Monday, September 25, 2006

No Debt is Good Debt

Michelle Singletary, who I've had the pleasure of meeting and also interviewing, devotes her personal finance column in the Washington Post yesterday to arguing that the best student loan debt is no student loan debt.

"The rising student loan levels are so troubling, it's time we stop saying this is good debt."Having over $100,000 in student loan debt is not fun," wrote one reader, a new lawyer who joined me during a recent online discussion. "Do I regret going? No, but it certainly didn't pan out the way I thought it would."

Amen.

5 comments:

DEBTective said...

That's what I'm talkin' about, baby. Kids today need to get in the habit of deep-sixing their debt and connecting with their cash. Student loans are nothing but a pair of cement shoes that dunk you into the debt pool. Thanks for spreading the word to stay away from them! www.debtective.com

Anonymous said...

My parents always said that education is a worthly investment. The problem is how much debt you need carry in order to make it pay off. Too often college students arrive on to a college campus without a long or short-term financial plan to pay for it. I'm tired of hearing middle-class parents bemoaning to public officials and the media about rising college costs and demanding action with further whining and moaning. Truth be told that higher education don't get enough funding from both the state and feds!in the first place! Everyone wants accountability and the end results without adequate funding! Now I hear that the Department of Education wants a "No college student gets Behind Law" for those schools receiving federal financial aid. When does the train wreck stop!

Education is more than a degree and the good life; it is the development and mastery of lifelong education through gaining mental and practical skillsets and abilities. If more parents care more about public education than the Taliban, colleges and universities would have the incentives to reduce costs overall. The false thinking that only those going to college should pay for the privilege notion is old fashion and out of date. It should be everybody's concern whether you have children or not. The solution is to start when their children are in elementary school and start saving! Live at your earning means! Do you need to go a ocean cruise, do you need that expensive SUV, or that huge house? There are many ways to fund your educational dreams besides student loans. Look at serving Uncle Sam, try attending community college and transfer, try a public college or university instead of a private institution, look for scholarships starting when your child is in middle school, try a community service program that provides educational grants in exchange for a time commitment of service and any other sources fund your educational dreams.

Anonymous said...

I agree I finished uni without any debt and it freed me to do many things that would have not been possible with student debt. You have to work hard while you are at univercity to avoid student loans (like every weekend 14 + hours), but it is well worth it at the end.

Vancouver Consulting

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

If your debts unmanageable you can enter into an IVA, this is where your creditors agree that you cant manage repayments and agree to take a % of the total amount owed (my debt reduced by just over 50% making my repayments half of what they were). it stays on your credit record for 6 years, but unlike bankruptcy, it doesnt affect your credit rating (or so ive been told)