If it's a federal loan, the government will garnish your wages [1] and eventually your social security payments [2], and will withold any tax refunds. And since

If it's a federal loan, the government will garnish your wages [1] and eventually your social security payments [2], and will withold any tax refunds. And since student loans usually can't be discharged in bankruptcy, you'll have bad credit for literally the rest of your life. Also, you pay income tax on forgiven loans, not defaulted ones. [1] https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/default#consequences https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/default#consequence... [2] http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/24/news/economy/social-security-student-debt/ http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/24/news/economy/social-security...