Does anyone else owe a TON in student loans?

[Anonymous]

[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.

[Anonymous]

LOL, 16:37!

[Anonymous]

16:37 - oh yeah, I'm on it. Totally not paying their loans. I have my own to worry about. MF*ckers.

[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?

Dear God. WHAT were you thinking?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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'm a left-leaning Democrat and agree 100%.

Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gee, I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes me to hear all of you scamming your way out of repaying your school debts. As a fellow taxpayer, I say thank you. Thank you very much.

This loan forgiveness deal should be canned. I think I'll suggest it to the committee looking to balance the budget. Sounds like it could make a sizable dent.

Not sure how it is scamming anything. I am working for the government (or a non profit) at a reduced pay in exchange for them forgiving my loans. It is designed to encourage folks to take low paying jobs. Anyway, it was signed into law by a republican...so go complain to him if you want to complain.

[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'm a left-leaning Democrat and agree 100%.

Sheesh.

Umm. If you are making GS14 it is VERY VERY hard to get approved for the forgiveness program. It is not just about working for the government but rather working for the government and having a low salary in comparison to giant loans.

[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.

But satisfying the ID is an expensive habit.

[Anonymous]

You, OP and PPs, made the decision to take these loans and start out your professional life with outrageous debt. Once upon a time, people worked their way through college, you should have given this some thought. Student loans should not be forgiven unless the person who took out the loan is terminally ill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k here. I have nightmares about it! It is the same amount as our home loan. We hope to pay for it during 10 years and then have it forgiven.

OP here. I have nightmares about it too! Sometimes I can't get to sleep because I feel so stressed about them. We're trying to pay them down, higher interest rate loans first. Neither one of us works for the govt. To answer other PP - one Dr. and one lawyer.

With your high earning careers, don't you think you'll be able to pay it off quickly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300k here. I have nightmares about it! It is the same amount as our home loan. We hope to pay for it during 10 years and then have it forgiven.

OP here. I have nightmares about it too! Sometimes I can't get to sleep because I feel so stressed about them. We're trying to pay them down, higher interest rate loans first. Neither one of us works for the govt. To answer other PP - one Dr. and one lawyer.

With your high earning careers, don't you think you'll be able to pay it off quickly?

It depends on what you consider quickly. It's YEARS even at our salaries. We're paying about 2000/month in INTEREST ONLY. Of course, we're paying more than interest, but because some of the loans are fixed at 8.5%, it is going to take a long time, even making a large payment every month. 400,000 is just a TON of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Dear God. WHAT were you thinking?[/quote]

Then, I was thinking I wanted to be a lawyer, and my husband (who I hadn't met yet when he made that decision) was thinking he wanted to be a Dr.

Now, the only think I'm thinking is that you're a complete a**hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You, OP and PPs, made the decision to take these loans and start out your professional life with outrageous debt. Once upon a time, people worked their way through college, you should have given this some thought. Student loans should not be forgiven unless the person who took out the loan is terminally ill.

I'm the OP. I never said anything about our loans being forgiven. WE ARE PAYING THEM BACK.

[Anonymous]

I went to school a top university in Toronto. Graduated owing $2000 and my parents paid it off. My entire degree cost less than $20K. My heart breaks for you, OP. I can't even imagine owing that kind of money and just starting out in life.