The Supreme Court is supposed to release its opinion on student loan forgiveness this week. I wrote this post during President Obama's term -- but my reasoning still applies. See what you think.
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If you've been in college, you're probably dealing with this issue.
Did you know that taking a job in a lower-income area could help you earn a discount on a federal student loan? Or serving in Volunteers in Service to America? National Guard duty can pay as much as $10,000 toward your student loans.
People in "public service" jobs (teaching, firefighting, etc.) can have their loans forgiven after ten years of regular payments. If you're a regular schmuck, that ceiling is 25 years -- 20 after 2012.
Liz Weston has a good long look at repayment possibilities -- go here for the full report. Or hop straight to her source: the FinAid website. (A practical, though somewhat old, response is here, too, thanks to Get Rich Slowly.)
A growing number of people are fervently hoping that their student loans will be forgiven by the government, as a sort of economy stimulus. President Obama's actual plan seems to be less than they're hoping for, but no matter. Some ex-students have actually quit making payments toward their loans, hoping for a bailout. Sort of the Ray Stevens approach.
I have a real struggle with this. We both took out student loans; granted, not much, because we both worked several jobs over the course of our college years. The Brick also had GI Bill payments, after six years in the Navy. My parents generously paid my student loans, a gift I don't think I've ever adequately repaid. (Thanks so much, Pa and Ma!)
Dave's $10,000 loan, on the other hand, fell squarely on our shoulders. It took us ten years to repay, at a time that we could have used the money to beef up a house downpayment (we lost out on an incredible VA house deal for not being able to bid $2000 more), or given us more freedom to travel. We eventually made the last payment when Daughter #1 was in kindergarten or so.
I blame ourselves for the delay. Not in our payments -- we made 'em, and regularly, too. But we didn't have to borrow that much money, to begin with. I was working full-time; he was part-time. In addition to scholarships and grants, we also got $400 monthly from his GI Bill. (In the early 1980s, that was a lot of money.) The Brick and I ate out -- a lot. We didn't stint ourselves on concerts or movies. We didn't go hog-wild, but if we'd been more frugal, we could have borrowed a few thousand less. And that extra money could have gone directly into our pockets, instead of the government's.
So...if you're one of those hoping that the government is going to pick up your bill, ask yourself:
*Did I borrow only the absolute minimum during my college years?
*Did I keep my expenses down as much as possible?
*Did I take on any jobs to help pay expenses?
*Am I making regular payments now on my debt...or doing more than the minimum?
*Am I making excuses now for my stupidity then?
It comes down to this: You borrowed it, you pay it back. Period.
Did you know that taking a job in a lower-income area could help you earn a discount on a federal student loan? Or serving in Volunteers in Service to America? National Guard duty can pay as much as $10,000 toward your student loans.
People in "public service" jobs (teaching, firefighting, etc.) can have their loans forgiven after ten years of regular payments. If you're a regular schmuck, that ceiling is 25 years -- 20 after 2012.
Liz Weston has a good long look at repayment possibilities -- go here for the full report. Or hop straight to her source: the FinAid website. (A practical, though somewhat old, response is here, too, thanks to Get Rich Slowly.)
A growing number of people are fervently hoping that their student loans will be forgiven by the government, as a sort of economy stimulus. President Obama's actual plan seems to be less than they're hoping for, but no matter. Some ex-students have actually quit making payments toward their loans, hoping for a bailout. Sort of the Ray Stevens approach.
I have a real struggle with this. We both took out student loans; granted, not much, because we both worked several jobs over the course of our college years. The Brick also had GI Bill payments, after six years in the Navy. My parents generously paid my student loans, a gift I don't think I've ever adequately repaid. (Thanks so much, Pa and Ma!)
Dave's $10,000 loan, on the other hand, fell squarely on our shoulders. It took us ten years to repay, at a time that we could have used the money to beef up a house downpayment (we lost out on an incredible VA house deal for not being able to bid $2000 more), or given us more freedom to travel. We eventually made the last payment when Daughter #1 was in kindergarten or so.
I blame ourselves for the delay. Not in our payments -- we made 'em, and regularly, too. But we didn't have to borrow that much money, to begin with. I was working full-time; he was part-time. In addition to scholarships and grants, we also got $400 monthly from his GI Bill. (In the early 1980s, that was a lot of money.) The Brick and I ate out -- a lot. We didn't stint ourselves on concerts or movies. We didn't go hog-wild, but if we'd been more frugal, we could have borrowed a few thousand less. And that extra money could have gone directly into our pockets, instead of the government's.
So...if you're one of those hoping that the government is going to pick up your bill, ask yourself:
*Did I borrow only the absolute minimum during my college years?
*Did I keep my expenses down as much as possible?
*Did I take on any jobs to help pay expenses?
*Am I making regular payments now on my debt...or doing more than the minimum?
*Am I making excuses now for my stupidity then?
It comes down to this: You borrowed it, you pay it back. Period.
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