Man, I could practically write a standalone blog just on the topic of student loans, couldn’t I? I mean, the fodder is everywhere.
Bloomberg: Student Borrowers Lack Understanding of Loan Terms
This little snippet is pretty darn tough to ignore:
Marjorie Gelin Goodwin, 37, one of the respondents, said she owes about $107,000 in federal loans and about $15,000 in private loans for college and graduate school. She is in forbearance on her federal loans, meaning she isn’t making payments. She didn’t understand that her private loans would have a variable rate that could fluctuate so greatly, she said in an interview.
“I was surprised by how much my student-loan payments would take away from my income,” said Goodwin, who works at a nonprofit organization in San Francisco. “I’ll be retired and still paying my student loans at the rate I’m going.”
You just really have to read that article. As that great philosopher, Homer Simpson, might say:
“The stupid, it burns!”
Mike wrote:
Let me take another quote out: “Eight percent of respondents in the survey said they “strongly agreed” and 26 percent “agreed” that they would be able to pay off all their federal and private student loans” 8+26=34. So 34% feel they will pay off their student loans. 66% are thieves. How could their parents fail them so profoundly that they don’t know that taking someone’s money with a promise to pay it back without any plan to do so is dishonest and immoral. My children will grow up knowing there is a word to describe this behavior “THEFT”.
And we will all soon hear about the “victims” of the predatory lenders. The students will get bailed out with our tax dollars and it will further entrain this thinking in some of this country’s best potential – I refuse to say “brightest minds” they had potential, but our society will leave that potential diseased. After we bail them out, the students will think of themselves as the great warriors who stood up to wall street demanding “fairness” and won. On to the next battle to increase entitlements, lack of responsibility, and eventually the bankruptcy and ruin of a once free nation.
Whew, anybody else want to borrow my soap box, my feet are getting tired.
Jonathan@Friends and Money wrote:
I absolutely love the comment about “I was surprised by how much my student-loan payments would take away from my income,”….. Priceless pearls of wisdom. It reminds me of the wedding planner I spoke to yesterday as myself and my fianace were viewing a potential venue, at the end of showing us around and chatting to us she said “I think I’ve finally figured you both out…you want a lovely wedding……!!!!!!!!” wow she’s good, I was actually thinking I wanted it to rain and to have some kind of terrorist incident to occur during the ceremony……
Kim wrote:
I suspect that many “victims” of these types of loans didn’t just take them out b/c the tuition is going up. I’m guessing that more than a few felt entitled to eating out just about every night, and felt they needed designer clothes, all so they can have that certain “image”.