Comments on: College student loans come with flexibility

By: Don’t Let the Housing Carrots Give You House Fever | Good Financial Cents by Jeff Rose Certified Financial Planner

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:04:48 +0000

[...] payments, credit card debt and student loans do not mix well with house payments, real estate taxes and homeowners insurance. Not to mention [...]

By: Stew

Stew — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:56:47 +0000

Kristy, I think you hit up on a good point. As a culture, we have become so immune to carrying debt that we never even imagine life without it. I think previous generations could not stand debt and if they were ever forced into it, they would not rest until it was paid off – no matter what the interest rate.

By: Kristy @ Master Your Card

Kristy @ Master Your Card — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:04:45 +0000

I know the boyfriend bit was all in good fun, but I think the boyfriend genuinely told Leah what he believed to be correct and she now has a perfect opportunity to help educate him. I agree that if she is in a good financial position she should not be putting off paying her student loans. The goal is to be debt free.

I have a client at work who says it doesn’t make business sense to pay your student loans. I fail to see her point of view. She’s been shuffling her payments now for 2 years. I’ve explained to her – several times – that she will have to pay them in the end, whether she thinks they make good business sense or not – and delaying them only makes it worse as they are accruing interest. Besides which, she knowingly borrowed the money, so she should pay it back, but that’s just a personal value speaking there.

By: Stew

Stew — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:07:08 +0000

Okay, I was being a little facetious about the boyfriend thing. Hopefully you got that when I characterized “husband advice” as infallible. :)

But as the father of two girls, I don’t think I can be too careful.

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:36:25 +0000

“When it comes to boyfriend advice, there is almost always a hidden agenda behind the suggestions.”

I think you’re way off base here. What makes you say this?

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:19:57 +0000

I agree that putting off student loan repayment shouldn’t be a first choice. I got a forbearence several years ago for a 12 month period when I was really struggling financially. That year of no payments (along with completely stopping the use of all credit cards and moving to a cash-only system) allowed me to get back on track. I don’t think I could have done it without the forbearence because my loan repayments were pretty high and were really putting a strain on me at the time. Now that I’m in a better position, I pay above the minimum every month.

By: Coupon Artist

Coupon Artist — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:39:41 +0000

Be careful about deferments- they only pay interest on subsidized loans. Some government loans- like unsubsidized Stafford loans- can be put into deferment but the interest will continue to accrue.

Also, don’t forget that with forbearance, any interest that does accrue is at some point capitalized onto the principle and you end up paying interest on your interest.