Dumb millennials. Instead of asking for employer assistance they should just walk away from the loan contracts they signed, like your generation did with your mortgages, thereby tanking the whole economy.
funny reading this
it took me a solid 4 years of hard work and giving up a fun lifestyle in my 20s to pay back all my u grad loans (10s of g's)
All work, no vacations taken to this point since getting out of school.
Frugal car, especially compared to some of my peers in my age group.
I just wanted to be responsible so I am not financially crippled in my 30's.
Just recently I've been starting to enjoy my $$'s more (going out to eat, drink; buying new clothes/not on sale running shoes) but soon I will start saving for my MBA
and I keep seeing articles about the entitled youth, like this one
smh
yuuuuuup wrote:
funny reading this
it took me a solid 4 years of hard work and giving up a fun lifestyle in my 20s to pay back all my u grad loans (10s of g's)
All work, no vacations taken to this point since getting out of school.
Frugal car, especially compared to some of my peers in my age group.
I just wanted to be responsible so I am not financially crippled in my 30's.
Just recently I've been starting to enjoy my $$'s more (going out to eat, drink; buying new clothes/not on sale running shoes) but soon I will start saving for my MBA
and I keep seeing articles about the entitled youth, like this one
smh
There are employers who do assist with loan repayment, so it's not unreasonable for people in such programs to expect their employer to help them repay their loans. It's in their contract.
I don't know about the expectation part, but if they had said that 33% of millennials NEED help paying their student loan debt, I'd say it's an underestimate.
I laughed when I read the part where the guy helping to set up payment plan options gave a numbered example: that person x takes home $3000 per month but needs to pay $600 on student loan debt per month. Ha! I'd like to hear what he has to offer to a guy like me who spent years (and still going) paying $1100 per month on student loans...and making only $1400 - $1600 per month. Yeah, I live with my parents for good reason.
Most employers now are asking more and more of employees, not giving anything.
Such as, its becoming a trend to do evaluations not on how well you do your job, but on how you improve yourself, meaning they expect your to use what little free time you have left after working 70 hours a week to study for certifications and advanced degrees, or else you will be give a poor performance rating and put on probation.
So a guy like you who has been through it and understands the lifestyle sacrifices needed has no sympathy for people going through it now?
I'm paying $750 a month, and have been doing so for the past three years, staring down the barrel of at least another seven. There were plenty of times where my friends had to buy my groceries, or my sister had to wire me money, all while being gainfully employed.
Even now, with a promotion that has put me in a better financial position, I don't take any sort of pride in being able to get through that. The education I got is the reason I am where I am now, and it took the student loans I have to pay off to achieve it.
Do I think the necessary burden of public and private financial aid is fair, especially now that it's a pre-requisite for any sort of professional employment? Absolutely not.
Do I think that just because I have to pay my student loans means that I want to see all others who have or are currently in the process of taking on this student debt go through the same thing? Absolutely not.
"Because I did it means that everyone should have to" is an ignorant opinion to hold, especially with the knowledge of how shitty the economy of a bachelors degree truly is.
wicked wrote:
I'm paying $750 a month, and have been doing so for the past three years, staring down the barrel of at least another seven.
You're allowed to pay it off quicker you know. You should be able to pay way more than $750 a month.
I don't have much sympathy either because people got themselves into this mess. It's not necessary to go $100k into debt to get a job, and if you do you should make way more than some of the income numbers people are posting here.
Hey, thanks for the hot financial tip! Who knew that paying MORE could result in FASTER turn around on repayment. With your seemingly vast knowledge of my personal finances it pleases me greatly to know that even with other financial obligations that accompany adult life, I could actually be paying way more than $750/month.
The threshold for a mountain of student debt isn't $100k. Let's say you come from a true middle class family, one that has enough money to pay your room and board for four years, but not for the price of tuition at an in-state public university. In a place like Michigan, for example, that would run you close to $50k for four years.
Since you're a middle class family, you can throw any significant help from a Pell Grant, Stafford Loan, or Perkins Loan out the window. You could settle for a Parent Plus loan, or the variable rates of a spooky private lender.
Being the industrious, boot-strapping young man that you are, you take the loans out in your own name. Six months out of school you're hit with your first student loan bill and between public and private loans, you're being asked for nearly $800.
Let's see how far your starting salary of $40,000 takes you between your uncle sam's cut, your loans, rent, a car in your garage, and a chicken in your pot.
7/10.
You said yourself you're in good financial standing. If you are then you should be able to pay a lot more than $750/month. If you double that you would be out in 3 years not 7. This should be doable if you are truly in good financial standing as you say, and smart with finances.
I was all of the above except made way more than 40k coming out. Guess I was smart huh? If you're only making 40k, that's fine for starting out, but even then you should be able to pay 800/month. That would pay off the debt in 6-7 years even if you never got a raise. You should strive for making a lot more than 40k a year, otherwise you wouldn't go $50k into debt.
The whole point of my post is to demonstrate that getting $50k of debt is fairly easy, even when attending an in-state, public university.
I'm pretty curious what kind of bubble you're living in when you can think that in the current financial climate, jobs making "way more than 40k" are ripe for the picking for entry level positions.
Let's just take a teaching degree for example. In plenty of states the first year salary is around $35,000. Paying $800/month on that salary is not sustainable.
Your place in the firmament of the 1% was cemented when you stated that good financial standing translates to having way more than $800 to throw into my student loans.
$35k/yr ain't bad for a 75% time, entry-level gig.
Can't be bothered to click on a link with fox in the name, but 27 years ago my employer, hired me for 11 months over 3 internships (co-op), which helped me a lot to pay for undergrad, which at the time, at Purdue, only cost about $20K in total for 4 years. Then they offered me a Masters fellowship, with absolutely no obligation, at USC, where they sponsored 100% of my Masters degree, plus paid me a stipend to make up for the fact that I was only working part time. I'm sure they got a huge tax break for that.
Since then, quite a few things have changed, wrt to education prices, and how student loans are managed and enforced. I'm sure it's not fair to blame the millenials for many things that have changed in the past 20 years, since I was graduated.
wicked wrote:
The whole point of my post is to demonstrate that getting $50k of debt is fairly easy, even when attending an in-state, public university.
I'm pretty curious what kind of bubble you're living in when you can think that in the current financial climate, jobs making "way more than 40k" are ripe for the picking for entry level positions.
Let's just take a teaching degree for example. In plenty of states the first year salary is around $35,000. Paying $800/month on that salary is not sustainable.
Your place in the firmament of the 1% was cemented when you stated that good financial standing translates to having way more than $800 to throw into my student loans.
Median income for full time males is 50K i.e. 4k a month. If you have $1000 rent and spend $500 on groceries/eating out/gas etc you have another $2500 a month, much of which can go towards student loans.
If you cannot pay more than $800, you are either bad with money, or not in good financial standing.
Forgive me "median" isn't exactly "1%."
Random employers may do this, but if you are an employer why would you think that highly indebted students are better hires than those with no debts? In any event the big pile of debt is now about $1.3 trillion, good luck in getting employers to kick in even 1% of that ($130 million).
Another whiner wrote:
Median income for full time males is 50K i.e. 4k a month.
Before taxes. And that median income includes people who have been working for years. Entry level salaries are lower.
[ If you have $1000 rent and spend $500 on groceries/eating out/gas etc you have another $2500 a month, much of which can go towards student loans.
If you cannot pay more than $800, you are either bad with money, or not in good financial standing.
Forgive me "median" isn't exactly "1%."[/quote]
Right, so let me get this straight. If you can avoid paying taxes and can start off with the salary of someone with 20 years of experience then you can pay down your student loans pretty easily.
Is that your position?
I forget that LetsRun is full of big bank & corporate apologists.
If you read the news you should know the wage stagnation that has taken hold of middle class Americans, and you should also know that the price of in-state tuition for public universities has nearly doubled in the last ten years, not to mention the price of text books and everything else that's associated with a college education.
That being said, very few people are able to escape college without some form of debt. Some a lot more than others.
Let's just say that we're living in your fantasy world, and I'm making $50,000 out of college. In a state like California, I'm taking home about $3,000, not including deductions like a 401k or health insurance.
$800 for loans, $1,200 for rent (this is being generous), $100 for utilities, $200 for car insurance and gas. $100 for your cell phone. That leaves us with $600 for groceries, eating out, maybe the wayward doctor appointment, or the rotary gerter fell out from the bottom of your car!
Now imagine doing that on a realistic starting salary of $35-40k a year. I'm not saying an employer needs to take on that burden. I'm saying that the system is very clearly broken and not built to benefit a majority of people that are currently standing neck deep in it.
wicked wrote:
Let's see how far your starting salary of $40,000 takes you between your uncle sam's cut, your loans, rent, a car in your garage, and a chicken in your pot.
What was your major? What is your current job? Those questions aren't meant to be patronizing, (or even publicly answered for the sharks here). Those questions are about being honest with yourself and where you are headed. You are the sum of your decisions. Here are a few I am inferring from your posts.
1) Your choice of college major was your decision. Lots of careers start at a much higher salary than you gave, and you apparently didn't pick one of those. So what? No one but yourself is stopping you from taking STEM classes at the community college or heading to dental/medical school.
2) Taking student loans was your decision.
3) Where you live is your decision.
4) Having a car is your decision.
The good news is that you can decide to undo three of these decisions quite easily with varying degrees of dedication and earn more and spend less in the process. The bad news is that posting here about your agony and your own choices is gonna do exactly squat for the quality of your life.
I won't be one who jumps down your throat for having $50k in student loan debt. It's amazing to me that we let 18 year olds borrow money like that. You can't change that debt through self pity, so go out there and find a way to earn more and live cheaper.
I worked a second job to help pay down my loans. 40 hrs/week at a reasonable salary. 20 hours a week at friggin' Pier 1 selling candles. I did that for three years and it made a huge difference. I'm always amazed at what kids today (lol -- I am old) won't do. Won't give up a $100 month cell phone. Won't ride the bus. Won't put off that trip to Europe. Etc. Then there's inevitable bitching about how it's all a big scam and it's someone else's fault I took out all those loans. Gimmie a break. Own up to it. Accept it. Make a plan to pay 'em down and stick to it. If you're starving paying $750/month, then you need to MAKE MORE MONEY. It's not a hard equation.