No, it's not a belief I hold, but am dumbfounded I've never really heard much about it.... but somewhere along the line 14.5% for education doesn't feel right to meOriginally Posted by Spartana
20% to go Out to Eat or an iPhone -- then you deserve whatever you get
I totally agree
1) If I owe someone/entity money I need to pay it back
2) If I borrow then I need to pay to use that money
I don't have any answers to any of it.
I believe, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, that most private loans are variable interest rate, with two variables factoring into that rate - whatever index is used, and the initial "credit risk" of the borrower (sets the floor of the rate).
When DH had private loans we searched and searched in vain for a way to consolidate them into a low fixed rate product. Nothing out there even though by this point he had a good credit score and we had assets. The only decent option was a home equity loan. As I may have stated before (though I think not in this thread) we ended up putting them on zero percent credit cards because the rate was getting above 10% and we paid them off aggressively.
Now, what I will say, is I caution anyone considering private loans to use them as a LAST RESORT (or not at all!). The terms with federal loans are much more favorable. There are some private loan companies that advertise as easier to use/get, etc than fed loans...don't buy into it! The federal loan limits should be able to fund a degree without the use of private loans. If you want to go into law of medicine and need that extra money I would caution to make sure you really know you want to do that. We are still paying for DH's one year adventure at a private law school nearly 10 years later.
How old should a person be, before we expect them to be responsible enough to enter into binding contracts?
[QUOTE=Midwest;73205][QUOTE=Iris lily;73202]I feel so foolish not not borrowing money I'm not paying back. Damn I keep missing these loan forgiveness opportunities.
Yes, certainly don't borrow it when you're denied retraining benefits after losing a job due to budget cuts, and just stay unemployed for the rest of your life. How silly of me to want to try to make myself more employable when losing my job had already destroyed my finances. Don't borrow it and see if flipping burgers is something you can continue to do after you hit 75 or so.
Agreed. Don't borrow it and you don't have to worry about paying it back.
Also, why are politicians consistently trying to promote "public service" positions? In many cases, those jobs pay better than market already.
What many people miss is that a growing number of these students are in their 40s and 50s with no other avenue of education available to them, and no job prospects without retraining. Even what counts as a "modest" 2-year educational cost now adds up to more than we will live long enough to repay. Under the current regulations I may finish paying off my loans around my 80th birthday. Provided I find anyone who wants to employ someone over 55 in an entry level job, and never, ever miss a payment...
I agree, Zoebird. It's too easy to say "you should have been more prepared." I spent my entire life trying to be more prepared, but things haven't worked out that way. As a person with disabilities, for over two decades I worked harder than anyone around me, just to keep up, popping pain pills all the way. When my body couldn't do that anymore, I lost my job. Divorce, caretaking a dying parent, medical debt, all helped put me where I am. (Yeah, I made some dumb decisions, but they account for less than 5% of the total.) For physical reasons I can only work a skilled position, and no longer in my previous field. What was I supposed to do? Sit around and hope that unemployment would be extended forever? Resign myself to living on less in SSDI (as a former stay-at-home mom then part-time worker due to health) than a one-bedroom rat-infested sinkhole of an apartment costs?
For those of the "contract" and "free will" camp, if you haven't gotten a student loan lately you're in another world. In short, the schools are your contact and administrator, and the schools lie. The documents end up being a mish-mash of different terms applied at different times, and yes, the terms can change just like on your credit cards. What you signed up for may not be what you get. And if disaster strikes, you have no recourse for relief. The fees pile up until students who borrowed less than $10,000 to begin with owe $100 and $200K if they suffer even a few months of unemployment or illness. Rest assured, they don't tell you that: there's no real way to compare costs and make an informed decision, especially with a high-pressure salesmen impersonating school recruiters. If even Elizabeth Warren has trouble figuring out the fine print and terms on these loans, the average student doesn't have a prayer.
So I'm confused. Are you advocating for a bill that says those of us who have made it to our 40s or 50s should be able to borrow money without planning to pay it back?
I am unconvinced most of them have prospects with retraining. I mean retraining makes sense if you are in a job in a field that very specifically went under far more than the rest of the economy. You were a real estate agent or something involved in home building maybe. That bubble probably isn't coming back. Or maybe you were in some type of manufacturing that is never coming back to this country. Then yes .... you need to retrain, it's rational, it's basic, change fields.What many people miss is that a growing number of these students are in their 40s and 50s with no other avenue of education available to them, and no job prospects without retraining.
But retraining is often seen as some kind of fix for an unemployment that is not just caused by certain fields going away (horse and buggies going away say) but is rather part of the whole economy. And it's not. ALL jobs almost across the board have less openings. If you had a perfectly good job before, and one that isn't disproportionally affected, and you can't get rehired, training for another perfectly good job is not necessarily going to solve your problems. That's just nonsense that is preached at people told to "retrain ...". And you know it's tempting nonsense, because school is both fun (for me) and takes some work, and it feels like you are DOING SOMETHING (rather than just sending in resumes that don't get answers which can start to feel like doing nothing). But ... I mean I guess you slightly improve your odds if you are applying in two different fields (in which you can jobs in neither?), but retraining is not the answer to everyone's problems.
Trees don't grow on money
Fees of that amount and in that short a time frame would violate the usury limits in any state in the US. If you actually know of someone who is in that position you might have them contact an attorney.
Exactly. It's helpful to read what Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor specializing in bankruptcy and personal finance, has to say about student loans. In just 6 months the total of student loan debt in the US went up something like $200 B, mostly from jacked up interest and fees on existing loans, rather than new debt. Student loans are the next bubble, at over $1T and rising rapidly. Why special forgiveness for students? 1) Students are specially targeted for misleading loans they cannot reasonably be expected to ever be able to repay, and 2) student loans are the only loans that the lending industry has managed to get completely exempted from any form of consumer protection, even garnishing benefits that are usually exempt. It's virtually impossible for a student, young or older, to make a realistic estimate of what the loan will cost them in total, and the risks associated with being in default even by one payment. Once you miss a payment or two, you're at the mercy of rigid collections policies and punitive fees/interest designed to keep you from ever paying it off, until your loan is paid off. Forgiveness is simply an effort to level the playing field before this time bomb implodes. It's not a perfect solution, but better than doing nothing.
And BTW, it makes me sick that I can't pay every penny I owe. I don't want to be in this position. I did everything I knew to do to not end up in this position. Yet I am. And I am not alone. Like millions of others, I'd be in a much better position today if I hadn't tried to pay my debts to the bitter end and just went bankrupt at the outset. We're in bad shape because we didn't game the system and because we're trying to be responsible against impossible odds. Give us a break, ok?
ahh.. i didnt get what i wanted . I went to college to get a better paying job and to get out of a bad living situation. I WAS directed by ppl older then me that this was the right thing to do .. SO no, i didn't get what i wanted. There are so many things wrong with what people are saying its not even funny. I know i am young but first of all, there is no morality of any sort to student loans. None. And do you know why? Because for one, like someone else stated even the bible says that you shouldn't take out loans and that god will provide for you. This i believed, but again, my parents had a big say in this. Alot of people that dont have to deal with certain things in life just comment with out a mindful direction. If the economy was how it should be, then none of this would even be a problem. But instead, i am taking home 24,000 grand a year. Alot of people that say these kids have choices and should just suck it up and pay are really talking just to talk. They have no idea about the situation of their families and everything like that. MY mom was making great money before she got laid off and was going to help me pay back my loans and guess what? She gets laid off the same year i graduate (still has not been able to find a job since). I didn't find a job in the first year of my graduation. I was told by all my professors they felt bad for me because this is the worst year to graduate in about 35 years. I graduated from an hbcu, thinking that i would be able to get with a great company and intern but that was not the case. The fact is that, school should be free. Whats not morally correct is we live in a place where we have people that can make 50 billion dollars off of the middle and lower class people. What is not morally correct is that we have athletes that make more then doctors. Or that Gas is 4.60 a gallon in some places. Or that people actually believe the government is right about things...
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