A 38-year-old with $38,000 in student debt tells other generations, ‘I highly recommend finding a way to avoid taking out loans’
A 38-year-old with $38,000 in student debt tells other generations, ‘I highly recommend finding a way to avoid taking out loans’
"When you’re 17 or 18 years old, you think, ‘Oh, sure, I’ll figure this out.’ Then it's frustrating to still be in this financial situation."
I grew up very poor. It's in my nature to avoid debt like the plague, even "good debt". Somehow that's worked out very well for me, so I also recommend it.
im not so sure there is good debt anymore.
I picture a 36 month interest free loan on a big purchase could be "good" debt.
I don't tend to buy things unless I can afford it outright, but sometimes the interest free option is enticing by letting me keep my money accumulating interest in savings each month and slowly paying off that purchase. In doing so it helps my credit rating should I need it in the future for an emergency.
I grew up with that and "pay off debts before you save". It didn't work out well and I've probably wasted years of my life struggling before I learned to do the math instead.
Oh, my recommendation: check what the situation is in your country and your time instead of trusting what boomers who grew up in a twisted economy say or what you read from a completely different country's economy or era.
I think the best course of action is arranged marriages. It’s just a little bit of paperwork, but then you can separate your finances from your parents. And you may qualify for grants with that low household income.
I'm 37 and paid off all of my ~80k in student loans (for a communications degree) since my 2009 graduation earlier this year... How the hell does this person still owe so much on their student loans?
Pretty easy: I owe $135k on the $60k I took out in 2005
Congrats on having enough income to pay your loans quickly. Most of us aren't as fortunate.