Posted on 09/16/2023 6:42:40 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
I'm often blamed for complaining about my student-loan debt.
But I was never taught financial literacy, and I built up debt as a kid based on misguided advice.
I was trained to believe the more expensive colleges were better.
After a three-year pause, my student-loan repayments are starting again, and I'll be paying $350 a month.
During the payment pause, I've finally been able to save up a chunk of money for a down payment on a house. It's been my goal to buy a condo and rent it out on Airbnb as an investment. But now I won't be able to afford that down payment because any extra money I have won't go toward my savings but instead toward my $35,000 in student-loan debt. I have to put my dreams on hold.
When I wrote about this recently, a lot of readers reached out with their thoughts. Most emails I received accused me of wanting a handout and blamed me for my debt. One person told me I shouldn't have taken out all that money in student loans for college if I didn't want to pay it back.
Even though I made a mistake when I took out my student loans, people should know it's more nuanced than that......
Unfortunately, I'm now stuck with a stupid decision I made as a kid.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Yes, there were also a bunch of them who later joked about taking their ‘senior trip’ to Vietnam. One of my cousins got a one-way trip to Dinh Binh at 21.
I’ll bet $100 he used some of his student loans to vacation on spring break. When I was in college, I worked during spring break to survive.
Life is rough sometimes
Well Frank I would be happy to support you being too discharge that debt in Bankruptcy, the catch is your credit will be really bad for 7 years, no loans at all and you will be on a cash basis for everything, no credit cards, etc.. Is that a fair enough trade buddy?
Well if you had saved that $350 a month for 3 years, not including interest, you would have about $12,600 that could have been put toward you debt, but you didn’t do that.
My 25 year old son graduated from college 3 1/2 years ago with $20K in student debt.
That is because he CHOSE to go to a state college instead of a private university and commute from home.
The difference was $40K per year x four.
He paid off his debt within two years of graduation.
The author has another earlier article about his student loans.
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loan-repayments-cant-buy-home-2023-9
He chose to major in journalism at Emerson. He also chose to eat out during the week once he began working. He says he saved a lot of money for the past 3 years and *thought* about using it to pay off his loans but the thought depressed him too much. (what?!) He also *thought* about getting a second job. Of course he didn’t do that. He’s a weak sister.
“ America’s economy is built on debt. We have a debt-based financial system, and its gone completely out-of-control since we severed any meagre controls on debt-creation in 1971.
Woke millenials binging on debt are hardly our worry.”
Great post! Wish more people understood what “money” has become.
“But I was never taught financial literacy, and I built up debt as a kid based on misguided advice”
Most likely a parent co-signed for your loans, go cry me a river, chump.
This guy must come from a family of liberals.
Any real father would not let their son go for a journalism degree at Emerson.
So, he is not totally to blame.
I blame his parents too.
I talked my son out of going to a private university and getting the same degree from a state university for about 1/4 the price.
See my previous post regarding my 25 year old son.
Amen, my wife and I had to take out student loans because neither of us came from affluent families. We also worked summer jobs and took summer school classes to speed up the graduation timeline. We both graduated in seven semesters with degrees in Computer Science. We went to work and paid off those loans. Your pity party for yourself ain’t going to work here. Work, earn money and pay off your debts!
Good news from Mother Theresa: Wisdom is acquired through suffering.
It took me years of observation, study, and fighting against the comfort of conformity - and even then, I'm hardly "there" yet.
It almost seems like a conspiracy, by those who benefit from it (bankers and government), to keep knowledge of the actual workings of our monetary system suppressed. "Austrians" are shunned by so-called mainstream economists. Keynes and progressive central-planning still reign supreme in all elite universities.
Even demagogue-socialists like Liz Warren or Bernie Sanders will rail against the inequality a centrally-controlled and issued, debt-based fiat currency creates, but their solution is, of course, simply "more government" and more power to them and favored cronies. They actually benefit from it as well.
Ha!
One of the greatest learning experiences was when I flunked my first ARTEP (tac eval). It didn't matter that I had just been handed the platoon, nor did it matter that 3 of my 4 squad leaders were ROAD (Retired On Active Duty). There would have been a different outcome had they chosen the platoon I had been leading for 4+ months.
Nope, it all came down on my head, as it should have. I subscribe to the definition of leader as, "A leader is responsible for everything his unit does or FAILS TO DO." I learned my lesson, never had a problem after that...took 4 more platoons through their paces over the next two years.
O/T, but I believe this is what's missing in our military today. LTs, butterbars in particular, need the opportunity to learn their craft, and learn from their mistakes. Platoon Sergeants can only do so much in training their Platoon Leaders. My 3 platoon sergeants all had at least one tour in Nam, they were invaluable in training me.
It lead to a funny moment in a battery level evaluation. We had a new First Sergeant, who had 25 years in the infantry, and 3 tours in Nam. He came up to me (I had to wear the XO hat), and was outwardly uncomfortable. "LT, I don't know a damn thing about Air Defense Artillery, what am I supposed to do?"
It was the first, and probably only time a senior NCO asked for my advice...lol. "Top, you know how to run a Command Post, don't you? That's all you have to do, let me take care of the ADA bull$hit." That's all it took.
That's the part of my Army experience that I truly loved, it was a great 8 years of my life.
$35K? You poor kid....
Got divorced, paid off $38K debt in a little under 2 years. Didn’t do anything during that time - just wanted the debt gone so buckled down hard.
No Sympathy.
I’ve heard that colleges have raised tuition and fees precisely because student loan money is available to pay the increases.
I’ve also heard it’s led to administrative bloat at some colleges, what with hiring more administrators and staff who don’t really contribute to the actual education of students.
A fine tale indeed, NHN. I truly enjoyed reading it. Many thanks for posting.
Reality does throw a wrench in the works more often than not.
But I was never taught financial literacy, and I built up debt as a kid based on misguided advice.”
Well, it sure as heck isn't any of your fellow citizens’ fault. Man up, be happy you didn't have to storm Omaha and Utah Beaches and grow a pair.
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