Student Loan Debt Sucks
If we had a category called PSA, this would fall under that.
I, like most of my friends, spend a great deal of time lamenting my various educational decisions (like going beyond college when, if I’d stopped there, I’d have saved myself about $110k worth of debt) and the ongoing aftermath of student loan borrowing.
Most of my friends are in Portland. Most of them owe a lot (maybe not as much as me, but more than any of us is comfortable with). And most of them, like me, have moved into child rearing and starting to stress out as much about the future of our kids as we do about the present for ourselves.
So, with that, I point you to some good information on plans set up by the State of Oregon to help you save for your kids’ education. (Link courtesty of local blogger JLowe).
Related posts:
Flat (even negative) income growth + inflation + rising debt + rising interest rates + corporate consolidation + outsourcing + rapid population growth + negative savings rates =
Economic ruin. Get ready for it folks.
I feel your pain, and I’m glad my student loan debt is far behind me.
That said, I often wonder why people dive headlong into other big expenses (ie., having kids, buying houses), before the student loans are paid off? I see this over and over, usually resulting in big problems.
In my case, I borrowed so much in school (stupidly, in hindsight, but too late now…) that, if I waited to pay off loans to have kids, or buy a house, or what not, and even if I paid fairly aggressively, I’d still be in my mid 40’s before I was able to have a baby. Don’t really want to need a walker at my kid’s graduation…
My excuse: I can’t find a job that will allow me to put a significant amount of cash towards my student loans every month. As such, I wind up covering mostly interest. At this rate it will take me another eighteen years to get my college debt paid off. Kids? A house? Who can afford them?
Now, I don’t feel so bad about taking so long to get my degree. 0 student loans = 0 student loan debt
Score = mak 1 rusty 0
:)
P.S. According to BIL, the NY 529 is the best one- most benefits, most flexible and least amount of fees.
Mak: Touche. NY 529? Don’t you need to be a NY-er? Not moving anytime soon, myself…
Nope. You can use any state’s 529 plan. My older BIL started the NY 529 for the kiddo. He also linked it to a UPromise account which is pretty sweet.