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2 people work with me that I know of at wells fargo who have done so, and I know there are more. They were hired on as temps, both having graduated this year. One is 20,000 in debt, the other is 30,000 in debt, both seem clueless but I'm friends with both of them. i mean i like them, but financially they are clueless.
i ask the guy 20k in debt how much his payment is, he says it kicks in this fall. ask him how much, has no idea. has no idea what principal is and interest is and how just paying the minimum will never pay the prinicipal and will just accrue interest. the other 30,000 guy is a bright guy who knows what he got himself into but i feel sorry for him. hes in his mid 20's, going to be saddled with that debt for 20 years.
i myself planned to complete my bachelors degree in economics but gave up, at least for now.
ive decided unless somebody pays for me, or i get federal assistance, i will forget about completeing the degree. for what its worth, ive got 19 credits before i complete my associates degree, then planned to transfer to complete bachelors in economics. my college debt is 645.54 that i will have paid off by august.
its paramount now to be debt free or near debt free in this economy.
and this is just 20-30k debt. ive read stories of people routinely going 50k plus in debt, they aint getting a job.
just think about this, the 30k debt guy went to one of the better liberal arts colleges in the country and still ended up only finding a job as a temp.
thats when i know its bad.
oh, and it doesnt help when i see a giant bank owned foreclosure sign on a 350,000 house 5 houses down from me either, and one 10 houses up from me.
i ask the guy 20k in debt how much his payment is, he says it kicks in this fall. ask him how much, has no idea. has no idea what principal is and interest is and how just paying the minimum will never pay the prinicipal and will just accrue interest. the other 30,000 guy is a bright guy who knows what he got himself into but i feel sorry for him. hes in his mid 20's, going to be saddled with that debt for 20 years.
How can he not, unless he does not read his mail. My loan providers send me letters all the time informing me of the interest, how much I will ultimately have to pay back, the monthly amount, etc. 20K is pretty low debt for the student loans these days, so is 30K. The average is around 40K. There are different types of repayment options for borrowers, and the basic option that most get into by default is a ten-year plan. You can opt for a 20-year plan, which would make your monthly payments lower, but in the end you can wind up ultimately paying 10K, 20K, etc. more as the result of ten more years of interest on a higher balance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tropolis
its paramount now to be debt free or near debt free in this economy.
and this is just 20-30k debt. ive read stories of people routinely going 50k plus in debt, they aint getting a job.
I think that everyone should be debt free, but only because companies make their money off your debt, and if you really think about-that is pretty twisted. Anyways, I rarely hear, or see, anyone talk about owing $500,000 on a house, or $30,000 on a car, or having $10,000+ in credit card debt as 'bad', but yet, the student loans are a racket, a scam, 'bad debt', etc.
Anyways, I am going into debt to gain a degree in 'todays' economy. The what's, why's, and how's behind it are no-one's business but my own. At least I am not going into a field that is saturated.
Keep in mind that when your 2 friends entered college, the economy wasn't in the tank like it is right now. We're all told by our elders that the only way we'll be happy is by doing whatever it takes to get a college degree (even if it means piling up student loan debt). So, why should anyone criticize us for going into debt if going to college "guarantees" that we will make more money?
Keep in mind that when your 2 friends entered college, the economy wasn't in the tank like it is right now.
This is a huge part of it. I went to a prestigious private small university that is liberal arts in style because even the "worthless" majors had high employment and starting salaries. My school has one of the best programs for what I wanted to study. I couldn't know that the economy would crash and the recruiters would dry up. I have no debt due to scholarships, but I am not able to go to law school or grad school like I planned. 1 month out from graduation and 7 months since I started my job search and I've got nothing.
i myself planned to complete my bachelors degree in economics but gave up, at least for now.
ive decided unless somebody pays for me, or i get federal assistance, i will forget about completeing the degree. for what its worth, ive got 19 credits before i complete my associates degree, then planned to transfer to complete bachelors in economics. my college debt is 645.54 that i will have paid off by august.
Yes, piling on too much debt right now is not good, especially if you were to major in something completely useless as far as employment goes. It also really depends on your personal financial situation.
But you should be aware of two things: 1. Those with college degrees tend to earn significantly more over their lifetimes than those without, and 2. The economy is not always going to be in the bad shape it is today.
So those who invest wisely in themselves by managing to get useful degrees for a reasonable price are likely to be far ahead of you over the longer run when things turn around. You may wind up being side by side with these people and watching them make more than you and advance faster than you. For better or for worse, getting a good college degree is oftentimes key to opening a lot of doors to good future opportunities.
So, you are working with them at Wells making what, $13/hour as your full time job while they are working there as temps until they find a real job-that should answer your question right there.
Keep in mind they won't be saddled with that debt for 20 years, it isn't any more than a car payment, quite frequently financed for 5 years and student loans can be paid off in that time frame as well.
You have to stop thinking short term and look long term. That 20-30K will translate into several hundred thousand dollars down the road in jobs, promotions,etc. Try getting promoted into a good job at Wells as a college dropout and see how far you get.
What type of question is this? I think it would better to ask why would someone go into debt over a car/flat-screen TV/vacation home/engagement ring/etc. in today's economy? A college degree is an investment in yourself. Nothing in this world is free. If we were forced to only consume those goods that we only have the cash for to purchase debt-free...well, this society would look very, very different!
I am about 15k in debt with student loans (no private loans thanks god), I do have a federal gov. job (tax auditor) that I would not have without my degree. Decent starting out salary (especially for the part of the country I live in), great benefits, pretty secure job, working in an air conditioned office, and doing something i studied in college (finance major, close enough lol)..
For some college works out for others it does not ..in my particular case it has so far in my young career. Whether it is dumb or not to get into debt for a college degree has so many variable though ie..what degree versus how much debt you will have when you finish is one of them.
Most people would not balk at going into 10k in debt for an accounting degree for example. More than likely it will pay off in you finding a business type of job if not outright accounting job, if not you still have a degree to fall back on that did not cost an arm and a leg.
I imagine it wasn't like this when they began accruing said debt. What about if the economy bounces back in the next couple of years and the two people you mentioned have found better jobs? Will that debt suddenly be ok again? And quite honestly I don't see how someone could take 20 years to pay off 30k in loans.
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