. You might even be able to borrow many of these types of items from a family with a child slightly older than yours. A parents’ group at your university could be a great resource in this respect. Whatever you do need to buy can be bought used, though be careful for highly regulated items like car seats and cribs that they are compliant.

Further reading: Outfitting Our Baby with Hand-Me-Down, Borrowed, and Used Stuff

While this list may appear overwhelming, not every cost may apply to your family and there are ways to minimize each one. For the costs that you expect to incur, the best way to decide if you can afford them is to pretend that you are paying them now. Draft a post-baby budget that includes your monthly additional cost for housing, childcare, purchases, etc. and see if you can live on the remainder right now. Funnel all the cash flow you are trying to do without into a dedicated fund for your child that can ultimately pay for your start-up costs.

What was the toughest financial aspect of having a baby while in grad school and how did you work through it?