Canceling $10k of student loan debt is stupid.
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Anonymous
Yeah, most people don't drive $100,000 cars BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE NOT TO. People with $100,000 in student loans made their choice. Who held a gun to their head? Live with your personal choice. If you have $100k in loans, you are free to join public service or the military to get rid of it. Stop whining. |
Anonymous
No. I personally don't care. If people can get their PPP loans forgiven then why are we thinking it's a handout only if you receive this $10k. All of it's handouts. The PPP loan, the $10k for student loans, deducting interest for your mortgage, the stimulus. EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE THINGS ARE HANDOUTS!!!!! Keep the same energy for it all. It's fine to be upset but please keep the same energy for every last thing the government is giving. |
Anonymous
Because mandatory government shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting effects on businesses and the economy was not a choice made by individuals. PPP loans were a necessary part of keeping the economy afloat. Little Larlo applying for $300K in student loans to attend Pomona College for Masters in Art History was an idiotic choice made by Larlo alone - and one that was not forced upon him. These are totally different circumstances. No one made him take at a jumbo loan for an overpriced school. So no, same energies are not warranted in the slightest. |
Anonymous
Are you saying they can't do an amortized loan that has fixed payments of interest and principal throughout the loan life?? Loans start with the interest so high, the principal payment so low that it makes it incredibly difficult to start touch touching the principal. |
Anonymous
Again they are handouts. They didn't have to do it 3 times. HANDOUTS!!! And they freaking forgave PPP loans. Do you know who got PPP Loans? It's not just business owners. Influencers received them, churches, self-employed people. This is a huge handout and people/businesses should be paying them back. |
Anonymous
So you're saying because PPP loans are wrong we should make the same wrong by forgiving loans to irresponsible borrowers? Got it. Genius logic. Great for the economy. |
Anonymous
Opportunity zone tax benefits, church tax breaks, 401k tax credits, Roth IRA tax benefits, VA benefits, Pell grants, corporate tax breaks etc-- these all cost us our money. Democratic society nudges people in the directions they want and federal student loan forgiveness falls under those. We may all disagree with one or another on money spent. I think the bloated military budget outweighs everything else, and I think the money spent on a US highway system vs. high speed rail like other places is a mistake. But my opinion throughout my life hasn't yet impacted these decisions and I accept that as part of being in a democracy--that some of my money ends up being spent on societal goals that don't benefit me and I might even disagree with. |
Anonymous
Oh I personally don't think it's wise. But I am pointing out that the government has provided handouts in many ways yet people are sitting on here pissed when they need to be held accountable for the many ridiculous handouts. It's silly that people are pissed about $10k and my church received over a million in PPP funds. Like it's so laughable. You people are insane. |
Anonymous
People are pissed because this is a thread about "canceling $10K of student loan debt"; hence the discussion of that very topic. I imagine that most people are likewise unhappy about tax exemptions for religious institutions, eg. You can have feelings about more than one thing and not discuss it on a thread re: student debt. It is odd to assume that the only thing people are miffed with is student loan forgiveness - which is just a very blatant example of the entitled thinking that they have to pay for nothing. I'm fine with only $10K. Pay the rest. I have no doubt these "cancel all the student loans" folks will shortly be calling to cancel home mortgages, auto loans, credit card debt. Because the good life is owed to them. |
Anonymous
Bless your heart. If I thought about it as a scholarship for finishing college, I would be wealthy. I finished a PhD with zero debt by working my A$$ off and I am not getting a scholarship for graduating college and grad school. I understood the impact of taking out $100k worth of loans on my future, even at 18. Explain how it benefits me or my children? I have been saving for their college since before they have been born, not hoping for loan forgiveness. I have worked jobs I don't particularly liked, lived in a house that is less than dcum standards, and driven by many a starbucks to save a dollar so that they can have a college education. Again, how is giving away 10k when there is no other clean up of the college cost mess included benefiting anyone but the people before them? I don't understand the logic. |
Anonymous
Basics of amortized vs. unamortized: https://pocketsense.com/amortized-vs-unamortized-debt-8438.htm People like the whole idea of having a fixed monthly payment for the entire life of the loan. Unamortized loans can blow people up with balloon payments after they're done paying interest. It's a terrible idea for mortgages, student loans, etc. What you describe is different. It doesn't exist. Even if it did, it changes the math a little bit. Banks will need to get paid. You know what they'll do? They'll just increase the interest rates for borrowing, so in the end, even if you paid equal amounts of principal and interest, the bank will still get the money it wants. Law of unintended consequences. Look at it from the perspective of a lender. If I lend you $100 today, is it still worth $100 to me 10 years from now if it takes you 10 years to pay it off? Of course not. That's why I need interest. I am not going to lose money (due to time value and inflation) to lend you money for something you need now. If you make it take longer for me to collect an appropriate amount of interest to make some profit that makes this whole transaction worth my time, I will just have to charge you higher interest. If you let me collect my interest on the loan upfront to make sure I get paid, I can give you a lower interest rate and make sure you have equal payments over the term of the loan. |
Anonymous
Just pointing out to people that this is just one form of a handout. It's fine to be upset but let's stop acting like it's the only handout. It's all nuts. I think if you take a loan you definitely should be paying it back. Whether you are a celebrity, a church, a small business etc. I support lowering the interest, but I want people to realize how crazy they sound only calling this out. Our government it's literally in the business of providing handouts in many different ways. |
Anonymous
+1 This is the EXACT same dynamic underlying the 2008 financial crisis. They wanted to make it easier for people to own homes, so the government entities backed the mortgage loans of sub-prime borrowers. Sure, there was also a lot of other illegal activity going on, and the banks should have been punished for them. Some did get "punished". My favorite bank Wachovia was one such sacrificial lamb. The government can and should encourage certain types of behavior, but distorting market efficiencies with regards to buy/sell decisions is not the right way to go. |
Anonymous
You are not directly benefitted by many of the ways society gives out tax breaks, credits, benefits etc. but you want to participate in that society. You are getting some benefits somewhere--most PhD programs are subsidized by master's and undergraduate programs to pay for RAships, TAships and their associated benefits such as tuition remission, health insurance credits, stipends. This is because society values having experts and recognizes that PhD programs represent a long investment that may not make financial sense. Government agencies allow that sort of distribution of costs to reflect that--but it's not particularly "fair" on any individual level. In your savings for your kids, did you benefit from the tax break of a 529 plan? Those tend to privilege those who have a HHI of 100k or higher a year, which is far above the median. Why should all the those making 60k pay for your tax break? (Because whether we call it a credit, a break, forgiveness, etc. it's all coming from the same pot). I'm sure since you have finished a PhD (as have I) you have had the good fortune of more intelligence than average--I trust you can be aware that not everyone had the same intellectual resources to work with. You likely (though not necessarily) have some family background that helps you (even if your parents didn't go to college, and didn't contribute financially to your undergraduate education, they likely had higher than average intelligence if they have a kid who completed a PhD) I think it is problematic that we have drifted into being a society that encourages families to believe that every kid--regardless of their aptitude--will do better if they go to college, and I have no problem with correcting that. I am glad that the student loan forgiveness is being built on an earlier initiative for far greater investment in community college which makes sense for more students. I see the loan forgiveness as an effort to help clean up some of the mess that the government contributed to around college costs/encouragement of 4 year college for all, and I want it followed up with continued investment in community college, greater support for trade education and on-the-job training, and significant public investment in excellent 4 year colleges rather than treating it primarily as an individual good that people purchase. |
Anonymous
Thank you. There are so many ways people are benefiting from government handouts. They are mad about $10k in forgiveness but paid for their kids education with a 529 that they got a tax break for. Ugh make it make sense!!! |