In Depth: Student Loan Debt Forgiveness

UPDATE:

• Federal student loans will have zero interest through 1/31/21 (payments must be made in Feb as of now)
• I will continue to save my student loan payments as if I am making them each month, but I will pause on payment. You can do the same or if you owe and have to pay, continue to pay the minimum
• Once Biden/Harris take over they can (and may) sign a decree to pause payment on Fed loans through May. 
• There may also be some sort of Federal loan forgiveness (for loans up to 50K is the rumour)
• I was adamant about my stance on NOT waiting on the government to help pay off all of the student loans, but if light of recent news I think waiting until the new administration tell us when Federal Student loans will need payment, or what portion is forgiven (if this is the case). 
• That said, the student loan forgiveness may be long if it is event possible, we have a high stakes senate run in January and no clear path to what we are to do about our student debt

As always spend responsibly and plan/budget like you have to pay your loans and hope you don't have to !!!!

Cheers!

 Hey All,

I hope you all had a lovely long holiday weekend!

I was with my boyfriends family and we had a lovely time eating, cooking, playing an intense game of spades lol, decorating gingerbread cookies, and watching The Undoing on HBO Max (high key recommend).

I wanted to talk in depth about the Student Loan Forgiveness talk that is going on, especially since Biden/Harris won the ticket and this is a main topic for the Administration. I will break this down in 4 simple points and then give you my "In Depth" opinion. 

So sit back relax and enjoy the read...... (get it, not the ride but the read? mkay cool!)

1) Student loans:

• Most of us have them or have had them and most of us took out way too many to go to the "school of our dreams" and live that "college experience" away from mom and dad. We joined sororities, protested, etc. But, when we graduated 6 months later we had to start paying back and I am certain our jobs did not really live up to the salary to cover loans, shelter, and all of the other twenty something year old experiences. Student loans can either be Federal or Private and can be bought out by companies a la Salliemae and Navient anyone? Student loans are taken out by approximately 70% of Americans and take anywhere from 10-30+ years to payback (depending on job, budget, etc).

2) College Choice:

• Not going to lie, I went to Penn State and loved every moment of it. But then I graduated with about 100K of student loan debt at a job making $28K per year..."OH THE HORROR". My mom took out a large portion of my loans and unfortunately when she became disabled I got a large portion forgiven. This was by happenstance, my mother was severely sick and I would not want that for anyone.
• Choosing a college should really come down to the below
• How much can you afford?
• What you are majoring in, if it's English, or Art, do you really need to go to an Ivy League to obtain that knowing how much those jobs pay upon graduation?
• Where will you live post college and what is that cost of living?
• Do you play a sport or an instrument? Can we get scholarships to cover this?
• Can you be an RA and also work around the campus to graduate debt free?
• Will your job help you with reimbursement?
• Lots of jobs do this, when I went to Grad School at Baruch in NYC two of my companies paid for most of my education. I wisened up and really made it work for me.

Lots of things to consider, but as a first generation college attendee I was not taught any of this and came from poor circumstances, my motto is to act your wage because it might come back to bite you on the butt. 

3) Why in the world are we allowing 17 year olds to sign for loans?

• We are letting kids who cannot vote, rent a car, or drink  sign hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of loans. It's absolutely preposterous that we make college seems so elusive and like a club someone must join that we will reject that same person for an Amex credit card, but give them $60K a year in loans????????!!!!!!!!! The college system is messed up and we need more financial counseling and education on schools and options. I am from the school of college not being for everyone, and I think today in this very digital world there is more than one way to be successful. Let's have a real talk with our kids about it.
• If people stop paying these absurd amounts in tuition, and truly go to a college they can afford the demand fore such overpriced institutions would subside thus decreasing the cost to attend. In an article   I just read, college tuition increased 1400% over the last four decades, if this doesn't make you think twice I am unsure what will. There are  a lot of programs to help students go to school for free some of what I have been able to source here, here, and here. I implore you to look what your state has to offer and figure out a plan as well.

4) Student Loan Forgiveness (Biden Admin)

• In recent weeks we have been hearing rumblings of student forgiveness under the Biden administration. This article goes into what this could look like and whether President Elect Joe Biden can wipe the debt away via Executive Action, and not go through the Legislative branch to pass (which would really be unlikely as the Republicans are not keen on it). 

MY IN DEPTH OPTION:

If you know me you know I have been on a serious debt free journey for over two years. My main goal was to get rid of these measly student loans. I attacked my credit card debt, and my car loan using Dave Ramseys snowball method. Now I am attacking students loans (paying 20K this year, and this is because I have an amazing job, and am really financially focused. I say this to say not everyone can do what I am recommending and I hear you....trust me... but if you can....doooooooo). My boyfriend told me to stop paying my student loans because Biden would be eliminating them I came at him with the below points on why I think people should pay off their loans asap and not wait on a changing, slow to move, government:

1) We are unsure if President Elect Biden can pass such an order or if he needs to take it to the House and Senate. The founders ( I use the term loosely) of this country created the three branches for checks and balances, and while a President can sign a number of executive orders we are unsure if getting rid of approximately 1.7 trillion dollars worth of student loan debt is one of them.

2) Would this be federal or private or both? Like I mentioned earlier in the post a lot of people had federal and were bought out by private so would this ruin their chances 👀? Also, what about the people who already paid their loans back...will they be PISSED do we care...BC I WOULDDDDDD!!!

3) Where is this money coming from?.....TAX PAYERS????...You and I?????....Personally speaking, I am an extremely charitable person but if someone (even if they were 17 I get it....) signed student loans and now have debt, they should pay it. There are already other ways to get loans forgiven ( like work for the state), I would rather not enable people into thinking they can take out all of this money and not pay it back, in my opinion it makes for a lazy person and society. I don't believe in being lazy...... my grand dad was a hard working sharecropper in South Carolina...I believe in hard work!!! My mom was never the handout type and neither is her daughter, sorry!!!! Also, if we pay loans, will we pay mortgages, car loans...is there an end?

4) Are we going to educate students on the importance of finance so they are aware of money, and savings, etc? I think a lot of this comes from the lack of financial understanding and if we can spread knowledge  there would would be better off.

5) My final point is Presidents are temporary...but WUTANG is forever!!!

My point is, the government is slow, and administrations change all the time (4-8years), you can sit on your pile of loans waiting for the government or you can take your future in your own hands and do something about it TODAY!!! Your choice....this is America after all!!! :)

UPDATED NOTE: My co-workers reminded me that this loan forgiveness if given out for all student loans would benefit people who make more money, and would free them up to really widen the wealth gap. Let's see how things turn but I am unsure if this will pass.

Ciao!!!