I had an interesting conversation the other day in which I was talking to a couple about student loan forgiveness. They both have over six figures in debt borrowing for liberal arts master’s degrees at a private institution with high interest rates (5-7% range, which to me is high, but I’m no expert on student debt).
They were telling me how great it has been not paying their student loan interest since the pandemic began. It has enabled them to build an emergency fund and given them some financial stability that they have never known before. That made me smile and I was glad to hear that the temporary interest moratorium was helping them as intended.
However, then the conversation took a turn toward the unexpected. As we continued to discuss the issue, I asked them if they had tried to refinance the loans with a company like SoFi (again, just asking from what I’ve seen and heard, I don’t know anything about refinancing student loans), and their answer surprised me.
They said, yes, they had looked into it and could obtain a much lower rate by refinancing, but they didn’t want to because if they refinanced with a private company, they no longer had federal student loans, and if any amount was forgiven by the government, it wouldn’t apply to them.
Wow.
That shocked me and was a different angle that I had never even thought about.
Could the debate about canceling student debt actually be hurting some people? Was all the media craze promoting these clickbait articles maybe influencing gullible borrowers to make poor financial decisions?
Now, I’m no math whizz, and didn’t run any of their numbers personally, but if you have a high interest rate on six figures plus of student loans, there’s going to be a pretty fast tipping point that you should refi at a lower rate versus getting that initial $10K forgiveness. My point being, if you don’t act quickly, that $10K might not even matter and you‘ll need the larger $50K in forgiveness to be any help to you at all, which is the much riskier proposition of ever passing.
Hope is not a strategy.
However, this line of reasoning, not making immediate and long-term financial decisions with the hope of getting the debt forgiven by the government at some future date, was something I had never heard mentioned before in the grand ol’ debate on cancelling student debt. Which made me wonder, how many people weren’t refinancing their student loans, and paying more money in interest than they should be because they were hoping to get some amount of their debt forgiven by the government?
Was the whole talk about student loan forgiveness actually hurting people? Subtly steering them toward making inferior financial choices with their debt in the hope of one big government freebie?
So, the more I thought about this, the more I questioned, well, how the fuck do I Q-FI feel about the whole situation?
Since my opinion has been known around the world to have quite a cosmic effect such as moving mountains from time to time, solving time travel and building the first intergalactic bridge between heaven and hell (sometimes dealing with those angels was worse than the demons) – people attempt to stalk me like a Cheetah on the savannah for any whiff of my omniscient wisdom.
Well, let me assuage your thirsty minds my friends.
First, let’s get the good ol’ preface out of the way. The following are only my privileged views based off my limited personal experience. I really don’t care about the larger arguments, like will student loan forbearance stimulate the economy or all this other unquantifiable guesswork. You can look up those debates on your own and read both sides.
What I’m going to get into today, with my lack of space and time constraints in a blog post for such a nuanced topic, are only my personal experiences, because if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m the only person that really matters in this world. Hahaha. I mean, if you’re not the center of your own universe, then you’re missing out.
What the fuck is the point of living if you can’t rule the minions in your own mind with an iron fist!
So back to the task at hand, how do I feel about student loan forgiveness?
The short answer is I’m mixed.
My first thought is that I’m not sure this is a good use of government funds. What happens if you’ve never gone to college or ever taken out a student loan in your life. Why should your taxes go to something that people willingly signed up for and now don’t want to pay off (minus fraud or deception)?
If you’re in that camp, I’d be pretty pissed off about all this shit.
But on the flipside, for all the people paying high interest student loans who can benefit from a government cancellation, good for you. Take that shit. You didn’t write the laws. And if you can benefit from it within the rules, don’t be an idiot or righteous prick.
Take the fucking money and run.
Now, in my case, I took out loans for undergrad and paid them off. I attended a part-time MBA program so that I could work full-time solely for the reason of avoiding debt. That three-year grind of work and school also played a role in my ultimate demise with addiction. So, I’m a little biased toward the whole forgiveness thing from that angle. I worked my ass off (partly killing myself) to get to where I am today without cutting corners. I’m not going to lie, seeing others get a free pass would sting a little.
If you want to throw the privilege card at me in defense, I’m cool with that. How much of a factor was it, don’t know? And to be honest, I don’t really care for the sake of this post. But there’s a whole lot of woke culture that will join you in debating it on Twitter and shaming anyone that has an opposing opinion if that’s your cup of tea.
Just be a darling and never come back to this blog afterwards…. hahaha.
Plus, for the more intelligent than me out there, where do the student loan forgiveness numbers even come from? I’ve never understood this.
How did the proponents of cancellation come up with $10K and then a crazy jump to $50K as the amounts? Why not start out with $1K or $2K or even $5K? Plus, what the fuck happened to all the numbers in between… $20K… $30K… $40K… hahaha. This shit has never made any sense to me, so feel free to educate me in the comments below.
But here’s my big beef with student loan forgiveness, if it’s going to happen, then it needs to solve the underlying problem: universities not controlling their costs and overcharging for education.
What’s the point of forgiving student loan debt if we still have the same conditions causing it? That seems crazy to me.
Is the underlying problem people taking out student loans that can’t afford to pay them back, or kids picking majors that don’t have an ROI that makes sense when compared to the extravagant tuition costs?
Maybe this is part of it. In some of the cases I’ll admit that.
But to me, the main problem is education itself. Forgiving student loans doesn’t fix the education problem at all. Why not make the institutions that have caused the problem fix it? Tax the universities and make them pay for the loan forgiveness?
I’m cool with that.
It seems a little nuts to me that I rarely hear this discussed at all. The main topic is help struggling students by forgiving their debt, which is targeting the effect not the cause. Shouldn’t the conversation be around how do we fix education and hold the universities accountable for selling an overpriced and overvalued product that is ripping people off?
I think so. But maybe I’m naïve here.
And if you take this a little bit farther, how many jobs can’t be taught? How many jobs even really need an education to do? Not that many. The college education part itself, I’m excluding the living experience here, is becoming almost worthless in a real sense. Why we pay exorbitant prices on something that doesn’t create real value boggles my mind. And don’t even get me started on the fucked-up system of tenure. Hahaha.
But these are all debates for another day. I’ve rambled on long enough.
So, let’s wrap up and look at all the people that have taken out student loans and paid them off in the past, like me. Would it suck to watch other people get a free handout and leg up? Sure. But times change.
And since this is my playpen, I can take a stab at an unrealistic hypothetical.
The only thing that makes sense to me, for all those responsible loan repayors that feel wronged, is let’s say the government does forgive $10K in student loan debt for every borrower, then maybe they should give a $10K tax credit to everyone else… hahaha. I know, never going to happen, but hey, a nice thought. Even a $10K tax deduction wouldn’t even be considered. There would be income phase out limits and all that other shit that would exclude a lot of people.
But hey, a guy can try.
Anyway, this part isn’t quite as big a deal for me. Maybe the older I get; I’m improving at practicing acceptance. But with all the massive stimulus passed during the pandemic, it’s clear to me the world is a very different place than it was during the great recession. Massive stimulus and government help is the new normal.
Which depending on your vantage point, could be a good or bad thing. Yet regardless, the world keeps on spinning and humming the tune of the day…
To forgive, or not forgive.
-Q-FI
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There’s probably a lot of different views on this topic, and I’m excited to hear people’s thoughts. So how do you feel about student loan forgiveness? Should it happen? Do you think it will happen? If so, $10K or $50K? Do you think it is right or wrong? Tell me why below.
Oh, what a topic and one that’s struck a nerve with so many! I work with a lot of young people and hear this topic all the time. I lived like pauper for so long to 1) save the money for school to decrease the amount of debt I’d have to take out for my second degree and then 2) worked an unbelievable amount of overtime time to pay off the student debt I took on. So when I hear the 20-somethings complain about wanting the government, i.e., me, to pay it off for them, I get upset. I get even more upset when I hear they’re not willing to make any sacrifices to pay off that debt like I did. So, like you, I nearly killed myself to come out on the other side.
But here’s my real beef: the more the federal government backs student loans, the less incentive colleges have to lower costs and cut spending. And as long as schools offer more and more junk majors that leave graduates with no marketable skills, there will continue to be a battle. Students today expect As for nothing, whereas I had to work my ass off for them, but I actually learned something in the process. Lastly, we need to improve secondary school education to reduce expensive remedial courses in college and stop pushing college on everyone. Not everyone is geared to do well in college. That’s not being mean, it’s reality.
I had a classmate during my first degree who was super sweet but not at all bright. She wanted to be a teacher, but couldn’t handle the education major so they put her into even lower tier courses. One hundred grand of debt later, she was qualified to work for $10 an hour at a daycare! The same job she could’ve gotten with a high school or community college education. That’s absolute theft, and the school should be forced to pay back her debt.
Hahaha… I see this topic strikes a nerve with you, as I believe it will for many. All valid points you make here Katie. When you sacrifice a lot of your life in order to avoid or pay off that debt (like you and me), it definitely doesn’t seem fair and sends the wrong message. But on the other side of it, the past is the past. There’s a podcast I listen to regularly and one of the guys harps quite a bit that times are always changing – don’t judge a generation by the last one. When the rules of the game change, we have to accept it and move on. Although, like you, I don’t think it solves any problem and sends the wrong message to universities. Maybe it will help you out a little with that second degree in the future… hahaha.
You’re spot on that there are a lot of people that don’t need/shouldn’t be steered toward college and I couldn’t agree more. It’s a broken system that definitely needs revising. Unfortunately, the easy move for politicians is to throw some money at the effect rather than deal with the cause. And education plus their unions are big business and donors to Washington. I just don’t see our country ever taking a hard stance on education and forcing it to change. Who knows though, only time will tell. But I believe this issue plays a large role in only increasing the wealth inequality gap. At some future tipping point, education, healthcare and housing will all need to be dealt with.
I’m back and forth on this one as well. What I come back to is: would student loan forgiveness be widening the gap between those privileged enough to even consider college and those who aren’t in that position?
I know someone in a similar position who is postponing payments on the hope of federal forgiveness, but hadn’t even thought about that in terms of refinancing to private loans.
Having painstakingly paid off my own student loans throughout my 20s, I am also ashamed to admit a little pettiness/old fogey thinking of “hey I paid mine off, you should have to as well.” But absolutely, if forgiveness had been offered to me, I’m whatever I can get 100 times out of 100.
To your first question, I believe it is a metaphorical yes if the $50K is involved. At least from my peripheral musings on the topic, I’ve seen that the $50K forgiveness benefits mostly advanced degrees, such as doctors, who would already have a leg up anyway. I can’t point to any data though, just basing this off hearsay, so could be entirely wrong. But if that’s the case, it would suck to be widening the gap under the guise of helping the less fortunate.
Yeah, it will always sting when you put your own sweat equity into something then the rules change. But I have no problem with people taking advantage of it. I’d be doing the same.
Well there is certainly a lot to this issue, but I will touch on two points that you didn’t raise.
Why in the interest claimed by these loans be so high, my son’s is over 7%. The concept behind interest is that you pay to use someone else’s money based on risk. Well these folks have the US Government securing their loans so there is no risk, why should they be able to get a premium return when there is no risk. It is this high interest rate that is causing all the trouble.
Second, the loan company’s gave out lots of bad information that hurt the students. In my son’s case when he couldn’t get a job (graduated at the height of the economic crash in 2008), they encouraged him to defer his loans. This meant that the loan continued to grow exponentially (because of the high interest rate). What they should have done is told him to go on the income based repayment schedule and since his income was essentially at the poverty level his payments would have been ZERO and he would have had several years of coverage toward his eventual 20 years to make income based payments under his belt.
So what to do. We would be happy to pay back the principle (although there are issues with the school on how that amount came to be, but leave that aside) and a reasonable fee to the lender but not one based on years of compounding at 7+% (which means that he now owes twice what he received, but that would require the greedy private lenders (it is not the government that loans, just guarantees) to not be greedy bloodsucking leaches.
So yes it is complicated but so is much of life and the government set up this backward system and should have something to say about correcting it.
PS, If you paid back unreasonable amounts of interest, I would support you getting a rebate of the unreasonable part.
Thanks for sharing those points Peter and your experience.
That’s a wild story and for some reason I’m thinking it’s probably more common than not.
I’m all with you on the interstate rates. I don’t understand why they are so high if the gov is securing them. Maybe someone else can explain that better. Plus if these are federal loans, how does the government not reign that in or cap the interest somehow?
In your son’s case, the misinformation from the loan company sounds like deception to me, which I’m all for getting those forgiven. Anything to do with misinformation or fraud I’ve got no problem canceling. That’s just fucked up how bad the predatory lending is. I can’t believe the gov just let’s that shit happen.
Thanks again for sharing Peter. I appreciate the input.
I can only comment on the US student loan situation as an outsider, but I think offering such large loans to people at such a young age, especially for degrees that aren’t going to increase earning capacity in any meaningful way, is a problem. Some might say that it’s their own fault for agreeing to those terms in the first place, but I think when you’re 17/18/19, most people at that age just don’t fully grasp what they’re letting themselves in for. And of course, if the government is willing to offer loans of $100K, then universities are going to charge that much.
I quite like the UK system. Someone who starts a 4 year undergraduate course this year might finish with £60,000 of student loan debt (a combination of tuition fees and maintenance loans), which might have an interest rate between 3-6%. They’ll only have to start paying back once they start earning above £25K (median UK wage is £30K). The biggest, key difference is that the remaining balance will be wiped out by the UK government 30 years after graduation. So the high earners will probably pay theirs back within 5-10 years, and everyone else will pay back what they can during their prime working years, and the remainder will be cancelled by the time they probably turning 55. To me, that sounds much more reasonable than locking some graduates into a lifetime of debt.
Those are good points that I agree with Dr. Fire. Offering big money loans, with predatory interest rates, to essentially kids, is a major part of the problem. At some point in the future, there has to be some kind of limit or checks and balances. And yeah, if the government is going to loan it, you’re correct in that the universities will charge it. So to get a hold on it, is it a chicken or the egg question? Hahaha. The more I’m reading comments, the more I’m seeing this entire issue is so much more complicated than I had originally thought.
Thanks for sharing the UK system. I didn’t know any of that. It sure makes a lot more sense than the US system. Like Peter was talking about above with his son, I don’t understand how the student loans in the US have such high interest rates when you can get a mortgage for under 3%. That’s just crazy to me.
Wow, this is a huge topic that’s really complex. I agree that a major cause of the situation we’re currently in is that the government basically handed out loans to teenagers for WHATEVER they wanted to do, education-wise, and it allowed colleges and universities to charge whatever they wanted to for these (often worthless) degrees. Another fact that doesn’t get mentioned too often, is the government subsidized public universities heavily until the 1980s-1990s, and simultaneously shifted from giving many grants to giving many loans. A ton of factors involved here, but it was nearly impossible to back yourself into $100,000 of student debt in 1995, and it’s incredibly easy to do that today.
Another (personal) view I’d like to offer. My wife racked up about $150,000 in student debt, roughly split between undergrad and graduate school, most of which was accrued before we were together. She’s been working for not-for-profit health systems since 2013, and hopefully will have her debt forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in about 3 years. So this is another form of “government forgiveness,” but it’s been on the books since the Obama administration. I wonder how most folks weigh this program against the current debate over having 10k/50k wiped clean. For the record, she’s been making monthly payments for 8 years now, they just haven’t made much of a dent in her balance due to the interest.
Which brings me to my last point. I had a debate with my parents on this topic a couple weeks ago. I’m more left-leaning and sympathetic to the situation than they are, but I totally understand most peoples’ gripe with forgiveness. My solution: drop the interest rate on federal loans to 0%, forever. Stop charging people 6-8% interest while they’re trying to get out of a mountain of debt. This way, it’s not a debt jubilee, but people in tough financial situations have a lot more breathing room to eventually eliminate the debt. Doesn’t this seem like an obvious compromise?? Thanks for bringing this up, a topic that many are thinking about.
Hey Adam, it’s almost not humanly possible to not have an opinion on this topic… hahaha.
Good stuff man, which will lead me to some more questions at the end.
I’m right there with you that giving uncapped money to kids, isn’t going to end well, as we’re all seeing first hand. Interesting point on the gov shifting from grants to loans. Which makes perfect sense that things weren’t as bad back then, can’t get into a debt problem with grants… haha.
For me personally, I’ve never had a problem with the public service loan forgiveness. My gut says a lot of other people probably don’t either, since that program is more of a transaction. Like in your wife’s case she worked for 10 years in gov service and then gets the forgiveness. She has actually done something for that forgiveness. I think a lot of people struggle with the $10K-$50K forgiveness because they see it just as a freebie and unearned. But my thoughts are that’s a smart way to go. As you point out, if the payments are barely covering the interest, great strategy to get that debt eventually wiped out. That’s going to be awesome for you guys when that burden is finally lifted. I’ve also heard on this program, there has been some misinformation. Like lenders not telling their borrowers that they qualify for it, or if the person hasn’t signed up right away, they don’t give them the full amount of time, or other fucked up shit like that. These predatory lenders just piss me off so much.
On your last point, I’ll first say you probably should lean left on it. You’ve experienced it first hand with your wife’s student loans, so of course you should be sympathetic. I get that entirely. And for me personally, if it happens it happens. There’s no tit for tat. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to solve any problems, but that’s what our democracy is for. I do think it would be nice to have a congressional decision rather than Biden w/ a swipe of a pen, but either way it won’t make a difference.
I’m not sure I’d go with a 0% interest rate…haha… maybe 1% or 2%. But I hear you, and need to think about it a little more, which I will. But I do think that dropping student loan interest rates to 0% would go a lot farther with people rather than forgiving the $10K-$50K. If you have something crazy like a 6%-8% rate, the government needs to lower it.
I always appreciate the opinions Adam and thanks for chiming in!
This topic has always caught my attention, though I didn’t go to college, much less taken on debt to do so. But as you mention, my tax dollars will go to support these people who’ve made decisions and then regretted them. It almost feels scam like and predatory, in the way these gigantic loans are handed out to people with no serious income to judge realistic payback. I get that being a student full-time the standard approval process can’t work. I think the government should require volunteer work in return for forgiveness. A few hundred hours in the course of a year back to the community doesn’t sound like a bad process, maybe even speaking at high schools about the pitfalls of taking on debt, even picking up trash on the side of the road will work lol
Either way, I think debt forgiveness should be a one-time thing. I believe in second chances for everyone, but this is a slippery slope. If any debt were to be forgiven, emergency room medical debt–any medical debt has my vote over student loan forgiveness. What would be better in my opinion, and will never happen, would be subsidized college for all. I’m very much a proponent for the government taking on a larger role in some of these problem spots, ala northern Europe. Our defense budget can take the hit.
By the way, you bring up some great points on the value of a bachelors degree. Most everything can be taught on the job, it’s really only a privilege system. Pay large sums of money to institutions/banks and you get the right to apply for certain jobs. Jobs that you will need to be trained for once you’re hired.
Hey Noel. As you point out, it’s a broken system. It seems like anything would be better than the predatory loans that are handed out, but we do nothing to change it. You have some good suggestions and this is something I sure as hell don’t have the answer to.
I agree on the one-time thing, and that’s the tricky part with the slippery slope. What precedent have you set? What message are you sending? Will waste beget more waste?
You know, I have no issue for subsidized college for all. We have so much poor spending that if we can actually learn how to balance a budget, I don’t mind paying for some form of universal healthcare or subsidized mass schooling. We do it with every other education level, so why not include college?
This was a great line: “Pay large sums of money to institutions/banks and you get the right to apply for certain jobs. Jobs that you will need to be trained for once you’re hired.” 100% correcto mundo!
Higher education is basically a caste system that no one has the balls to call it what it is.
my first thought is the whiny little bastards borrowed the money let them pay it back. you need an education revolution then have your revolution! i think the same bedwetters crying loudest about forgiveness for their toilet paper degrees in _________ studies are the same one who feel we need those expensive extra layers of bureaucracy in colleges. “but…but…but…. we need all those safe space compliance officers!” “we can’t expect to go without an expensive official ensuring the steamed bun for the bahn mi sandwich is culturally correct!” i jest about this….a little.
a few years ago i put out a list of top colleges and universities with no student loan component to their financial aid packages. nobody ever wants to hear it and they really are some of the top schools in the country. if you are smart enough to get in then no loans for you. here’s a link: https://studentloanhero.com/featured/colleges-no-student-loans-policy/
as for the ridiculous interest rates, i always thought the government backed loans should be tied to the prevailing rates like the 10 year + 1% or something like that. i think a large part of the problem comes from taking on loans and then not finishing a degree program.
Hahahaha… I fucking love it. Dropping some Freddy logic. Epic. But in all honesty, all you need are a few rock star professors and fire the rest of that tenure waste. How many fucking administrators are necessary?
Good suggestion on interest rates. Seems logical. Seems practical. And that’s probably why it will never happen. Crazy all the insanity that surrounds us daily.
Thanks for sharing bud.
Without a doubt, this opinion will likely be somewhat unpopular. You borrowed $ and bought something you couldn’t necessarily afford and now want forgiveness? Thems the breaks, baby. In my opinion, I see zero difference between the person with schools loans asking forgiveness or the dude who bought a Lamborghini. It’s precisely the same.
I won’t get muddled in the nuances of lack of financial literacy here, but no one needs to go into debt for a quality education. It it were me, I’d join the armed forces for 4 years and basically get enough $ for a BA and, wait for it, an MA! Notwithstanding that, I’d go to JC for 2-years and transfer to a Uni while working. Many of my friends did both. I did it myself with my 2 grad programs. Much of the ado, is about “I want it all and I want it now” attitude and not being creative, clever and working one’s ass to the bone. Just sayin’
Perhaps a better analogy might be the person who goes to the used car lot to buy a car, gets talked into something more expensive than they need and it turns out to be a lemon. As the dealer helps the customer push it of the lot trying to start it and then when the customer has it towed back is told sorry you drove it off the lot, your problem now, and don’t for get to make the payments. In these situations we have lemon laws, why not something similar for the travesty that is student loan interest, which is most of the problem?
There are many analogies from all different angles that can apply. I see the same truth in your analogy as I see in Mr. Fates. Both valid. Both true. That’s the beauty of subjectivity. The only difference is which perspective your gazing out from. And aren’t we all blinded by the experiences that clog the windshields of our lives?
Hahaha. I like the analogy. Unpopular opinions are the most fun!
I’m probably more in the middle on the issue, but I respect the straight up stance, you signed a deal, now fix it. There’s a certain type of person that says they have no options, and there’s a certain type of person that figures out a solution on their own.
It’s a valid point that there are many ways to get an education without incurring debt. There was no way I’d have ever gotten an MBA if I didn’t have an employer paying for half and still working full time.
But those are the choices we make. Some may be led astray, but some choose the same answer regardless with eyes wide open.
Thanks for sharing your take Mr. Fate on a controversial issue!
For me the fundamental point continues to come back to this not fixing the problem. Forgiving student loans today means what in ten years for the next set of people with loans. Do we just forgive again? Is that the new norm for the rest of our lifetimes?
I’m in favor of fixes.
1) somehow reintroducing cost into the equation to incentivize schools to control costs.
2) subsidize schooling at the college level going forward up to some point. Perhaps set it at a dollar limit and anything above that point is a free market loan for item 1.
3) tieing outcomes of that education back to the school. Child can’t pay their loan and declares bankruptcy, school should feel the pain as well.
An educated populace has great long term economic consequence for the country. But the cost of college needs to come into the equation, which it does not today.
Then and only then would I think forgiveness should ever be entertained.
Your concern is the same as mine. What’s the point if it doesn’t fix the problem? If forgiveness was a part of the solution while working on education itself, I think more people wouldn’t mind. But I guess, why would we expect anything different.
At some point though, education will become too expensive and they system will be forced to alter, or else the filter for elite certification will only become narrower and narrower.
Colleges/universities need to start offering a guarantee or warranty to pay half of student debt if students are legitimately unable to find gainful employment. There needs to be a carefully written contract between the institution and the student body, taking into account such factors as the earnings expected for their particular major, academic grades, and geographic location. Students needs to share their 1040s and job search efforts with their alma-mater post graduation for the duration of the loans. Colleges/universities would then be more careful who they accept into programs and limit enrollment based on historical availability of job openings.
Interesting proposal Wallies and could be a good one. How to implement is always the challenge. But I’m all for the universities taking ownership of a problem they are making worse. Debate the actual cause however you want, if you can hold the institutions accountable, the behavior will change.
I’m late to the …uh…party.
My wife and I both worked through university and paid back our loans in our 20s after graduating in June 2008. My parents gave me $2k upon graduation to help pay back student loans (I’m one of 9 children so money was always tight).
We’ve discussed this issue several times and frame it in a similar way as we framed the 2020 stimulus payments: it may not be benefiting us directly, but that money quickly finds its way back into the economy with most of it benefiting our publicly owned companies.
The two primary things we see friends and family doing with surplus funds is spending it (iPads, home improvements, cars) or saving it (debt pay back, buying stocks). Either category does benefit the companies that we own, directly or indirectly.
I agree that universities and borrowers should both shoulder the costs of their decisions with taxpayers helping some (interest expense makes the most sense to me).
Harry Browne’s book “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World” can provide some helpful points here too.
Yeah, it’s always a party when you start talking about student loans! Haha.
Wow man, 9 children, now that’s pretty wild.
First off, good for you guys you were able to manage your loans and pay them off.
Second, I like your positive spin on this divisive debate. And for me, it does happen, better to take a positive spin like yours then be bitter about it.
I’ll have to check out that book sometime. Thanks for the suggestion.