I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
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Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#2I will hardly have empathy for someone who does not pay whatever debts he/she explicity acquired for his own benefit.
Sorry, but your grandma is right. I understand that you probably were young and naive and made a choice that you had to regret later, I also understand the problems that you could've encountered during your carrer, but still a debt is a debt and you have to pay.
And, by the way, I'm 27.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#3Stories like this make me very glad of the system we have in Australia. You can choose to have your Univertity fees just automatically paid by an interest free loan from the government (it's like a five minute online form to sign up for), and then you just pay back 4% of the loan on each tax return if your salary is over $51,000 (you can choose to make voluntary payments over the compulsory rate, or if you make less than $51,000 - you even get a 5% bonus if you pay over $500 - for example, make a $1000 voluntary contribution and they take off a bonus $50 off the loan).
Pretty good scheme to allow people to be educated (which is generally a net win for the economy) without being shackled by ever-growing debt from the start of their working life.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#4You default and they stop adding any money to your debt? That doesn't sound right. If I tried that I'm sure they'd be adding some 30% late fee every month.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#5Eh, this article doesn't really make sense....
Basically the author defaulted on their student loan instead of deferring and makes an argument as to why it was a good decision for them.
The reason I say it doesn't make much sense is that, imo, it really glosses over just how big a deal defaulting on a loan is. While the author is talking about themself, a naive individual might get the idea that this is the right choice for them, when it almost certainly is not.
Trashing your credit and not being able to take out a house/car loan is a pretty huge deal for most people...
Just keep in mind defaulting on a loan isn't something that you just _do_ and then _undo_ with no consequences(other than saving on that interest lel)...
That shit stays with you for at least 7 years and if you're trying to get a loan for anything having defaulted on your only loan ever... Good luck.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#6You default and they stop adding any money to your debt? That doesn't sound right. If I tried that I'm sure they'd be adding some 30% late fee every month.
Are you from the USA?
This is basically a form of strategic default. Because the debtor hasn't renegotiated their loan(deferred) and has stopped paying for their loan, they defaulted(breached contract, failed to meet obligations, w/e).
Because there's no contract, they don't charge interest, but they do hit your credit score and go after the money other ways. In the USA your credit score determines your eligibility for future lines of credit, loans, etc....
In addition defaulting on a loan allows the debtor to garnish wages, tax refunds, etc...
It is EXTREMELY RARE that a situation would arise in which the cost of interest on your loan would exceed the cost of a defaulted loan on your credit report.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#7You default and they stop adding any money to your debt? That doesn't sound right. If I tried that I'm sure they'd be adding some 30% late fee every month.
"Deadbeat" American student loan debtor here. During the economic meltdown, I defaulted on my private student loans in 2009. The defaulted loans were picked up by two different debt collectors. One of them, Sunrise Credit Services, is charging me interest as I pay down the loans. The other debt collector, Williams and Fudge, charges me no interest.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#8You default and they stop adding any money to your debt? That doesn't sound right. If I tried that I'm sure they'd be adding some 30% late fee every month.
"Deadbeat" American student loan debtor here. During the economic meltdown, I defaulted on my private student loans in 2009. The defaulted loans were picked up by two different debt collectors. One of them, Sunrise Credit Services, is charging me interest as I pay down the loans. The other debt collector, Williams and Fudge, charges me no interest.
How does it work that you stay in default while paying on the loans? Doesn't the loan become current at some point thus you're no longer defaulted? Or is that the point, the default comes from not paying the contractual payment of, let's say, $700/month and you're sending "only" $350/month?
(Casting no judgment; I have mountains of student loans that I'm managing to pay every month so I sympathize with how you got into that position.)
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#9You default and they stop adding any money to your debt? That doesn't sound right. If I tried that I'm sure they'd be adding some 30% late fee every month.
"Deadbeat" American student loan debtor here. During the economic meltdown, I defaulted on my private student loans in 2009. The defaulted loans were picked up by two different debt collectors. One of them, Sunrise Credit Services, is charging me interest as I pay down the loans. The other debt collector, Williams and Fudge, charges me no interest.
I guess with the no interest company that they make enough given the discount they purchase them for and the no additional interest helps get more of them paid back.
Re: I Defaulted On My Student Loans (And It Was The Best Decision Of My Life)
#10Eh, this article doesn't really make sense.... Basically the author defaulted on their student loan instead of deferring and makes an argument as to why it was a good decision for them. The reason I say it doesn't make much sense is that, imo, it really glosses over just how big a deal defaulting on a loan is. While the author is talking about themself, a naive individual might get the idea that this is the right cho…
I mean if you can weather the storm of bad credit and have a decent shot at digging yourself out of it in the future, being able to pay no interest on that debt is a huge benefit
as usual it is all about the cost-benefit analysis. the author maybe should have put that disclaimer at the end there.