Does anyone else owe a TON in student loans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I owe $300k+ combined. Both lawyers, plus a worthless but expensive masters degree thrown in for good measure (his). And, I am a SAHM. And, we have three kids and will probably have another. And, I hated being a lawyer and will never use my degree again. And, we are currently paying only interest because that's all we can afford (this will change after DH makes partner next year). And, my DH didn't graduate until 2006, BUT he was already 30 instead of 25. So we are way behind the curve on saving for retirement. I have to laugh when I see all those posts about people saving 20% of their income and putting $1000/mo in 529s for their kids. That is just so far outside the realm of possibility for us that it's like a whole other universe.

I try not to worry about it too much. Yes, we made mistakes in our lives. Yes, we will be paying for them for a LONG time. Yes, we will not be able to give our kids the material things, expensive vacations, and full ride educations that other people can. But, we decided not to stop living and enjoying our lives because of our prior mistakes, e.g. we decided to have a family even though by the standards of many people on this board, we "couldn't afford it", and we decided it was worth it to us for our kids to have a parent at home. Eventually the loans will be paid off. We are still very blessed in so many ways. (We do have plenty of life insurance, though, in part because of the student loans, and we are thinking about LTD for my DH as well). If something bad happened to us such that we had to default on our loans, we have wonderful families who would be there for us.

Both of us took out these loans when we were young, and for various reasons neither of us had received a particularly good education in financial matters and didn't really know what we were getting into. And then we got married, compounding the mistake (in a financial sense). Everyone I have ever encountered who mentions law school to me, I try to talk them out of it and really emphasize how the debt is a drag on your future income. At 22, I just had NO idea what real living expenses even were (my parents paid mine during college), much less the cost of raising children.

I disagree. You and your DH didn't have to choose such expensive schools. Or having kids so soon. Or you being a SAHM. And you better hope your DH doesn't get laid off or divorce you. Actually, with him making partner you're luckier than most law school graduates (and most of the population) so cry me a river!

My DH and I are both attorneys, both attended schools that offered scholarships and both work. We have a full-time nanny for our daughter and I'm paying off my own loans. DH already paid off his. Your post really irks me, you should have saved a cash cushion before having kids. That would have been the mature thing to do.

What do you "disagree" about? She is just stating her situation and the choices her family have made. Just because you decide to do things differently there is no reason to criticize her. Delaying having kids until you "can afford it" (according to the powers that be here on DCUM) is a sure fire way of making sure you run into fertility problems. And while I'm not a SAHM, if one parent can stay home (in my family it's my husband) I truly believe that's the best solution particularly while the kids are young. When you look back on your life from old age, are you going to be delighted that you worked hard and paid your debts as quickly as possible (because DCUM says so) or are you going to feel happy that you made the right decisions at the right time for your family and enhanced the quality of your life. For me, it's really about quality of life and that means having time with your family more than it means having a ton of disposable income. These decisions are clearly what works for this PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And, we are currently paying only interest because that's all we can afford (this will change after DH makes partner next year). And, my DH didn't graduate until 2006, BUT he was already 30 instead of 25.
. . .

Both of us took out these loans when we were young, and for various reasons neither of us had received a particularly good education in financial matters and didn't really know what we were getting into.

???

Ok, I was younger than he was! I went straight through. He took out the masters degree loans when he was young (22). Then he went to law school so he could pay off the masters degree ... because like a lot of prospective law students he was led to believe that job prospects and salaries were better than they actually turned out to be.

You are so full of excuses. I graduated from law school the same year as your DH and I'm sorry, the writing was on the wall for a long time about the legal field. I went in with my eyes open and am glad I am a lawyer, it's what I always wanted. But it really bugs me when contemporaries act as if they couldn't have known what the deal was and poor them. If you're foolish and make a mistake, own up to it. Don't blame everyone else, your youth, etc.

I agree. If you are bright enough to get into and graduate from law school, you are bright enough to figure out that you'll need to do some due diligence about job prospects, and consider the financial ramifications of taking out loans.

Gimme a break.

PP is right that people SHOULD look into job prospects before taking out student loans but they don't. There is some weird notion in this country that student loan debt is "good debt" and that education is worthwhile no matter what the cost. It's nuts and totally untrue. I got scholarships and took out way less in loans that I could have because I negotiated with my (expensive, private) law school on the amount of money they offered me before I accepted. But I know lots of smart, educated friends who just never considered whether the amount of loans they were taking out were "worth it" or whether they could repay it. The student loan system in this country is completely F'ed up.

[Anonymous]

Got a JD from a top-15 school 10 years ago. $50K in loans. Paid them off two months ago. Done.

[Anonymous]

It is shortsighted to just say "you were stupid to go to an expensive school". It really does not work like that. Every person does not have 10 acceptance letters from different schools. Also location, chance of part time work at the place and course content are factors worth considering. All colleges promise their graduates find employment. Attending a college is a must in our society. Some graduates are unemployed, does not mean that without a degree the same person would be employed.
I cannot help but wonder what the education level is of those who play the blame game.
Just because a pennyless student took the place from a kid who lives on "daddy pays" mentality?

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP: People today seem to think it's okay to graduate with 1/4 million in student loans. Do you even think about how long it will take to pay that off?

There are alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Schools and lenders do students and parents a disservice by not informing them of the monthly payments when they're signing for these loans. People who have never paid a bill (the case for many students) usually don't understand the impact that student loans will have on the power of their future earnings, quality of life, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CUA?

Catholic University...

If you went to school in DC then you would know the acronyms for colleges around here..

Here are the ones that I can rattle off the top of my head.

GU
GWU
CUA
HU
GMU
AU
TC
UDC

Is this a thing? Are people who went to school in the DC area snobs about it? I had no idea.

[Anonymous]

Only people who went to GOOD schools in the DC area. We also have a secret handshake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[quote]I don't hate people who have student loans, but I do think they should repay them. That's a very, very large sum of money and I didn't need to take a loan out in that amount to go to school. I got a degree and went to a school I could afford. I also make a good salary and have not relied on the American taxpayer to foot my college tuition.

x100.

And merely working for the feds doesn't quite cut it. Being the sole doctor on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the poorest county in the US? sure. Ditto for being the only public defender somewhere in the Mississippi Delta who helps indigent folks who are in jail, for years on end.

But, forgiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans per person because that guy is a GS-14 lawyer telecommuting from Herndon for the HHS? Working 8:45 to 4:30? Really?!

Who can I call about this.

I totally agree...why are we paying for this?

Agree 100%. As a taxpayer this shocks me. I'm a fed attorney who graduated in the mid-late 2000s and am close to done paying my moderate student loans by MYSELF. Why should someone who chose to go to a better-ranked, more expensive school get the career benefit of a prestigious degree, and get the taxpayer to foot the bill??

[Anonymous]

Immigrate. That way you will not have to pay anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 200K (we would have 400K if DH went to law school too ha ha). I have a couple friends with 400K though. The majority of people I know with high loans are employed by the feds and taking advantage of the public service forgiveness act and income based repayment. For example, my loan payment (on 200K) is only $287 (down from close to 2K without it). My loans will be forgiven in their entirety in 8 more years if I continue to work for the government (or any other non-profit organization). Becuase of this we are able to save quite well for retirement, but without it I would be scewed.

My husband and I do have to file our taxes married but filing separate (or single? whatever it is) in order to take advantage, which has its own consequences (no Roth IRA for us). But so far it has worked out well!

May I ask what GS are you OR how big your family income and person size is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I owe a LOT in student loans - almost $400,000. Anyone else out there also owe a huge amount? I constantly see posts on how much people have saved for retirement or in case of emergency, and we just don't have that. Are we the only ones who owe this much?

Years ago my DH and I exited graduate school with a combined $120 K in student loans. His starting salary was $32 K/yr. and mine was $24 K/yr. You do not mention how much you both earn, but if it anywhere near $200 K/ yr., then you will be fine. It took us almost six years to pay off our student loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About $160,000 between the two of us. Ugh. We'll never be able to buy a house in this area. We have no emergency funds and live paycheck to paycheck. But at least we both have stable jobs and are healthy, right?

Yup, that's right. I have no debt, four hundred thou in savings, health problems, and no job. I would trade you in a split second!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$160k between DH and I. We started out at $300k about 9 years ago. We have been working as government attorneys for the last 4 years and we are in the IBR program. The remaining loans will be about $100k in 6 years and this will be forgiven. We're very thankful for the program. We've purchased a house, funded our retirements, had two kids, and funded their 529 accounts. Considering I telework two days a week and have a 40 hour work week, I'm kind of surprised myself how good things have turned out.

Things have not turned out as well as . . . paying off $ 120K in total student loans by yourself (without government assistance) and in their entirety while earning a combined less than $ 46 K/yr. for the first 3-4 years of your careers, and working hard to earn a current salary of $ 2 m/yr. Karma . . . she is a sweetheart!

[Anonymous]

This is why people should go to state universities