It's almost certainly either debt forgiveness or straight income. Both of those are taxable.

Yeah, you could be right. Still, it seems odd that a tax-supported program would be taxable. For example, we took advantage of the $8k tax credit for our house a few years back, and the $8k was NOT taxable.

If the program is loan forgiveness, then you should take option #1. You borrowed the money and you owe it. You should pay it back.

If the program is contracted benefit to attract a qualified employee, then go modified option 2 with payoff cash in an account ready to go. Debilitating injury/illness in year 4 would really stink. If this is from a locality watch out for severence right before they have to pay out.

I am big fan of free market. If they need that incentive to attract good people then go for it. If that is part of her compensation package, then she deserves every penny.

That's essentially a write-off. A tax deduction isn't taxable, but income (eg; SS benefits) is.

According to this link, it probably would not be taxable:

http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgivenesstaxability.phtml

This isn't a handout. It's a way to attract qualified people to areas of need. You should absolutely take advantage of that. It's like the GI bill for teachers in low-income and/or high-need areas.

You wouldn't go through the military and then go "I really shouldn't let them pay for my college". That would be insane. It's part of the deal you signed onto.

The program is designed to get people to go into high-need areas, such as special education, math, and science, and it's especially targeted at high need schools as well. So yes, it's an incentive program. However, it didn't make any difference in her choice of school for the most part. She gets a kick out of helping the kids who need it most.

Still, I couldn't care less whether she "deserves" it or not. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm not a huge fan of stuff like this, but I pay for it in my own taxes, so I'm sure as hell not going to say no if it's to my financial advantage.

Why wouldn't you be a fan of it? It's simple supply and demand. There is more demand for certain positions than there is supply, so the price has to go up. Because of unions, the salaries can't go up directly, so they have to go about it a different way.

Working for 5 years in order to get $17,500 in extra compensation isn't like taking welfare. There's a reason that they can't fill these positions.

Cool. Good to know.

Woo Hoo

Eh, her district is one of the highest-paying districts in the state already - partially due to the fact that they have such high demand. I'm just generally not a huge fan of subsidy programs in general. Nothing against this one in particular.

This is what I would do. You can't have enough cash laying around. If you want to remodel you kitchen or your basement leaks or something stupid, you don't want all your money in an IRA.

Got it. I want to change my vote now.

What would I do if I was you?

Get off Chiefsplanet and **** my hot wife.

I would try to figure out what the talking heads and financial gurus would do if this was put in the context of a national debt. Then I would do the opposite.