Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ekul]

I don't have any debts other than approx �9,000 in student loans. I'm in no rush to pay them back because they are tied to inflation, the cheapest loan you will ever get.

However I do not begrudge people that choose not to pay the debts they have accrued due to education. Especially in America, the fees are huge and crippling for anybody not in the middle or upper class. The whole system of credit in the western world is and was out of control, the current global economic situation is a testament to that. Debt creates money, worthless money that becomes impossible for a society to pay back. There is more debt in circulation than money, how about that for a fucked up situation.

So before people get on their high horses and bash on everyone with BA/MA degrees that have crippled them take a look at the wider picture.

[mysterious700]

I have around 40K and had several K of personal debts. Personal debts were credit cards, but mostly money borrowed from friends and family. I paid the personal debts (and cards) off first. Never burn friends and family. They are the one group you may need to turn to again. Because of that, travelling, and the drop in the won; I've barely touched my student loans, except for the minimum payments. Almost two years and it's depressing, but could be worse. Thankfully, my renewal in summer will see a good raise in pay, the won might start to go back up, and I have no other debts now. These three factors should be great to let me put huge payments against my student loans. Not paying loans when you can here is stupid. You might regret it later. You never know what will happen in the future. I am not as frugal as some. I like to live. I can live on 800,000 won (my apt is free) and send the rest home.

[justaguy]

[Draz]

[Ice Tea]

I came here for $34,000 in debt. Two years later, I'm down to $17,000. It's like a carving a stone. It's take a while. Perhaps I'm the only honest guy here, who actually plans on paying it all. And no one gave me a dime for school. it's called being responsible.

[Captain Corea]

I came here with $30,000+

I now have none.

[Ukon]

I'm not sure why so many of you who has massive debt have a masters degree in a field that apparently doesn't have enough well paying jobs.....Are you just stupid?

also, if you recieved massive loans, I naturally assume many of you had them co-signed by your parents, in which case, you defaulting, means they're credit score suffers.....way to go asswipes.

[justaguy]

[Insidejohnmalkovich]

There should be an option for zero, nada.

There is a big difference between 0 and $5,000. Between completely solvent and even somewhat indebted.

[RyanInKorea]

[Darashii]

Debt makes me feel alive, so I keep him hanging around for company.


I'm one of the disillusioned US grads who doesn't feel like it'll be the end of the world if I don't pay student loans completely. It's a state school. Loans are simply the gov't loaning back money my mom and I worked for in the past. Obligations? Morals? Bah.

I got a BA in Anthropology and Asian Studies. I have goals for my degree, and if that's not enough, then.... enjoyed my life as a student and then living abroad, having fun, volunteering, struggling to make ends meet when I knew little about how they're supposed to. Working constantly for the sake of getting through school doesn't sound that appealing to me. Hell, my mom even was against me working in university. She wanted me to focus on learning and the experience of living that lifestyle. She was also unimpressed that a lifetime military employee's only dependent couldn't get more grants.

Call me lazy or irresponsible, but different folks, different strokes. I believe debt is evil and that the system is designed to make it easy to fail financially and get locked into a time-for-money rat race. My goal is to be revolving/toxic debt-free, which is easy enough once I send home some money next month, but student loans? *yawn*

[Gimpokid]

[NuketheWhales]

I totaled nearly $180k in debt. After realizing that it was not physically possible to repay these amounts, never mind actually reducing the capital amount. I simply walked away. That was nearly 9 years ago.

I checked my credit report about 6 months ago. No outstanding bills or judgements. No marks on my credit score. My credit is R1 and I have no outstanding criminal charges.

To those who realized that there was ultimately no benefit in paying these debts, using the statute of limitations is what they were created for.

Many banks attract loans under terms that no sane person with a great deal of experience would sign. We are given promises of a great future that the money borrowed will provide us with. All we had to do was sign. I signed the loans with the banks, went to school, got my degrees and as time passed by I realized the mountain of debt that I was facing was incredible. Let's try the math.

7% of 180,000 is $12,600 a year in interest alone. That's nearly $1050 a month in interest. Let's say I mange to pay $500 off the capital a month off the interest. That would require 360 months if I pay perfectly (thought the math is not perfect..we'll assume for simplicity that it is) that I will be able to finish paying off this loan in 30 years. Adding the interest of $12,600 x 36 + capital looks at nearly say....around $630k ish.


And what is the benefit of paying this enormous sum of money? Pride? The ability to say that i paid off my loans and live a life of poverty? I did what any sensible person would have done when faced with something so immense. You simply refuse to pay, declare bankruptcy, you use the laws to your advantage and limit your exposure to these sums.

Though many hold a very principled view on student loans. Their purpose is clear. They are there to help you get an education. It's far cheaper to have an educated workforce in society in debt than an uneducated workforce with little to no debt (Mexico) and you can see the results overall.

I don't feel guilty. In fact, I'm glad. My education taught me a great many things about manipulation of the public, control through law and finance and yes, instilling a sense of understanding of when someone should simply refuse to become a self imposed slave to debt and walk away. Today 9 years after walking away from my debt, I'm a free person. But I suffered the legal difficulties of having bad credit for 7 years. That is a long time, but debt should not be a life sentence of poverty that cripples you forever. That is, unless you let it.

You only live once. Live smart and enjoy your life.

Nukem

[Beej]

[xCustomx]