Have plenty in 529, but still taking out loans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of middle class/lower middle class families that have taken out truly insane amounts of loans for their kids. I hope that’s uncommon. I know someone whose family owes a total of $140,000 for their child’s completed bachelor’s degree at Pitt. They’re instate for it. I know this because they’ve brought it up in conversation. I know someone who has been taking out the whole cost of attendance for their child’s (OOS) degree at UDel.

If those are federal loan, it’s actually a great idea right now as there are no interest charges. And add on loan forgiveness possibility, than those parents are actually winning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of middle class/lower middle class families that have taken out truly insane amounts of loans for their kids. I hope that’s uncommon. I know someone whose family owes a total of $140,000 for their child’s completed bachelor’s degree at Pitt. They’re instate for it. I know this because they’ve brought it up in conversation. I know someone who has been taking out the whole cost of attendance for their child’s (OOS) degree at UDel.

If those are federal loan, it’s actually a great idea right now as there are no interest charges. And add on loan forgiveness possibility, than those parents are actually winning.

Nobody is forgiving $140,000 or even $100,000 in undergraduate parent plus loans. Get real.

[Anonymous]

The covid-era student loan program changes have turned the the economic incentives for parents completely upside down.

Anyone not taking out loans right now has not been paying attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of middle class/lower middle class families that have taken out truly insane amounts of loans for their kids. I hope that’s uncommon. I know someone whose family owes a total of $140,000 for their child’s completed bachelor’s degree at Pitt. They’re instate for it. I know this because they’ve brought it up in conversation. I know someone who has been taking out the whole cost of attendance for their child’s (OOS) degree at UDel.

If those are federal loan, it’s actually a great idea right now as there are no interest charges. And add on loan forgiveness possibility, than those parents are actually winning.

Nobody is forgiving $140,000 or even $100,000 in undergraduate parent plus loans. Get real.

If it’s federal loans, having $100,000 interest-free is real money. (Duh!!!) You can leverage that money for other investments, loans, properties, you name it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a couple of middle class/lower middle class families that have taken out truly insane amounts of loans for their kids. I hope that’s uncommon. I know someone whose family owes a total of $140,000 for their child’s completed bachelor’s degree at Pitt. They’re instate for it. I know this because they’ve brought it up in conversation. I know someone who has been taking out the whole cost of attendance for their child’s (OOS) degree at UDel.

If those are federal loan, it’s actually a great idea right now as there are no interest charges. And add on loan forgiveness possibility, than those parents are actually winning.

Nobody is forgiving $140,000 or even $100,000 in undergraduate parent plus loans. Get real.

If it’s federal loans, having $100,000 interest-free is real money. (Duh!!!) You can leverage that money for other investments, loans, properties, you name it.

If you’re LMC you’re not paying back $100k in any manageable timeframe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The covid-era student loan program changes have turned the the economic incentives for parents completely upside down.

Anyone not taking out loans right now has not been paying attention.

What are the Covid-era loan changes you are talking about? Do they apply to unsubsidized Stafford loans? I have one kid in undergrad and one in grad. We’re paying cash right now but does it make sense to take out a loan? What are the rates like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The covid-era student loan program changes have turned the the economic incentives for parents completely upside down.

Anyone not taking out loans right now has not been paying attention.

What are the Covid-era loan changes you are talking about? Do they apply to unsubsidized Stafford loans? I have one kid in undergrad and one in grad. We’re paying cash right now but does it make sense to take out a loan? What are the rates like?

Stafford (both subsidized and unsubsidized) loans are approximately 3% interest for kids starting college recently and soon. Subsidized loans require financial need and do not accrue interest until you graduate, I believe. Stafford loans have $27,000 total (not per year) per dependent undergraduate student. Dependent, meaning not otherwise emancipated due to abuse as a minor, military, marriage or being a parent themselves. The limits are as follows:

$5500 for freshmen
$6500 for sophomores
$7500 for juniors
$7500 for seniors


The loan amounts are not additive; if your child is a sophomore now and you turned down previous stafford loans, there’s no getting those back at those rates. You apply for those through FAFSA. No co-signer required.

Grad plus loans are what students take out for graduate school. I can’t remember the interest rates for those off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The covid-era student loan program changes have turned the the economic incentives for parents completely upside down.

Anyone not taking out loans right now has not been paying attention.

What are the Covid-era loan changes you are talking about? Do they apply to unsubsidized Stafford loans? I have one kid in undergrad and one in grad. We’re paying cash right now but does it make sense to take out a loan? What are the rates like?

PP here with the writeup. The covid era changes have been, among other things (Public Service Loan Forgiveness changes), that all federal student loans have been interest free since April 2020. They will continue to be interest free until at least until late August 2022, possibly later. So people have not had to make payments on federal loans: stafford loans, parent plus loans or graduate plus loans since April 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Biden forgives loans, I'd not vote for him or Dems in 2024. You borrowed with a promise to pay it back! What's wrong with you people?

You prefer insurrectionists that invaded the Capitol over Democrats who would forgive loans? Shows your priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously?!? My brother and I both struggled to pay for college and grad school. We both worked through both and took out loans which we paid off. We (with our spouses) have saved and our thrilled to be able to offer our kids the ability to go wherever they want (within reason). We both have parameters based on values (my kids are in school and my brother’s oldest is starting the application process). I find posts like this contemptible. Loan forgiveness is for people who really need it - not for people like op to game the system.

Which is why policies like this should not be handled at the federal level. Most "charitable policy" at the federal level ends up being hiijacked by the people who game the system or hurts people who didn't fit into the required scenario. Charitable policies should be handled at local, institutional, and state levels where there can be more oversight and discretion. Federal level for a lot of policies end up screwed up. I can talk for hours on the "trying to help people" at the federal level that ends up hurting the very people the rule is trying to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so petty, and I say that as a millennial who self-funded college, and worked multiple jobs through most of my life to pay off my student loans. I wouldn’t benefit personally from this policy.

Student loan forgiveness is good for everyone. The fewer people who are burdened with this kind of debt, the better the economy is. And more people can actually live their lives instead of working 100 hours a week, like I did.

So where is all this money going to come from? Someone actually has to pay it. Instead of telling all kids they have to go to college and go into debt, we should be guiding kids into trades that don’t require expensive degrees. It’s really irresponsible to pay $150000 for a degree in social work where your max salary is going to be $60k after 20 years. This sets a bad precedent for future generations who are the ones who are going to be saddled with our country’s debt.

Where does all the money come from for our 800 billion+ budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the same thing. We have 300K for each kid saved but we are having them take out max student loans because of the democratic idiots running the country (sorry to offend any libs). For example, in a period of record unemployment and huge wage growth and massive inflation, we have a payment freeze on loans. LOL, how stupid is that- lets flood people with more money to buy things that supply chains cant provide.

As someone who put themselves through school with loans and jobs, I am just stunned at this wiping out of debt. Where was this when I was a recent grad? Oh yeah, back then, we paid back what we borrowed in good faith.

So yes, we are also on the student loan gravy train. We told our kids we would pay them off at graduation if they graduated with a 3.5 or higher (gives them a little motivation not to have too much fun) but you arent paying attention if you arent taking out loans that could well be forgiven and have zero payments or interest during the school years.

Hey. No need to be mean. I am a registered Democrat for lack of better choices. There are plenty of republicans who are also hoping for a loan forgiveness with that said, I agree that school loans should not be frozen now and wiped clean later, minus public service. I too am debating using school loans for DC first year of school versus parents funds. I would be financially stupid not to take advantage of a possible loan forgiveness for DC, instead of using my household income. The 529 can then be used for grad school because I cannot imagine the loan forgiveness extending beyond undergraduate loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the same thing. We have 300K for each kid saved but we are having them take out max student loans because of the democratic idiots running the country (sorry to offend any libs). For example, in a period of record unemployment and huge wage growth and massive inflation, we have a payment freeze on loans. LOL, how stupid is that- lets flood people with more money to buy things that supply chains cant provide.

As someone who put themselves through school with loans and jobs, I am just stunned at this wiping out of debt. Where was this when I was a recent grad? Oh yeah, back then, we paid back what we borrowed in good faith.

So yes, we are also on the student loan gravy train. We told our kids we would pay them off at graduation if they graduated with a 3.5 or higher (gives them a little motivation not to have too much fun) but you arent paying attention if you arent taking out loans that could well be forgiven and have zero payments or interest during the school years.

Hey. No need to be mean. I am a registered Democrat for lack of better choices. There are plenty of republicans who are also hoping for a loan forgiveness with that said, I agree that school loans should not be frozen now and wiped clean later, minus public service. I too am debating using school loans for DC first year of school versus parents funds. I would be financially stupid not to take advantage of a possible loan forgiveness for DC, instead of using my household income. The 529 can then be used for grad school because I cannot imagine the loan forgiveness extending beyond undergraduate loans.

Also, if PP has $600,000 (!!!) saved for college, I’m sure they “hate the libs.” That is rich.

[Anonymous]

You are not allowed to pay back loans with 529 funds.

I would not take out a massive amount of loans in hopes of it being forgiven unless you are already extremely wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are not allowed to pay back loans with 529 funds.

I would not take out a massive amount of loans in hopes of it being forgiven unless you are already extremely wealthy.

In addition, there is a 4.23% upfront fee for Fed Parent Plus undergrad loans.