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Student loan debt taking a mental toll on young people
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Mammoth Jones
Member
Bills suck. Read the small print before you sign the dotted line and just do college cause they tell you to.
dark_chris
Gold Member
Stuff like this makes me feel too fortunate that I had scholarships and grants - full free ride.
I cant imagine how my life woulda been if i had to take out loans and be on debt for years.
I cant imagine how my life woulda been if i had to take out loans and be on debt for years.
I just got out of the Air Force in June and my GI Bill is a godsend. Made a bit of a poor choice in schools (probably not going to go back next semester as I look for another school), so that sucks a bit.
How does the tax work after the 20-25 year period has expired? My understanding is that basically the year that it expires you'll be taxed since the amount left on the loan is forgiven but is also taxable, and it throws you in a tax bracket much higher than you are actually in since it is combined with your income for that year? Not sure if this is fully correct.
I pay about $1500/mo for mine so I'm going to guess theyare a dentist or something like that.
That's about where I started at when I graduated. I just got it under $20k a few months back. I was lucky to get a decent paying job out of school, so I've been paying extra on mine each month and am about 2 months ahead, so at least I've got some cushion should something unexpected happen.
Thankfully, my parents had been putting into a prepaid college fund since I was little, so that really helped out a lot in the end. If I didn't have that I could have easily had debt climbing to $50-60k.
Damn, was it a specialized program?
While we do have some decent programs that help people to keep manageable payments (IDR, etc) you will find that you can NEVER "get ahead" on these plans. Each year they re-evaluate your income and adjust accordingly. Make an extra $600 a month? Prepare to pay an extra $350 a month! Realistic growth in terms of a young person's wages simply do not allow you to break free from these loans and still be a productive (i.e. purchase home, car, etc) citizen. It will be interesting to see where this issue takes our economy. I personally know dozens of people who cannot afford cars or homes and are in the process of starting or raising a family. A whole generation of people will be stunted economically, and it will have significant effects on all of us.
Skel1ingt0n
I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Had three jobs in college and rarely splurged on anything. Zero help from my family. 100 submissions but not a single scholarship even with my 4.3 HS GPA. Graduated with just shy of $55K in debt.
It's now about six years later, and I am just under $15k. It's manageable. Yeah, it sucks ass but that's life.
It's now about six years later, and I am just under $15k. It's manageable. Yeah, it sucks ass but that's life.
RandomHopeInc
Member
Going to college these days to me seems like a stupid gamble. I haven't gone back to college after only taking a year, with financial help. After that I just took a $10,000 boot camp on programming, and realized college is such a waste because they aren't direct at all with what you're learning.
But now I need a B.S in Computer Science, and I'm not excited at wasting my time on a flimsy course that covers old languages, and "The History of Programming". Colleges need to restructure and stop being such a useless money sink.
But now I need a B.S in Computer Science, and I'm not excited at wasting my time on a flimsy course that covers old languages, and "The History of Programming". Colleges need to restructure and stop being such a useless money sink.
I've got $38k as is and while I'm able to make my payments, it's also kept me from spending that money elsewhere. At some point, the old people will have to keep buying stuff just to keep the economy afloat because all their kids will be poor from trying to pay back student loan debt.
Whatever gets forgiven counts as income. So if you make $50k, and have $40k forgiven, your taxes for that year will be like you made $90k.
Kite
Member
Thank god for the Army and the GI Bill, I pretty much got to fuck around and have fun in the Army for 4 years and got a free undergrad degree. Texas has something called the Hazelwood Act that will mostly pay for grad school as well (tuition and fees only) that I'm about to start using.
I'm getting an associate degree and it feels great knowing that I'll graduate with much more debt than my parents had when they were finished with their masters degrees. Fuck this country.
Violence Jack
Member
Still got about $50K for Bachelors and Masters degree programs, and that was after paying on them for a combined 10 years. I have a reoccurring nightmare that Trump will one day force all those in student loan debt to either pay it completely within a year or he'll bring back debtors prisons and lock us up. Education is really, really fucked up in this country and costs way too much.
Yeah, that's what I figured. It'll suck that one year for sure, but it's better than the alternative which is paying crazy amounts of money every month during that span. Maybe I'll counter it by not working that year
Didn't release the 25 years part. I'm paying back but the interest is higher, meaning I'm paying back into something that is just rising every month.
SynthFetish
Member
I have no delusions, mine will never be paid off and I will never make enough o afford rent and student loan payments.
Student loans are standing in between me and home ownership and it sucks. I graduated from law school with about $120,000 in debt, but I've gotten it down to $70,000. My plan is to put all disposable income towards these loans for the next couple of years and I'm hoping to have them paid off around 2020. Also, my husband still has ~$17,000 for his masters. I wish I'd come at these loans more aggressively, earlier, but I graduated during the peak of the recession and it took a few years to get to a place where I could afford to pay more than the minimum.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Whittled it down to 19k from 73k from 5 years ago. I'm so fucking close, and feel blessed to make the money I do to get it down so "quickly", so I can't imagine the anguish people that owe just as much with most jobs paying what they do feel right now. Man, I could have put a down payment on a house by now, AND bought a brand new car....
Okay, now imagine that you have a private loan ineligible for income based repayment adjustment and the payment is only $100 less than you make per month.
Hickbilly Deluxe
Banned
No lie, Im super happy I never went to college. Ill never make 6 figures at a desk job, but Id rather be at the high end of low class than buried in debt for a piece of paper that doesnt guarantee a damn thing.
thechristoph
Sir!
Debt doesn't bother me too much, and it should. I guess I still have "fake my death and flee to Canada" as a viable option in the back of my mind.
Thank god for income based repayment plans.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
And rent is due.
Also work is laying you off next month.
This isnt even hypothetical, this is my gfs situation.
Phoenix RISING
Banned
My wife has about $6,000 in subsidized student loans and I have 40,000 in unsubsidized student loans. I have an advanced degree and she is considering getting one too. We currently are in year 3 of a 30-year mortgage, and it looks like we will be finished paying for the house before we're paying for these loans.
We also have a $25,000 car note, $3,500 in credit card debt, and three kids.
We are well into the black but it is still frustrating thinking about what we could be doing with our money besides paying off debt that we accrued just to maintain a quality of life.
Karsticles
Member
170k
Wife has 40k and stays at home with our son.
Wife has 40k and stays at home with our son.
WonkyPanda
Member
Paying about 1800 a month, but that wouldnt pay it off before PAYE forgiveness at year 20.
Its honestly a travesty that theres an income cap on student loan interest. A total travesty that shows the age and ineptitude of congress.
Its honestly a travesty that theres an income cap on student loan interest. A total travesty that shows the age and ineptitude of congress.
It's suffocating. Like $1500/month of my income needs to go to my student loans if I want to pay them off in the next 5 years
I had to do it because I'm literally making like triple the income I would make without my chemical engineering major and degree, but my degree cost me over $80,000 ($12k tuition, $9k living expenses, times 5 years) and I couldn't work significantly part time because lmao no chemical engineers in my program did that (the curriculum is too rigorous)
I had to do it because I'm literally making like triple the income I would make without my chemical engineering major and degree, but my degree cost me over $80,000 ($12k tuition, $9k living expenses, times 5 years) and I couldn't work significantly part time because lmao no chemical engineers in my program did that (the curriculum is too rigorous)
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Everyday I just pray to Mr. Robot to hack all the debt away
I think legislation needs to be done to deal with this situation. Our current generation will have to deal with a crisis when we hit our 50's and the impact of loan forgiveness starts kicking in.
I've been reading into filing for insolvency when the tax bomb hits after the 20-25 year period ends, which is a way to not pay taxes on that forgiven amount. Who really knows what this will look like when it happens.
I've been reading into filing for insolvency when the tax bomb hits after the 20-25 year period ends, which is a way to not pay taxes on that forgiven amount. Who really knows what this will look like when it happens.
Vicetrailia
Member
I'll have 35k when I'm done with my industrial engineer degree. I worked f/t 3 of 4 years but still incurred debt.
eot
Banned
Goddamn, that's an insane amount.
Aces&Eights
Member
I make my last payment next month. I'm 44. Was in college at age 24. Loans suck.
Hierophant
Banned
And people wonder why my generation is so depressed
Hint, it's not the fucking avacados
Hint, it's not the fucking avacados
WonkyPanda
Member
Tell me about it. Thats on top of having a mortgage too. Essentially give me little ability to save anything. Sure, my degree led me to an extremely well paying job, but I cant really enjoy the fruits of my labor or set myself up for a retirement that has a concrete foundation. Its something that weighs on you like a ton of bricks constantly.
Aren't you a teacher, Karsticles? How are you surviving? Income Based Repayment?
You should qualify for loan forgiveness eventually though, right?
MugiwaraCole
Member
1) Congrats
2) That's fucking awful, and it's only getting worse. How do you feel now that you're close to the finish line?