NMDA Journal Fall 2019

26 New Mexico Dental Journal, Fall 2019 NMDA EndorsedVendors: Laurel Road By Michael Sparks, DDS, MS President-Elect NMDA 2019 and Chair NMDA Member Services Committee This is the second article in a recurring series that will look at endorsed member benefits in the NewMexico Dental Association. The NMDA regularly evaluates and selects companies to endorse when they offer benefits in cost savings and/or higher level of service for our members. The Member Services Committee is not endorsing these companies for the benefit of the NMDA, but only for the benefit of our NMDA members. The list of endorsed-company member ben- efits through the NMDA currently includes 13 companies and we are evaluating others to expand this in the near future to help in other needed areas. Currently, endorsed companies offer a wide range of services including dis- counted clinical supplies by The Dental Supply Company, which I highlighted in the Summer 2019 NMDA Journal . In this article, I would like to discuss another valuable member benefit available through Laurel Road, which specializes in refinancing student loans. The average student loan debt for a dentist as of 2017 was $287,331. This is the highest amount for any profession. And as we all know, interest rates can really magnify the problem of paying off debt. Dr. David Manzanares (Secretary/Treasurer NMDA 2019) was featured in an article in Den- tal Economics entitled“How I Stopped Drown- ing in Student Loan Debt.”David was gracious in reaching out to me and sharing his story in hopes it could help other dentists. His situation was similar to what most dental school graduates currently face. He wondered if he would be able to achieve the same fi- nancial successes that his father, Dr. Robert Manzanares (Espanola, NMDA Past President), had experienced. His father graduated 29 years prior to him. Many of David’s contem- poraries and friends were also encountering six-figure student loan debt. Some owed twice as much having graduated from private dental schools. This was stunting the development of their professional lives. The higher amount of student loans was also leading to longer repayment periods and more interest paid just toward interests, which was incredibly discouraging. This was even a tougher financial burden on new dentists that were married with children. Many new graduates didn’t know that refinanc- ing student loans to a lower interest rate was even possible. David heard about the opportu- nity to refinance his student loan debt through Laurel Road, an endorsed member benefit from the NewMexico Dental Association. He was es- pecially encouraged to see a program that was endorsed by the Association. He was familiar with the ADA/NMDA and its thorough research when making an endorsement. By lowering his interest rate from 6.8% to 4.75% for all of his loans, his monthly pay- ments were approximately $1,750 a month. At the beginning of his repayment, it had been as high as $3,000 per month. He felt that, most importantly, the refinance allowed him to reduce his repayment plan to 10 years instead of 30 years. This resulted in quicker repayment and a feeling that he could proudly say, “I’ve got this.” He said having the opportunity to repay his loans in 10 years instead of 30 was liberating, in fact life-changing. He also found out that he would have an ad- ditional .25% reduction in his interest rate for being an ADA/NMDA member, as well as an- other .25% reduction in his interest if he were to open a checking account with Laurel Road.