Anyone plan on not paying back student loans?

[Anonymous]

My husband has a balance of 60k and we have saved the money during the pandemic to pay it off. But we are currently just sitting on this money because every loan pause extension makes it seem more and more possible that there will be loan forgiveness of at least some of the balance.

[Anonymous]

i paid mine back from 2012-2020, then the pandemic pause hit. I'm at my 120 payments currently. My employer (fed agency) has been sending payments on my behalf.

so no, not going to pay those back any more! just going to file the paperwork for forgiveness and let the gov pay itself back.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t been paying it during the pandemic because I’m hoping some of my subsidized or unsubsidized loans will be forgiven. If not, I’ll go back to paying once interest starts up. In the meantime, I’ve been investing that money and will use a good chunk of it to pay off the majority. The pause in payments has been such a lifesaver for me and my siblings - I’ve since bought a house, renovated it, invested in the stock market and crypto market (I know I know), and now we are having a baby! I’ve also increased by salary by 50%. Life just got more manageable without the dread of paying $850 monthly to a balance that never really decreased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a debt strike recently in DC.

For federal loans, there’s no getting out of them outside of IBR or PSLF or BDR currently. They WILL garnish your wages and SS.

For private loans, you can “settle” them, and in some cases, declare bankruptcy via the Bruner test. This ruins your credit though.

The standard for discharge under Bruner is extremely difficult to meet and will only be met in rare circumstances such as severe disability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband has a balance of 60k and we have saved the money during the pandemic to pay it off. But we are currently just sitting on this money because every loan pause extension makes it seem more and more possible that there will be loan forgiveness of at least some of the balance.

This why people are against loan forgiveness. You have the means to repay your debt but instead are hoping to get out of what you owe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t been paying it during the pandemic because I’m hoping some of my subsidized or unsubsidized loans will be forgiven. If not, I’ll go back to paying once interest starts up. In the meantime, I’ve been investing that money and will use a good chunk of it to pay off the majority. The pause in payments has been such a lifesaver for me and my siblings - I’ve since bought a house, renovated it, invested in the stock market and crypto market (I know I know), and now we are having a baby! I’ve also increased by salary by 50%. Life just got more manageable without the dread of paying $850 monthly to a balance that never really decreased.

Another example of why loan forgiveness won’t be passed. You take on more expenses instead of paying what you owe when you clearly could.

[Anonymous]

There is a student loan forum on Reddit that I find informative at times for repayment strategies and news on covid stuff related to loans, but the ethos on it is that degrees are “worthless.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a student loan forum on Reddit that I find informative at times for repayment strategies and news on covid stuff related to loans, but the ethos on it is that degrees are “worthless.”

Most are. See Mr MBA on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a student loan forum on Reddit that I find informative at times for repayment strategies and news on covid stuff related to loans, but the ethos on it is that degrees are “worthless.”

Most are. See Mr MBA on this thread.

Also see Mr. I dont have a dog in this fight. 90% of the people commenting don't have a student loan. people that took these loans are real people, with real jobs and financial challenges. We all have challenges but simply saying "you have the means to pay" or "you knew what you were getting into" is narrow minded. 9 out of every 10 dollars of stimulus money ever given was printed in the last 3 years. The student loan "crisis" ( yes it is a crisis) should be addressed as a stimulus. The gov't would get a huge chunk if not all the money back in other ways. Saddling loan payers with decades of payments is not the answer regardless of their ability to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i paid mine back from 2012-2020, then the pandemic pause hit. I'm at my 120 payments currently. My employer (fed agency) has been sending payments on my behalf.

so no, not going to pay those back any more! just going to file the paperwork for forgiveness and let the gov pay itself back.

Wait, what?? Your federal agency is currently PAYING your loan amount? And, then the federal government will grant forgiveness?

[Anonymous]

Nobody wants to address universities requiring students to live in their expensive on-campus housing, buying their expensive meal plans, restrictive zoning (in some primarily college towns, students can only live in certain parts of the town by law, driving up demand and prices that students need to pay for rent), amenities like rock climbing walls, the astounding number of deans and “coordinators,” and I could go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t been paying it during the pandemic because I’m hoping some of my subsidized or unsubsidized loans will be forgiven. If not, I’ll go back to paying once interest starts up. In the meantime, I’ve been investing that money and will use a good chunk of it to pay off the majority. The pause in payments has been such a lifesaver for me and my siblings - I’ve since bought a house, renovated it, invested in the stock market and crypto market (I know I know), and now we are having a baby! I’ve also increased by salary by 50%. Life just got more manageable without the dread of paying $850 monthly to a balance that never really decreased.

Yep, this is why I am against loan forgiveness. I paid mine off before this debacle called pause payments and possible forgiveness. And yes you can say I am jealous, nope, I am beyond pissed because people who attended and graduated from accredited universities have the means to pay the loans, but are not. What is going to happen to the next generation of borrowers because of people like you and this loan forgiveness stupidity. Will federal loans cease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody wants to address universities requiring students to live in their expensive on-campus housing, buying their expensive meal plans, restrictive zoning (in some primarily college towns, students can only live in certain parts of the town by law, driving up demand and prices that students need to pay for rent), amenities like rock climbing walls, the astounding number of deans and “coordinators,” and I could go on.

Attend a different university. You make it seem that this is a universal requirement at all universities. It is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got forgiveness through PSLF this year. I'd been paying since 2008 and my balance was 2k less than when I started. My plan B if PSLF had continued being so broken (I was notified in 2022 that I had actually completed all the requirements for the program in 2019 and got a refund) was to do a plan default.

What does that mean? I thought defaulting on Federal loans gets you nowhere because they can never be discharged?

Yes, I would stop paying and add that money to my retirement. I would ruin my credit and could have a percentage of SS garnished. When I looked at my specific circumstances, that seemed like a better option than paying for thirty years.

I thought the Feds come for everything? Meaning they garnish bank accounts, liens on house, tax returns (altho you can get around this), etc.

They don't do any of those things for federal student loans. They can sue people who default, but, at least where I live, that is extremely rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody wants to address universities requiring students to live in their expensive on-campus housing, buying their expensive meal plans, restrictive zoning (in some primarily college towns, students can only live in certain parts of the town by law, driving up demand and prices that students need to pay for rent), amenities like rock climbing walls, the astounding number of deans and “coordinators,” and I could go on.

Attend a different university. You make it seem that this is a universal requirement at all universities. It is not.

+1 The plots don’t deserve a top notch education