bankruptcy

[amanda6035]

I never said they weren't an option. I said people didn't "need" loans to be able to get an education. And my position hasn't changed on that.

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by amanda6035

I never said they weren't an option. I said people didn't "need" loans to be able to get an education. And my position hasn't changed on that.

There were 123 students in my vet school class and I can count on one hand how many paid for schooling on their own (via their parents or they had previous careers), the rest of us HAD to take out loans-there was no other way. There are not many scholarships offered and no grants. How else would I have done it?? I hated the debt and paid it off as soon as I could (even selling my house-a portion of the profit went towards the loan).

I feel lucky though-I make a good living and feel my debt was a good investment. I do feel sorry for the current students-average debt for vet school has gone up to 150,000-that will be very difficult to pay off. I would not have gone to vet. school if I had been looking at that kind of debt. There is income based repayment now which does help from what I hear. Whether that is fair to the rest of us as taxpayers is another story.

[AOII Angel]

I think some people think that the point of money is to accrue it and let it sit in the bank. Student loans are a pretty good deal. Some bank gives students with absolutely NO credit a lot of money to get an education that exponentially improves their abilities to make back that money and more in the future. Hmmm...sounds like an investment to me. Some investments are made to start business, some are made into people. $100,000 to fund my medical education was a bargain, and I'm paying it back as slowly as I can...because I can, and I don't give a damn. Money doesn't mean that much to me. Having my education, getting through it in the least amount of time and getting on with my life so my family and I can be happy is the most important thing. Paying interest...so what?

[aggieAXO]

I guess it depends on how you feel about debt. I hate it and pay for eveything in cash or if I use credit will pay it off quickly. To me debt=stress, I literally would have anxiety atttacks thinking about my loans. I felt like I was in prison.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by aggieAXO

I guess it depends on how you feel about debt. I hate it and pay for eveything in cash or if I use credit will pay it off quickly. To me debt=stress, I literally would have anxiety atttacks thinking about my loans. I felt like I was in prison.

The cost of my debt is a drop in the bucket each month. It would cause me more stress trying to pay it off quickly, which is also dumb since it is the lowest financed rate debt you can get. I'd pay off one of my two mortgages before I'd even consider touching my student loan debt. My debt to income level is minuscule anyway. Having debt is not the end of the world. I do agree about the credit cards, though. You should use them to increase you credit rating but pay them off. We use ones with top rated rewards programs (currently Chase Sapphire.)

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

The cost of my debt is a drop in the bucket each month. It would cause me more stress trying to pay it off quickly, which is also dumb since it is the lowest financed rate debt you can get. I'd pay off one of my two mortgages before I'd even consider touching my student loan debt. My debt to income level is minuscule anyway. Having debt is not the end of the world. I do agree about the credit cards, though. You should use them to increase you credit rating but pay them off. We use ones with top rated rewards programs (currently Chase Sapphire.)

Interest rates are better these days-I have a friend that only has a 2.1% interest on her school loans and has no plans on paying it off any time soon (she graduated in 2002). I had an 8.9% interest rate (went to 7.9% after 4 years of automatic deduction with no missed payments). After paying on my debt for 8.5 years I had paid 60,000$ total with only 10,000 of that going towards the principal. I felt like I was getting no where. One of my collegaues that graduated a few years before me had an interest rate of over 11%.

I can say that my life has changed completely since I got rid of the debt-I am a much happier person and will be able to go part time in a few years.

ETA I was on the 30 year Sallie Mae plan. I hate Sallie Mae.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by aggieAXO

Interest rates are better these days-I have a friend that only has a 2.1% interest on her school loans and has no plans on paying it off any time soon (she graduated in 2002). I had an 8.9% interest rate (went to 7.9% after 4 years of automatic deduction with no missed payments). After paying on my debt for 8.5 years I had paid 60,000$ total with only 10,000 of that going towards the principal. I felt like I was getting no where. One of my collegaues that graduated a few years before me had an interest rate of over 11%.

I can say that my life has changed completely since I got rid of the debt-I am a much happier person and will be able to go part time in a few years.

ETA I was on the 30 year Sallie Mae plan. I hate Sallie Mae.

If obsessed over it, I'd be happier having it paid off too. Those loans don't even factor into my thoughts on a monthly basis. It comes out automatically from my checking account. It's part of life as much as paying for water, gas and electricity. I don't think about those things either. I can't see how my life would change one iota if I paid off my debt. My credit score wouldn't change. I already have enough money to spend and save for retirement. That money is my education payment and a heck of a cheap one at that.

P.S. And I pay two of them every month since my husband has an equal amount of debt. Debt is just a number if you have greater potential. If you let the fear of debt, like the fear of anything else in life, take over your life, it can become irrational. Money doesn't make you happy.

[excelblue]

Loans can go both ways. I personally love my student loans. They allowed me to live comfortably (instead of just sufficiently) while I was in college.

Then, a few months after I graduated, I managed to make enough money to have the ability to pay off the total amount of the loan immediately if I really wanted to. Instead, that money is currently sitting in a rainy day fund and some stocks.

For me, debt is a tool. As long as I'm not trapped by it, it's awesome.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by amanda6035

I never said they weren't an option. I said people didn't "need" loans to be able to get an education. And my position hasn't changed on that.

Congratulations on that. I didn't need loans for my undergrad degree either. The music department needed violin players for their orchestra and I was a pretty good one, so I got nearly a full ride. What fiddling didn't earn me, I was easily able to handle with the various jobs I had.

Law school was another story. It started out at around $750/credit hour and ended up at around $1,000/credit hour with all of the tuition hikes over the 4 years I attended part time. At ~$18K/semester and working as a legal assistant, limited by the American Bar Association to 20 hours per week, unless you want to lie to your school and risk expulsion, there is almost no possible way to pay for a legal education as you go.

I did rack up nearly $100K in debt, and while it's a "drop in the bucket" as some say with my increased income, the interest rates tend to be a higher than I'd like them to be, so unlike others, I'm being a lot more aggressive in getting the debt paid.

Not everyone has parents who are willing to loan them that kind of money or to pay that sort of tuition bill. Like others here, my debt is an investment which has paid off big.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Congratulations on that. I didn't need loans for my undergrad degree either. The music department needed violin players for their orchestra and I was a pretty good one, so I got nearly a full ride. What fiddling didn't earn me, I was easily able to handle with the various jobs I had.

Law school was another story. It started out at around $750/credit hour and ended up at around $1,000/credit hour with all of the tuition hikes over the 4 years I attended part time. At ~$18K/semester and working as a legal assistant, limited by the American Bar Association to 20 hours per week, unless you want to lie to your school and risk expulsion, there is almost no possible way to pay for a legal education as you go.

I did rack up nearly $100K in debt, and while it's a "drop in the bucket" as some say with my increased income, the interest rates tend to be a higher than I'd like them to be, so unlike others, I'm being a lot more aggressive in getting the debt paid.

Not everyone has parents who are willing to loan them that kind of money or to pay that sort of tuition bill. Like others here, my debt is an investment which has paid off big.

When I got my loans, interest rates for federally sub'd loans were at an all time low. I have rates at 3%. As a resident, you can't pay back loans so you defer, and then spread them out to pay over 30 years like a mortgage. When you make low wages for 6 years, you aren't going to pay off a $100,000 loan. A payment on my 30 year loan is a drop in the bucket and causes me not an ounce of worry.