Student loans are scaring me to death.?
So, I know I am not in the minority of Americans when I say this, but once I graduate, I will have a lot of student loans. I know that I can defer them since I plan to keep studying for a Masters Degree and PhD, but once I finish with all of those, the loans will be quite large. The idea is that I will have a good job by then and be able to make the payments without issue, but they still scare me. Can someone in the same situation or someone who has paid their loans please give me some advice? Any answers like "Should not have gone to college" or anything of the sort will instantly be marked as spam.
My student loans are in default, what should I do?
I assume your in the United States and if that is the case the following will apply... As you mention your tax returns were garnished that leads me to believe that you defaulted on federal funded loans, that will happen.... with the collection agency, I would tend to believe your talking about non-federal loans (normally the ones that try for collection agencies as federal backed loans would allow the lender to recoup their money from the government and not even bother chasing you)... if this is the case and you stopped making payment 12 years ago then don't do anything... a private debt that has been unpaid in any form or fashion by you for 12 years has pasted its time for them to pursue you. Since you have no job they can't garnish your wages, this is a bad thing because if they were so foolish as to garnish your wages for an expired debt you would then be within your rights to sue them silly... In the end DO NOT pay them anything based on what you have said. If you make a payment on an old loan you risk reviving it in terms of allowing them to pursue legal recourse against you for it (something they cannot do once the loan has died)... AND if you from the goodness of your heart simply want to make good on your past debt get them to send you every detail in writing BEFORE you send them anything. If you do provide them any payment DO NOT allow them access to your bank accounts make any payments with checks, if you provide them access to make electronic fund transfers from your account you will soon find that they have emptied it completely, most of these collection agencies are scams trying to collect on debt that has been completely written off long ago. They make money by scaring people.
Should I cash out 401k to repay student loans?
Hi! I’m not sure of your exact situation. Factors like interest rates, amount of debt, age, and emotions toward debt will influence this decision. But, I wanted to chime in since I’ve been recently thinking about this, too.First off, Martin is correct that you’ll be penalized withdrawing from your 401k. I was considering cashing out my Roth IRA, which you can do anytime without tax, and halting payment on my 401k monthly to put it all toward student debt.The amount of interest I’m paying in student loans versus the amount of interest I’m accruing with my retirement investments is comparable. If my interest rate on my loans was through the roof, I’d pay that all off before retirement. Because they’re the same, it really came down to what made me more comfortable: paying off loans versus saving for retirement with debt. I think that will be your answer, too.I decided to sort of compromise. Because my employer doesn’t match my 401k contribution, I halted that and upped my student loan monthly payments with it. I kept everything in my Roth IRA and now simply have a separate savings account for student loan payoff that I put all extra money toward and hope to payoff my debt this year.I hope this helps! Here’s more of my debt free journey this year :).Best,Leah
I am deep in college debt. How did you pay down your student loan debt?
There's a loophole that will alllow you to skip your student loans if your pouring money into a 401k. Because your 401k is pretax, it affects your take home pay. Your federal student loans are based on your after tax pay.So what I did was I started over contributing into my 401k and basically put myself below the poverty line. This ment that I my student loans were significantly lower. Then when I did need to make ossocaial payments I would take out a 401k LOAN.If your not familiar a 401k is a loan you take out against yourself and pay yourself back out of every paycheck. You get to decided how much you want to pay and how long the loan will last.Now I don't recommend this to be a long term solution. I only did this for a short time to give myself some breathing room and I used a 401k loan to lease a better car. I then got a different job in a different city, and stopped using 401k loans.But if your stuck and your about to default on your loans and have little hope, look into this option. And remember, federal loans only default after 280 days on non payment. No mater what your loan holder tells you that's the law. Don't let the loan provider scare you. That is the law.
Student Loan Debt stressing me out, making me feel depressed?
So this is my 4th year in Mechanical Engineering and I am sitting at $25,000 in student loans. I commute to school to avoid dorm expenses so that means extending college to 5 years or even 6 years because the engineering courses are getting much more challenging. I also transferred into engineering so some of my courses didn't transfer. This is honestly scaring me because I feel like I will not be able to enjoy my life with this debt hanging over me. I keep thinking that I will not be able to do the things I want to do that are on my bucket list, or afford a house with a nice down payment, start a family, or even invest. The stress with school and debt has been bothering me for quite some time to where it got me to the point where I had anxiety, stress, and serious depression and wanted to commit suicide. I kept wishing I had went against what parents told me about going to school first as opposed to enlisting but that's now in the past. I was able to get out of that state of mind and back to my normal happy social self but I guess by me coming here, I'm still looking for some advice or comfort. My parent's haven't been the best at just sitting down and having a real talk. On top of that, I'm the oldest of 2 siblings so I never really had anyone to look up to. That's why I've always loved talking to adults who are older than me because I have gained so much wisdom from their experiences and stories. So how have you managed your student loans?
How do students perceive their student loans while in school?
Because I am a student who currently has a student loan and maintenance loan I feel pretty well equipped to answer this question. I also don't agree with the other answers so I just want to give my view of the whole situation. I'm currently a student in the UK by the way, which might mean my experience is different to some.I am completely and 100% aware of how much money I am borrowing (around £40,000, and that's if I don't do a year abroad). It is extremely scary and stressful to know that I will come out of university with this burden on my shoulders. I am scared and sometimes it keeps me awake at night thinking - how will I ever pay all this back?I am not an idiot. I do not pretend that the debt does not exist. I do not pretend that I won't have to pay it back. I did my research. My older brother finished university two years ago so he gave me a lot of help (although he pays a lot less than me, £3000 a year compared to my £9000).But the most important thing to remember is - there is no way for me to avoid this. In the UK, I can't even start paying my loan back yet until I'm in a job earning over £21,000 a year, and I'm not going to just volunteer £40,000 to the university when I don't have it. So I think - you know what? I'm going to take that maintenance loan so I can actually enjoy the next three years of my life! I'm going to do that year abroad which costs £4500! I'm going to do all the things I would have done if university was free, because I don't understand why my experiences should be limited just because I'm not rich enough to afford higher education on my own. I am incredibly worried about how much money I will have to pay back, I do care, and it does scare me. But what I won't do is let my university experience be ruined by legislation I don't agree with enforced by a government I didn't vote for. No thanks.
Could one reasonably pay off $300,000 in student loans as a nurse practitioner while living on a separate spouse salary?
First, you need to completely IGNORE anyone who answers this question trying to scare you into thinking you are in a deep hole (you’re not).Most professionals graduating have hundreds of thousands of loans. It is okay because your salary will more than conpensate for it.If you listen to old school financial experts like (Dave Ramsey), you’ll hear old school advice.We do not live in the 70s or 80s where education was cheap, and homes were incredibly affordable. We live in a completely different time.There are new rules to manage our debt.For example, as a Nurse Practitioner, you may qualify for Public Loan Service Forgiveness (PLSF). Working for a non-profit hospital gives you this perk!There are other repayment plans for individuals who don’t qualify for PSLF. If you don’t, just google REPAYE!Please disregard anyone who tries to scare you about debt. Our generation has to get comfortable managing our debt because it is a reality for us.Focusing too much on debt payment will SIGNIFICANTLY hinder your ability to invest towards retirement.You don’t want to do that. Every year you wait to invest, costs about $150,000. Meaning if you wait eight years to start investing because of student loans - you’ll lose $1,200,000 of future retirement income.Being debt-free and not being able to retire doesn’t seem smart to me.Our generation needs someone who is knowledgeable about the current economic system and how it applies to millennials.Reach out if you have any other questions.