dental school at the same time 11 years ago. He went into the military for 5 years so he wouldn't have student loans. He makes very little money and rents a cheap condo. I bought a starter home my first year. After 5 years my house has gone up more than I what I originally owed on student loans and my student loans are half paid off and I am a third of the way through paying off my practice. Plus I was saving for retirement in an awesome bull market. If I had to do it over again, I would have paid off less of my student loans and put all that money into some form of retirement savings.