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Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

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Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#21
post #7

Although by inclination what I want to do is rant about the iniquity of this kind of robo-debt in education, instead what I am thinking right now, is this: how does this compare overall to the rate of default in debt for other purposes? how does it compare to car loan debt? mortgage debt? I ask, because debt is the same, except in as much as student debt is in principle seeking a path to be able to repay it. The asse…

The overwhelming majority of student loan debt is government backed and eligible for some kind of income based repayment plan. There are four different kinds, but the most common two use a formula of 10% of income after 150% of the poverty level for the relevant household size. It is entirely possible to have a required payment of $0, before even getting into forbearance or deferral. Car loans and mortgage loans are…

Assuming you don't deliberately hide income I guess. Some people have said that for those who get on the low interest, or non-accumulating interest loan schedules, its the best kind of debt you can have. The lein on income is a royal pain and for student debt, it often hits just at the point you want to use increased disposible income to do things like have kids, restart the cycle. I was lucky enough to go to university in the UK in the time of free study with grant so to me, this is all hypothetical not actual and to any current student facing a lifetime of debt, I apologize for the circumstances you have been put in, by people like me

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#22
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because debt is the same No, not all debts are the same: Debts That Cannot Be Discharged in Bankruptcy https://www.thebankruptcysite.org/nondischargeable-debts

good point. some debts follow you around for life. And after: my dad always said tax was a gamble, and he decided to ignore the final-demand letters which we found in his office after he died. In one sense, he "won" the bet. In another, viewing him as the tuple {himself, his estate} he didn't...

Tax isn't a self serving sociopathic "gamble" it's what allows you to go to school and drive on roads and use the internet. Don't dodge it as part of some insane game you were taught.

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#23
post #16

This is ruining America's future. That's 5M people who can't even qualify for a car loan now. The penalties for default are punishing. Even bankruptcy isn't a realistic option. This is ruinous for these people. They'll be in their mid-30s or early 40s before they can pay off. Starting that late to build a nest egg, they'll never recover. There's going to be an entire generation that has no secure retirement plans. It…

Welcome to having America's latest STD! Its bigger than Hepatitis (at 3 million), and costs about the same to cure ($80k to $90k a person).

Relationships are delayed, careers are set back and our economy is slowly bled. Much like healthcare!

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#24
post #7

Although by inclination what I want to do is rant about the iniquity of this kind of robo-debt in education, instead what I am thinking right now, is this: how does this compare overall to the rate of default in debt for other purposes? how does it compare to car loan debt? mortgage debt? I ask, because debt is the same, except in as much as student debt is in principle seeking a path to be able to repay it. The asse…

"The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants under burdens ever accumulating." -Thomas Jefferson

I know I mention this book a lot on here, but _Debt: The First 5,000 Years_ is the most amazing book I've ever read on the history of debt, money and slavery.

Debt relief has to come. Every great civilization throughout history has had to forgive debts. Current student debt is not even remotely payable. Millennials are the most in debt out of any generation, the lowest paid and most likely to take unpaid internships[1]. They put up with so much more that no previous generation would have even stood for.

"A debt is just the perversion of a promise. It is a promise corrupted by both math and violence. If freedom (real freedom) is the ability to make friends, then it is also, necessarily, the ability to make real promises. What sorts of promises might genuinely free men and women make to one another? At this point we can’t even say. It's more a question of how we can get to a place that will allow us to find out. And the first step in that journey, in turn, is to accept that in the largest scheme of things, just as no one has the right to tell us our true value, no one has the right to tell us what we truly owe." Graber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HFwok9SlQQ

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#25
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>because debt is the same No, not all debts are the same: Debts That Cannot Be Discharged in Bankruptcy https://www.thebankruptcysite.org/nondischargeable-debts

good point. some debts follow you around for life. And after: my dad always said tax was a gamble, and he decided to ignore the final-demand letters which we found in his office after he died. In one sense, he "won" the bet. In another, viewing him as the tuple {himself, his estate} he didn't...

Here in Australia if you have outstanding debt that is owed to creditors it is paid first before any-one on the persons will would see the money. So in essence most outstanding debt can be collected on a person death.

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#27
post #23
post #16

This is ruining America's future. That's 5M people who can't even qualify for a car loan now. The penalties for default are punishing. Even bankruptcy isn't a realistic option. This is ruinous for these people. They'll be in their mid-30s or early 40s before they can pay off. Starting that late to build a nest egg, they'll never recover. There's going to be an entire generation that has no secure retirement plans. It…

Welcome to having America's latest STD! Its bigger than Hepatitis (at 3 million), and costs about the same to cure ($80k to $90k a person). Relationships are delayed, careers are set back and our economy is slowly bled. Much like healthcare!

Don't even get started on health care. I worked in health insurance for three years and lived outside the US for about the same time. I saw a lot of waste in our health insurance industry and a foreign market that was superior in almost every way, even for very serious conditions. I wrote a post about it a while back:

http://fightthefuture.org/article/returning-to-america-and-t...

Re: Nearly 5M Americans in Default on Student Loans

#30
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

good point. some debts follow you around for life. And after: my dad always said tax was a gamble, and he decided to ignore the final-demand letters which we found in his office after he died. In one sense, he "won" the bet. In another, viewing him as the tuple {himself, his estate} he didn't...

Tax isn't a self serving sociopathic "gamble" it's what allows you to go to school and drive on roads and use the internet. Don't dodge it as part of some insane game you were taught.

Driving on the road usually requires a car, thats usually an expensive piece of equipment, followed by expensive running costs - fuel (and it's non-gamblable tax), replacing parts, servicing and so on. Use of the internet requires a computer of sorts and a locked in contract to Comcast or another private ISPs (BT in the UK, NBN in AUS etc...). Perhaps I've missed something, am I eligible for a fully-maintained cost-free Tesla, a new computer and free internet?
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