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thomas pars
Joined: 29 Jan 2009
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 Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:31 pm Post subject: 55,000 student loan debt....any ideas? |
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title pretty much sums it up. 55K in student loans. I need to pay it off
in a hurry so I can get on with my life. Any ideas? Things I won't do.
-Sell Drugs.
-Amway
Things I might do with slight reservations.
-Porn
-CDI
Thanks. |
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chellovek
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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Well, in the spirit of the economic times, maybe try the following-
Only eat once a day- somewhere for free if possible.
Don't buy new clothes.
Don't replace broken gadgets.
Don't go out- and if you do, drink water.
I could go on- basically do nothing that is anyway enjoyable. Don't invest in yourself in anyway. You must sacrifice everything for your creditors.
This way all the money you save from work can be used to pay down your debt. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Increase your income. |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:13 am Post subject: |
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If you are American, you might consider refinancing with the Department of Education Direct Loans so you can get on the income contingent repayment plan which also offers deferments should you be unemployed. If after 25 years the career didn't reward you well enough, it's forgiven minus tax on it as if it were income. This prevents the extreme stress of the treadmill threatening default on you should you not be a finance super star in this economy. I too am heavy on the student loan debt, but too light on income and equity. Call this saddling a sign of the times. General rule is it's ideal to earn per year how much your total debt is so you can pay off in 10 years time.
Only other way to get out from under it is do what Senior said or simply die as filing bankruptcy can't eliminate student loan debt like it does for defunct business and upside down real estate debts. It really doesn't make sense to put all of your precious few eggs back into repaying debt, because it takes money to get ahead in life. You will need money to repatriate on and allow you the means to go make a living when you are finished in Korea such as a car or tools and money to get you buy until you are on your feet again. Being broke is a huge disadvantage even if you did manage to pay half of it in only 2 years teaching in Korea by sinking ever last dollar of savings in it while you go without. I'm not saying to be irresponsible, I'm saving you need to look out for #1 first in this economy.
Making more money is the best possible way to pay off, but other wise, try to refinance into a Direct Loan for added borrower protections in the event you don't live up to expectations for whatever reasons be. Your average job is not going to cut it nor is ESL. You are looking at roughly $1000 to $1500 monthly payment for 10 years to get the monkey off your back. To scare you even more, run an amortization on it to see just how much money it costs after interest. What a severe penalty to be a poor boy that got an education. |
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shapeshifter
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Location: Paris
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:52 am Post subject: Re: 55,000 student loan debt....any ideas? |
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| thomas pars wrote: |
title pretty much sums it up. 55K in student loans. I need to pay it off
in a hurry so I can get on with my life. Any ideas? Things I won't do.
-Sell Drugs.
-Amway
Things I might do with slight reservations.
-Porn
-CDI
Thanks. |
Just out of curiosity, was there no alternative to putting yourself in that much debt? What and where did you study? Couldn't you have chosen a less expensive route that would have provided you with an education without saddling you with this millstone? |
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thomas pars
Joined: 29 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Just out of curiosity, was there no alternative to putting yourself in that much debt? What and where did you study? Couldn't you have chosen a less expensive route that would have provided you with an education without saddling you with this millstone? |
Oh sure I was really foolish. I got into a pretty great school. Mcgill known to all you Canadians out there...unfortunately I was an international student.
Yearly tuition was maybe 17K a year. I had a great time and got a good
education. But in the end I got a 55K piece of paper that could have been
achieved at any state university at probably half the price. |
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travel zen
Joined: 22 Feb 2005
Location: Good old Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:00 am Post subject: |
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I sympathize Thomas. McGill is a good place to go.
I'm paying my way slowly thru Ryerson and I hate loans! Even credit cards.
Since you seem young, try being a Gigalo if you are in Korea. Japan has a big market on young white/black dudes and older women.
I was thinking of that myself just for the fun of it 
If you are Korean in Korea, be a pimp. China has a bigger market on that. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:13 am Post subject: |
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$55K is manageable. As someone else said, consolidate your loans with the Dept. of Education.
There is also a new program via the Dept of Education where if you work in the public sector or have a qualifying job for a non-profit, you don't have to pay the remaining amount after 10 years. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:21 am Post subject: |
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Go to graduate school.
Sorry, that was a mean joke. |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:31 am Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
$55K is manageable. As someone else said, consolidate your loans with the Dept. of Education.
There is also a new program via the Dept of Education where if you work in the public sector or have a qualifying job for a non-profit, you don't have to pay the remaining amount after 10 years. |
Yep, teaching is it. But who's hiring teachers in the states these days with a huge glut being let go due to severe budget issues? It was only a couple years ago it was possible to go into teaching without an education degree by a hiring school simply sponsoring you to get certification, but now even those with education degrees and certs are in a shaky iffy job market. The historically and still recently in high demand teachers are no longer demanded by the market simply because the money is no longer flowing. Uncle Sam now seems to be too broke to take care of America's public schooling needs.
I wonder how much more money drug dealing will net you over these legitimate, "jobs," leaving you beggin' for a few bones and leftover scraps? I'd be a afraid to find out, but do no one thing a bit too late. This is a new day where degrees mean little, except it got us an E-2 teaching visa in Korea. So now we pay tremendously more to go to school for an average paying opportunity lasting only 1 to 5 years or just a string of under paying gigs in whatever it may be you can land? Upper education is a gimmick scam in my opinion, but maybe it's just the economy making me think that, because if employers were popping out decent positions then I'd thank my lucky stars to be privileged enough to have gone to school. The legitimate idea several years back was to develop people for knowledge based work, but it didn't work and so now we have out of control debts. The country is too bust to even keep and maintain the most traditional and necessary population of knowledge workers. The teachers. For now, we have to forget about more lucrative trades of knowledge work such as finance, business services, and other computer based $40K+ opportunities not to say I won't keep trying new things after Korea. And hopefully something will pop us out of debt and onto home ownership with a retirement. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:21 am Post subject: |
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| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| bucheon bum wrote: |
$55K is manageable. As someone else said, consolidate your loans with the Dept. of Education.
There is also a new program via the Dept of Education where if you work in the public sector or have a qualifying job for a non-profit, you don't have to pay the remaining amount after 10 years. |
Yep, teaching is it. |
What do you mean teaching is it? Sure, that might be one option but any job in the federal gov't qualfies. There are non-profit ones too, but you have to make under a certain amount (it is pretty generous, under $100K if memory serves). I'll see if I can find a link to the plan later.
edit: cleaned up quotes.
Last edited by bucheon bum on Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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.38 Special
Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Leon wrote: |
Go to graduate school.
Sorry, that was a mean joke. |
I've got around 62k, similar story (even similar tuition, but an American in an American school).
I've consolidated all possible loans with the Department of Education, as mentioned a few times above.
I would recommend using an aggressive repayment plan.
Basically, you gotta nuke it. You have to hit it big and hard and fast to keep that interest from accumulating.
Don't even think about investing money -- no investment will accrue value faster than your loans will accrue interest.
If you want to do this the masculine way, you have to get lean.
If you want to be dishonest and work the system, claim poverty, go off grid, and never report your income to the IRS. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to collect welfare, too, while you're at it. You won't be the first person to have done this, that's for certain.
If you want to do this in Korea, you're looking at six years in Korea if you maintain discipline by my calculations. My numbers are very rough and may be inaccurate, but either way it will be painful.
Can't help but feel a little angst about the whole university and banking relationship that's been hurting a lot of people. The whole system is a mess... Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better if I never went.
Too late for that though! Unless I fake my death... |
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Drew345
Joined: 24 May 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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In America I would say take sandwiches to work, here it is eat Kim-bap everyday. Set a monthly goal and achieve it.
If you get ahead of it, you can ease off later and enjoy a little more. Like the poster above said, get a good jump on it right away.
It is not impossible. Just remember, after paying this off you can buy an apartment for $350,000. Then do it all again. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Declare Bankrupcy go on welfare get married have lots of kids. Move into a Government housing project and go on food stamps. Eventially get into a re-training program that will provide with real world skills to get a good job. Learn to play the system before it plays you. |
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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| I've heard there is money to be made in Busan doing "favours for sailors". |
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