A little rant about student loans.....

[130below]

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[awval999]

I went to a school in the midwest. I ended up with $120k in student loans. Down to $65k now. It still rubs me the wrong way when I had classmates/acquaintances who's rich family paid for it all. Oh well. Nothing you can do. I am allowed to be jealous. This is not a thought crime.

 

[BMBiology]

Some people come from a privileged family. They deserve the finer things in life. That is just a reality. Nothing is wrong with it.

I did not. I went thru school with mostly borrowed money. I paid it off and now I am doing better than my friends.

Do I rub it in their face? Do I tell them I have already paid off my loans? Nope...there is no need to make them feel bad. I only do it on SDN.

I only talk about money and investment with people who have a similar goal and who are successful. I love to learn. I love to read. That is why I am doing better than most people.

 

[sosoo]

look at it this way. you will be able to pay for your child's education, the same way your classmates' parents paying for them. you will soon be that rich parent. your child will live a privileged life.

 

[PAtoPharm]

Some people come from a privileged family. They deserve the finer things in life. That is just a reality. Nothing is wrong with it.

I did not. I went thru school with mostly borrowed money. I paid it off and now I am doing better than my friends.

Do I rub it in their face? Do I tell them I have already paid off my loans? Nope...there is no need to make them feel bad. I only do it on SDN.

I only talk about money and investment with people who have a similar goal and who are successful. I love to learn. I love to read. That is why I am doing better than most people.

What kinds of investments do you put money into? Mostly things like stocks?

 

[mentos]

What bothers me more are all the entitled millennials who borrowed 200k+ loans for school and expect the government (the taxpayers) to bail them out, while us responsible people are busting our asses to pay them off.

 

[awval999]

What bothers me more are all the entitled millennials who borrowed 200k+ loans for school and expect the government (the taxpayers) to bail them out, while us responsible people are busting our asses to pay them off.

Truthfully, in pharmacy PSLF/IRB is overblown.

While there are a few, like confetti, where the math makes sense (ie: $300k loans with a hospital job) the vast majority of pharmacists will work for one of the chains where IRB is 20/25 years with a tax bomb and a terrible, terrible financial decision.

We really won't know until 2017 when the first PSLF candidates have reached 120 payments if the loans are "really" forgiven. We've debated this ENDLESSLY here before. I'm starting to change my mind if they will actually retroactively cap the benefit at Obama's desired $57,500, but, I do think it's quite easy for them just to make PSLF taxable, or taxable for all forgiven amounts > $57,500, something like that.

 

[confettiflyer]

Do I rub it in their face? Do I tell them I have already paid off my loans? Nope...there is no need to make them feel bad. I only do it on SDN.

Yes. Yes you do.

 

[confettiflyer]

Truthfully, in pharmacy PSLF/IRB is overblown.

While there are a few, like confetti, where the math makes sense (ie: $300k loans with a hospital job) the vast majority of pharmacists will work for one of the chains where IRB is 20/25 years with a tax bomb and a terrible, terrible financial decision.

We really won't know until 2017 when the first PSLF candidates have reached 120 payments if the loans are "really" forgiven. We've debated this ENDLESSLY here before. I'm starting to change my mind if they will actually retroactively cap the benefit at Obama's desired $57,500, but, I do think it's quite easy for them just to make PSLF taxable, or taxable for all forgiven amounts > $57,500, something like that.

Holy what the... when did my loan blow up to $300k?!

Reminds me back in school all the classroom rumors that would swirl about a particular teacher, she would start out as just plain "mean" then by the end she was like a witch who ate children who misbehaved after class after roasting them in the kiln out back.

But yes I think most pharmacists that are not me will work and pay off the entire balance of their loans over the course of 20/25 years, even I won't have *that* much forgiven under PSLF. I seriously underestimated my income....so based on my quasi-calculations in my head, I will pay back the entire principal balance + some interest, so in effect, this became almost an interest free loan. Is that so bad?

 

[gwarm01]

We really won't know until 2017 when the first PSLF candidates have reached 120 payments if the loans are "really" forgiven.

I'm on the PSLF program, but my loans are sub-150k since I went to a state school in the south. I'm actually kind of upset, because after 10 years I will have paid nearly the entire loan. I think I'm projected to have about $2000 forgiven. I should have lived life like a rockstar and financed a BMW with my student loans when I had the chance! I know a lot of people with over 200k who are on the same plan, lucky ducks.

 

[mentos]

I'm on the PSLF program, but my loans are sub-150k since I went to a state school in the south. I'm actually kind of upset, because after 10 years I will have paid nearly the entire loan. I think I'm projected to have about $2000 forgiven. I should have lived life like a rockstar and financed a BMW with my student loans when I had the chance! I know a lot of people with over 200k who are on the same plan, lucky ducks.

"I'm upset because the taxpayers are not paying for most of what I borrowed for an education that was already subsidized by the state to begin with. It's okay that part of my loans will be bailed out because it's under 150k." Thanks for proving my point about your entitled generation.

 

[TheBlaah]

"I'm upset because the taxpayers are not paying for most of what I borrowed for an education that was already subsidized by the state to begin with. It's okay that part of my loans will be bailed out because it's under 150k." Thanks for proving my point about your entitled generation.

What bothers me more are all the entitled millennials who borrowed 200k+ loans for school and expect the government (the taxpayers) to bail them out, while us responsible people are busting our asses to pay them off.

 

[confettiflyer]

Incentives incentives.

I was incentivized to "overborrow" in the same way the federal government incentivizes charitable donations and buying a house via tax deductions.

To be fair, it was stuff I was probably going to do anyway (borrow for school, give to charity, buy a house), but why does everyone get so pissed off about the first one? It's all the same, logically speaking.

If you argue that loan forgiveness a) rewards imprudent financial behavior and b) incentivizes behavior that would have happened anyway, then you have to also argue that ALL federal incentives must go away.

Chances are...the response will be hypocritical. "No, you can't have loan forgiveness...but you can pry the mortgage interest tax deduction from my cold dead hands!"

 

[pezdispenser]

A couple of principles that I believe in:

1. Don't worry too much about what other people are doing. Don't get jealous or envious of stuff they are spending money on, especially when they are spending borrowed money. There's always someone out there spending/earning/having/borrowing more money than you. Just live your own life within your own means.

2. Knowing how to be frugal is a good thing. This doesn't mean you have to be frugal all the time, but there will always be times in your life when you have to tighten your belt and make deep cuts and sacrifices just to get by. If you don't know how to be frugal, and you are unwilling to make these cuts, you will probably end up just borrowing money to get by and you will end up in a debt death spiral.

 

[BMBiology]

I don't think people who are on IBR and PAYE, even PSLF really "benefit" from it. Easy access to student loans and income based repayment have caused tuition and the number of schools to spike. I graduated with less than 150 k in student loan. If I had gone thru the same path today, I would not only have graduated with 250 k but I would have graduated in a way more competitive job market.

I can enroll in IBR, PAYE or PSLF but I would still have paid more vs. owning just 150 k. More importantly, I would face years of uncertainty. What if the government changed the rule? What if I got fired at year 15?

This is why it is a crappy deal. Easy access to student loans = more schools = more graduates. But then again, if you are a subpar student, you are given a chance that you would not have received 10 years ago. In return, the cost of everyone's education has jumped.

 

[confettiflyer]

I don't think people who are on IBR and PAYE, even PSLF really "benefit" from it. Easy access to student loans and income based repayment have caused tuition and the number of schools to spike. I graduated with less than 150 k in student loan. If I had gone thru the same path today, I would not only have graduated with 250 k but I would have graduated in a way more competitive job market.

I can enroll in IBR, PAYE or PSLF but I would still have paid more vs. owning just 150 k. More importantly, I would face years of uncertainty. What if the government changed the rule? What if I got fired at year 15?

This is why it is a crappy deal. Easy access to student loans = more schools = more graduates. But then again, if you are a subpar student, you are given a chance that you would not have received 10 years ago. In return, the cost of everyone's education has jumped.

I think you're right...it just evens the playing field, so to speak. So you graduating early at $150k debt in a better job market w/ no loan forgiveness options, is equivalent to me at $250k in a crappier job market w/ IBR/PAYE/PSLF available. That's the microeconomic view. In the end, with forgiveness, I'm going to pay close to the same as what you paid (PSLF).

Why the outrage? That the government has to pay itself bloated phantom interest when it can auction 10 year t-bills at 2%? It's annoying. No one looks at the actual numbers anymore -- it's very Ted Cruz/Donald Trump populist anger. The gov't can theoretically charge 1000000% interest on a student loan, then turnaround and forgive the interest, and people would get mad that borrowers aren't paying back $$$$$ in interest.

 

[gwarm01]

"I'm upset because the taxpayers are not paying for most of what I borrowed for an education that was already subsidized by the state to begin with. It's okay that part of my loans will be bailed out because it's under 150k." Thanks for proving my point about your entitled generation.

I was just making a joke. You need to unwind, fella. That sort of anger isn't healthy.