A Colossal Screw Up | Hacker News Reader

A Colossal Screw Up

followthegospel.com

2 pointsrglover9 comments

The stench of entitlement is so thick you can cut it. Be glad you graduated at a time when interest rates are low. Some of us graduated when rates were over 15%. Do you know what we did? We got jobs and paid them off. Do you know what we didn't do? Whine about the decisions we made after the fact. Don't expect the people who made the loan to forgive it. Don't expect anyone else to throw you a pity party. Man up and pay off your debt or defer payment and "follow your dreams" but stop whining.

I don't feel entitled to anything and take full responsibility for my debt. I also don't expect the loan to be forgiven (that would be ridiculous). This was written less for me and much more for others. There are a lot of people who signed up for these loans and have no idea what they're in for. Most were told they could go to school and would have a way to pay their loans, when in reality, they don't. Loans are handed out like free samples and people who don't know any better take them without understanding.

"At this point, there are only two outcomes that can help us: the government decides to alleviate debt at a certain percentage and claim it as a screw up, or, a more realistic system is put in place to allow people to pay off their debt."

That definitely makes it sound like you're looking for forgiveness of your debt.

At a certain percentage. Ideally, this would mean not even forgiving part of the debt, but preventing interest from accruing. How are people supposed to pay off the actual debt if they can't even get past the interest (common for a lot of people)? It's defeatist for the average person because it's never ending. There should be some hope/ability to pay off their debt.

The idea is to make sure the debt does get paid off (otherwise there would be an even bigger mess), but make it easier for people to actually eliminate the debt (i.e. don't make paying interest only look like a deal when in turn it's a never ending loop).

I mentioned this in another comment here, but the reason I wrote this is for other people who lack the sense to understand the situation they're in. It may sound silly, but a lot of people are oblivious to just how serious the loans are.

I don't understand the concept of making it extremely easy to borrow, but even more difficult to pay off.

This isn't a problem with loans so much as a problem with people understanding finances. The problem is we don't tech our children the value of understanding finances, credit, loans, and other important real-world matters when they're still in elementary/high school.

Exactly. There's zero reason this shouldn't be a part of the general curriculum.

Seems like you are hurting yourself by not getting a job. Yeah working for "the man" isn't as fun as running your own business. However, there is a lot to be said for getting experience in the real world and taking responsibility for your loans. You should be able to find a job easily with web dev and graphics.

I don't look at it as working for the man. Nor would I call running a business fun, necessarily. I'm doing this now because I'm genuinely interested in building up a business. The reality is that even if I went and got a job and started making payments, I'd have to remain employed for decades to even make a dent.

For me, I'd rather struggle a bit knowing that at the very least I'm doing something worth doing and not just working to work. It seems like a huge waste of life (especially when there's little value in what I'm paying off – if it were the other way around, my attitude would be completely different).

"The reality is that even if I went and got a job and started making payments, I'd have to remain employed for decades to even make a dent."

Uhhhh, yeah... that's how loans work. Borrow a lot, pay for a looong time.

Compound interest is usually covered in grade 10 (or earlier) and is about as complicated as walking. Did you fail basic math or just fail to figure out how to apply math to real life?

Of course you're interested in building up a business instead of working to pay off the 4 year "vacation" you took after high school.

Your school isn't to blame. The government isn't to blame. Your parents might be partially to blame, but mostly I'm guessing you just followed the herd right into post-secondary financial hell without engaging your brain and wouldn't have listened to anyone who tried to tell you any different.

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