Poll: Are you in Debt ?
- Thread starter Zersy
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Where's the "No I've never needed to take out a loan, not because I'm rich, I just learned how to budget myself and live within my means" option?
Although, I'm in Scotland, so my fees get paid for me, and I live within commuting distance to university, so I stay with my parents until I get a job that pays enough to move out. I exist on part time work that gets me about £200 a month, I do my own washing and pay my parents rent (Obviously nothing like renting a flat, but it's still money).
I am eligible for a student loan but honestly, I'm trying my hardest not to start out adult life in debt.
Although, I'm in Scotland, so my fees get paid for me, and I live within commuting distance to university, so I stay with my parents until I get a job that pays enough to move out. I exist on part time work that gets me about £200 a month, I do my own washing and pay my parents rent (Obviously nothing like renting a flat, but it's still money).
I am eligible for a student loan but honestly, I'm trying my hardest not to start out adult life in debt.
Yes but its only minor like 460 dollars i pay 20 a fortnight automatically gets withdrawn as soon as it goes in so i dont have to worry about
The thing is, the UK student Loan is NOT proper debt, okay?
Yes, you will be paying more than, for example I am, but the interest on the loan is so negligable as to make no difference, you have to be earning what, more than 16K a year before you start paying it back, and that 16K is protected anyway, every penny of that is student loan free.
What's more, if you stop working/earning over 16K... you stop paying it back until you earn over the cap again, also, only you are liable for that money, so if you get married, it isn't your household income that you're tested on, but your own.
Say your wife/you decides to leave their job to have a child - her student loan payments cease when she's not working, you don't have to make that money up.
The main issue for me is that as I plan to be self-employed (barrister) I won't have the ease of using the PAYE function, and as such will have a major headache at the end of the tax year.
TL;DR
Chill, it really, really isn't that bad, and doesn't operate in the same way a normal loan does.
***
Final note, a lot of the controversy over the increase in UK tuition fees is down to Nick Clegg.
Everyone expected the Tories to put up the fees, everyone really, expected Labour to do the same should, by some miracle they stayed in power.
What we (the liberal democrat voters) didn't think, was that Clegg would throw away his flagship policy, - one he had, whilst campaigning signed a pledge along with every other Lib Dem MP in the country, saying in the next Parliament they would fight tuitions fees and a rise in them - for a chance to get a couple of Lib Dem ministers and to be deputy PM. Even worse was the way Vince Cable tried to back pedal.
Anyway, my thoughts there
Yes, you will be paying more than, for example I am, but the interest on the loan is so negligable as to make no difference, you have to be earning what, more than 16K a year before you start paying it back, and that 16K is protected anyway, every penny of that is student loan free.
What's more, if you stop working/earning over 16K... you stop paying it back until you earn over the cap again, also, only you are liable for that money, so if you get married, it isn't your household income that you're tested on, but your own.
Say your wife/you decides to leave their job to have a child - her student loan payments cease when she's not working, you don't have to make that money up.
The main issue for me is that as I plan to be self-employed (barrister) I won't have the ease of using the PAYE function, and as such will have a major headache at the end of the tax year.
TL;DR
Chill, it really, really isn't that bad, and doesn't operate in the same way a normal loan does.
***
Final note, a lot of the controversy over the increase in UK tuition fees is down to Nick Clegg.
Everyone expected the Tories to put up the fees, everyone really, expected Labour to do the same should, by some miracle they stayed in power.
What we (the liberal democrat voters) didn't think, was that Clegg would throw away his flagship policy, - one he had, whilst campaigning signed a pledge along with every other Lib Dem MP in the country, saying in the next Parliament they would fight tuitions fees and a rise in them - for a chance to get a couple of Lib Dem ministers and to be deputy PM. Even worse was the way Vince Cable tried to back pedal.
Anyway, my thoughts there
After graduating i'll be in debt of around £16,000. Add another £5000 to that if i choose to do an MsC in Management to make myself more employable. It's something i'll be able to eventually pay off assuming i'll get a good job, but it's fairly hefty chunk of debt. The loans offered to Masters students have high rates of interests, and most of the post-grad funding, bursaries and grants etc go towards the science and technology students.
I think if a state can afford it then higher education should be either free or heavily subsidised by the state as is the case in Germany. Still, you still need an economy where you can get good jobs without a degree so people all don't feel the need to get a degree and flood the jobs market with graduates. If the country had a sizeable industrial base then that usually means that there are plenty of jobs for non-graduates, but if your living in a country too heavily reliant on one sector that requires graduates you are going to get problems.
I count myself lucky that i got into university before they raised the tuition fees so i was able to study what truly interests me. That may not be the case had i been starting university in 2012. With the increase in tuition fees in the UK i imagine what's going to happen is that a lot of students who want to do art or humanities degrees would instead opt for business related degrees or study on the continent were tuition fees are cheaper (and they can probably pick up a new a new language). I expect therefore that university arts and humanities departments will shrink whilst business and management schools will increase in size. This will turn universities more into business training schools than institutes of learning.
I think an issue to consider is that a university education is a core middle class aspiration, and the "Middle Class" in the UK has been growing hugely since de-industralisation. If everyone is middle class then everyone will want a higher education, which destroys the value of having a higher education unless some sort of "higher-higher education" is invented.
I think if a state can afford it then higher education should be either free or heavily subsidised by the state as is the case in Germany. Still, you still need an economy where you can get good jobs without a degree so people all don't feel the need to get a degree and flood the jobs market with graduates. If the country had a sizeable industrial base then that usually means that there are plenty of jobs for non-graduates, but if your living in a country too heavily reliant on one sector that requires graduates you are going to get problems.
I count myself lucky that i got into university before they raised the tuition fees so i was able to study what truly interests me. That may not be the case had i been starting university in 2012. With the increase in tuition fees in the UK i imagine what's going to happen is that a lot of students who want to do art or humanities degrees would instead opt for business related degrees or study on the continent were tuition fees are cheaper (and they can probably pick up a new a new language). I expect therefore that university arts and humanities departments will shrink whilst business and management schools will increase in size. This will turn universities more into business training schools than institutes of learning.
I think an issue to consider is that a university education is a core middle class aspiration, and the "Middle Class" in the UK has been growing hugely since de-industralisation. If everyone is middle class then everyone will want a higher education, which destroys the value of having a higher education unless some sort of "higher-higher education" is invented.
Where's the option for "Yes, but I think I will pay it off some time"? Seriously. I am in debt and I still got 3 and a half years left to study so I wont pay it off within 3 years, but I will pay it off at some point. I also see myself taking up a loan to get a house in the future, so I think my debt will stay with me until I'm in my 50's or possibly longer depending on how much support I get.
WTFITSRazada said:
Here in Canada, my parents squirreled away money since I was born, and the government matched it. I went to the most prestigious University in the city (University of Alberta) for a year and a half before flunking out, and have now been accepted into the most prestigious technical school in the city (NAIT), where I will get a diploma in two years.
Assuming I don't flunk out again, I will have screwed around for two years before actually getting a diploma, and will have spent ~$14000, and will not have had to have taken out a loan. Had I have gone to NAIT first, I'd have gotten a diploma and a job having spent $5000, max.
I'm very glad I'm not in Britain. :/
Well I wouldn't say 'I'm rich' but I am very fortunate. My parents have been saving up for my college since the early 1980's (great interest rates back then) and still had to dip a bit into the savings pool for my college. I am also fortunate that I am an only child.
I'm covered for this year and next, but I will probably be in the hole about 3k in my final year of schooling. As for credit cards I'm trying my best to make sure the sleazy bastards never see a dime of my money (they owe me $4 dollars currently).
I didn't go to college, but I was extremely dumb in the case of taking out loans and credit cards, and ended up hugely in the hole.
Eventually I seeked help for my debt and got an arrangement where I was allowed enough to live on and to get to and from work ( the mediators even increased my budget as they consider you should have some level of luxuries to stop yourself going nuts ), and clawed my way almost back to neutral, then my parents found out and loaned me a few thousand to get everyone off my back.
One advantage to the experience of being chased by creditors, being called and visited at home and at work, and having constant threatening messages and letters, is I'm FAR more careful now, and I make sure all bills are paid before I buy anything else, and I almost never buy anything in installments, or on credit, as if you look into it, you often end up paying at least 50% extra over time, and sometimes double, which makes that 10% not such a good deal.
Being on good terms with my parents, on the rare occasion I see something genuinely well discounted that I can't afford, or if I have an emergency I can't cover, like my freezer dying on me, they'll loan me the cash at just the interest, so they're not actively losing money, but I'm not lining the pockets of the banks.
It was a bloody horrible time, but it's taught me how to be careful with my money and not to fall for the ads, no-one offering credit or loans is doing it to help you, they just want to get more of your money. (Ok, Government funded student loans I'll give a pass to! )
Eventually I seeked help for my debt and got an arrangement where I was allowed enough to live on and to get to and from work ( the mediators even increased my budget as they consider you should have some level of luxuries to stop yourself going nuts ), and clawed my way almost back to neutral, then my parents found out and loaned me a few thousand to get everyone off my back.
One advantage to the experience of being chased by creditors, being called and visited at home and at work, and having constant threatening messages and letters, is I'm FAR more careful now, and I make sure all bills are paid before I buy anything else, and I almost never buy anything in installments, or on credit, as if you look into it, you often end up paying at least 50% extra over time, and sometimes double, which makes that 10% not such a good deal.
Being on good terms with my parents, on the rare occasion I see something genuinely well discounted that I can't afford, or if I have an emergency I can't cover, like my freezer dying on me, they'll loan me the cash at just the interest, so they're not actively losing money, but I'm not lining the pockets of the banks.
It was a bloody horrible time, but it's taught me how to be careful with my money and not to fall for the ads, no-one offering credit or loans is doing it to help you, they just want to get more of your money. (Ok, Government funded student loans I'll give a pass to! )
Never really been in debt and I don't plan to be until I purchase my first house.
In Denmark we get paid to go to college and university and I have made sure to save up what I've been paid for when I move out.
In Denmark we get paid to go to college and university and I have made sure to save up what I've been paid for when I move out.
Student loans is called a "debt that can never be paid back" or "government slavery debt".UNKNOWNINCOGNITO said:
Student loans is one of two things in USA that can't be default. The other is taxes. You will have to pay back in full even in death.
Student loans now exceed credit cards loans.
Since college is pretty outrageous expensive compare to when I was in college. In order for you to have any chance to paid back student loads within your life time you must earn at least 100k out of college.
While 2-3% interest rate don't look like much if the loan is small. Four years college debts can reach over 300k. You do the math on how much interest you have to paid each yeah before the principle can be paid down.
My friend told me he know someone that is paying over $600 a month for the next 30 years on student loans alone. So if you're going to take make that kind of investment make sure you get a degree that paid well and not pole dancing, pot making, how to play games etc.
You don't need a higher educations to be rich. What you need is the ability to take on risk. The ability to get back up when you fail.robmastaflex said:
Today college education is nothing more than getting kids into debt. College marketed themselves as a must in order to get ahead. But in reality college kids are behind due to the large amount of debt they own compare to non-college kids.
Today college system isn't about education. It's about making more money for the college. When you have professors that don't come to class to teach. When you have professors that worry more about their pet project than teaching. When you have college offering useless degrees to kids. Than you have major problems in the system.
I currently have two sources of debt. The first is my car payment. It's a bit high given how expensive the car was so it's on a 6 year note. I still have about 3 1/2 years on it but I always pay a little more than is needed. The second I just acquired this weekend for a new motorcycle. It's on a 5 year note but I'm pretty sure I can knock that one out in 3. The other option is to take the extra money I'll toss at the bike and send it towards the car. Luckily, I don't have any student loans anymore. Of course, I still don't have a degree either. Hooray for knowing people that can hook you up with a good job!