Am i too debit adverse or just realistic?

[Anonymous]

The only debt I'm comfortable having for any extended period of time is a mortgage. And even that I'm working hard to pay down ahead of schedule.

I was lucky that my parents were ahead of the curve on educating me about student loans. Looking at it now it's insane to me that we let (even encourage) 18yr olds to borrow huge sums of money to get degrees that may or may not be worth the paper they're printed on. But 18yr old me probably would have blindly went down that path as well, had I not had excellent guidance.

Until fairly recently I was an "I'll always have a car payment person." But I decided to get out of that cycle, and it feels great.

[tcbofade]

Obviously, there are lots of view points here, and lots of different acceptable approaches.

DD#2 went away for school and will graduate this year with obscene amounts of debt.

DD#3 lives at home, attends a local Private University, and will graduate next year with less than $10k in student debt.

Debt is a tool like any other.  It's good to have a healthy respect for it, but fear of it can paralyze you.

[Anonymous]

I've never had student loans myself, so I have a question:

There's the TILA for general credit and loans to help consumers understand how everything works when borrowing money. And after the 2008 crisis regulations for mortgage disclosures have been improved to help the buyer more easily understand the terms. Are schools and/or student loan providers doing anything similar to this? Explaining things like how much will it cost to get my degree. What kind of income can I expect to make with this degree. How much interest will I pay. Examples to help people understand consequences of paying minimums or less through income-based repayment.

I did all this homework before choosing an education path, but as I said before I was fortunate enough to have valuable guidance. Without that 18yr old me would have been pretty clueless. It seems like if this was available we wouldn't have so many people working at Starbucks trying to pay off their $100k underwater basketweaving degree. Or is it just too lucrative to the schools and loan providers, and they don't want to scare off potential borrowers? I guess in any case it's reached the point where people are waking up and taking notice.

[Anonymous]

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@tacpoly wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

The wonderful world you live in is brought to you by student loans. 75% of students in private colleges have student loans. 66% in public college. The higher education system from which we all benefit. Imagine how much fewer professionals (doctors, engineers etc) there would be if only people who had cash could get a higher education. That is basically what separates the first world you and I live in, from the 3rd world. I have been in places were there is one doctor in town of 2000. The word, suboptimal comes to mind.

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There are plenty of first-world countries where higher education is free, therefore no student loans. 

If you're amazed at a town of 2000 having 'only' one doctor, there are rural parts of the US without any. (I know of one specialist who covers 3 states!). It's why doctor salaries are higher (very often much much higher) in the middle of the country than the coasts. 

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No there is not. There are first world countries where the government pays, but it is not free. Teachers do not teach for free. Books are not printed or computer manufacturered or building built or any of the myriad of cost to run a higer education system. It is not free. The citizens choose to pay for it in a different way. Taxes. Student loans are similar they are garanteed against default with taxes. Is it a better system? I do not know. That debate is deyound the scope of this forum but it is certainly not free.

[tacpoly]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@tacpoly wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

The wonderful world you live in is brought to you by student loans. 75% of students in private colleges have student loans. 66% in public college. The higher education system from which we all benefit. Imagine how much fewer professionals (doctors, engineers etc) there would be if only people who had cash could get a higher education. That is basically what separates the first world you and I live in, from the 3rd world. I have been in places were there is one doctor in town of 2000. The word, suboptimal comes to mind.

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There are plenty of first-world countries where higher education is free, therefore no student loans. 

If you're amazed at a town of 2000 having 'only' one doctor, there are rural parts of the US without any. (I know of one specialist who covers 3 states!). It's why doctor salaries are higher (very often much much higher) in the middle of the country than the coasts. 

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No there is not. There are first world countries where the government pays, but it is not free. Teachers do not teach for free. Books are not printed or computer manufacturered or building built or any of the myriad of cost to run a higer education system. It is not free. The citizens choose to pay for it in a different way. Taxes. Student loans are similar they are garanteed against default with taxes. Is it a better system? I do not know. That debate is deyound the scope of this forum but it is certainly not free.

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Well, you were talking about student loans, not taxes -- many countries prioritize providing all levels of education to their people so that they're not saddled with debt.  I don't care about the politics.  I'm just glad I, my husband, and all our siblings got through undergrad, grad, and medical (public and private) schools in the US without having to resort to student loans. 

In any case, there are smart and dumb debt. A mortgage can be a smart for someone, but a dumb move for someone else. Same with student loans. It's up to each person to evaluate what's best for them.

[jetsfan2013]

I agree. You have the proper overall mindset regarding managing debt exposure. I see you are in the garden until December 2021, what is your plan at that time?

[wa3more]

Like others have said, debt is a tool if utilized and acquired properly.

take on some education debt to get a STEM degree is good as is a mortgage on a property one can afford. It's all about opportunity costs and return on investment. Money is the cheap now and I would not rush to pay off say a 4% mortgage 

generally speaking credit card debt is what one should try to avoid.