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What I think is unhelpful is the "I have to go to this college on this timetable and I have to get loans and I have to accept the terms that are offered to me a

What I think is unhelpful is the "I have to go to this college on this timetable and I have to get loans and I have to accept the terms that are offered to me and therefore it's everyone else's fault I'm in debt" mentality that persists despite how long it's been generally known to be a problem. If you think there's a better mentality, let's hear it - otherwise it's a known problem and people keep walking into it voluntarily and then calling it a crisis. Either it's worth it financially and it's not a crisis, or people need to stop taking the loans yesterday. No one owes you a degree that isn't worth the money.

hackinthebochs 8y ago
Of course "everyone" knows its a problem, but your anecdote does nothing to help solve it. The issue is the cultural momentum around the idea that college is the first and nearly only gateway into the middle class. We need to be discussing how to correct this pervasive misconception, not patting ourselves on our backs because we didn't fall for it. And blaming students for falling for what seemingly every authority in society was telling them is a grave mistake.
- TallGuyShort 8y ago
  The anecdote of me not making the mistake was 1 sentence out of 9. The rest of the post is about how people are unable to make what should be a fairly simple financial decision by the time they're 18, which is a statement well supported by the article and literally every statistic about student loan debt. And there's an anecdote about a graduate-level expert in finance not being able to do the same. My point is that the larger problem is that people are getting to age 18 without understanding the practical implications of compound interest, which should be secondary school level math at most. That's where I think we fix the problem. Clearer?
  - hackinthebochs 8y ago
    When framed in that manner, those are points I agree with
  - mounds 8y ago
    You'd be surprised by the lack of understanding of compound interest overall. When talking about putting away money for a retirement plan, other 20-somethings I work with are deer-in-headlights about the little known fact that the rest of their non-working quality of life starts right where they're at now, not ten years down the road after the university, home ownership, car, and child-rearing costs are taken care of. In total transparency, my parents taught my sister and I nothing about interest rates, and co-signed a good amount of money between the two of us. One of us is debt free, while the other is still struggling to pay down a 6.x% variable 55k note, has another house note around 150k, and a car note around 35k. We both have technical degrees and work in technical professions, so what went wrong?

hackinthebochs 8y ago

Of course "everyone" knows its a problem, but your anecdote does nothing to help solve it. The issue is the cultural momentum around the idea that college is the first and nearly only gateway into the middle class. We need to be discussing how to correct this pervasive misconception, not patting ourselves on our backs because we didn't fall for it. And blaming students for falling for what seemingly every authority in society was telling them is a grave mistake.

TallGuyShort 8y ago
The anecdote of me not making the mistake was 1 sentence out of 9. The rest of the post is about how people are unable to make what should be a fairly simple financial decision by the time they're 18, which is a statement well supported by the article and literally every statistic about student loan debt. And there's an anecdote about a graduate-level expert in finance not being able to do the same. My point is that the larger problem is that people are getting to age 18 without understanding the practical implications of compound interest, which should be secondary school level math at most. That's where I think we fix the problem. Clearer?
- hackinthebochs 8y ago
  When framed in that manner, those are points I agree with
- mounds 8y ago
  You'd be surprised by the lack of understanding of compound interest overall. When talking about putting away money for a retirement plan, other 20-somethings I work with are deer-in-headlights about the little known fact that the rest of their non-working quality of life starts right where they're at now, not ten years down the road after the university, home ownership, car, and child-rearing costs are taken care of. In total transparency, my parents taught my sister and I nothing about interest rates, and co-signed a good amount of money between the two of us. One of us is debt free, while the other is still struggling to pay down a 6.x% variable 55k note, has another house note around 150k, and a car note around 35k. We both have technical degrees and work in technical professions, so what went wrong?