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For federal loans, which are the overwhelming majority of student loans the REPAYE plan allows borrowers to pay 10% of their income after 150% of the federal po

For federal loans, which are the overwhelming majority of student loans the REPAYE plan allows borrowers to pay 10% of their income after 150% of the federal poverty line for their household size. As a worked example a single person making $35,000 a year will owe $140/month regardless of total federal debt. After 20 years the remaining balance is forgiven (though the forgiven amount is taxable income). There are certainly situations where ends can simply not be met, but in general it is not a good idea to default on those loans.

burfog 8y ago
Nobody should be in that situation. You can make way more than $35,000 a year without even going to college. Doing that after college means that the college degree provided negative value. One can look up jobs that don't need education past high school at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ and see that there are 9 occupations with income of $75,000 or more, and numerous additional ones in the $55,000 to $74,999 range. You could break $35,000 per year easily in the military. An E-1, the lowest rank, can do that if they get the housing allowance and submarine pay. An E-5, which is mid-level enlisted, can do it on base pay alone. Smokejumpers get about $35,000 per year. The national average for a truck driver is $43,464 or $75,672 per year, depending on who is counting. Either way, it beats $35,000 by quite a bit. Plumbers are about the same. Lots of trades people are doing way better than $35,000 per year. So the answer it seems is to hide the worthless degree. For some of the really nonsense degrees, it might be better to let employers think you spent those years in prison. You'd get paid more if you didn't have the degree.
- thebooktocome 8y ago
  Both my father-in-law and an uncle ruined their health by truck driving. It seems to be common for truck drivers to not carry health insurance, as well. Therefore, medical bills have seriously eaten into their income. I'd heavily discourage people from choosing the profession.

burfog 8y ago

Nobody should be in that situation. You can make way more than $35,000 a year without even going to college. Doing that after college means that the college degree provided negative value. One can look up jobs that don't need education past high school at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ and see that there are 9 occupations with income of $75,000 or more, and numerous additional ones in the $55,000 to $74,999 range. You could break $35,000 per year easily in the military. An E-1, the lowest rank, can do that if they get the housing allowance and submarine pay. An E-5, which is mid-level enlisted, can do it on base pay alone. Smokejumpers get about $35,000 per year. The national average for a truck driver is $43,464 or $75,672 per year, depending on who is counting. Either way, it beats $35,000 by quite a bit. Plumbers are about the same. Lots of trades people are doing way better than $35,000 per year. So the answer it seems is to hide the worthless degree. For some of the really nonsense degrees, it might be better to let employers think you spent those years in prison. You'd get paid more if you didn't have the degree.

thebooktocome 8y ago
Both my father-in-law and an uncle ruined their health by truck driving. It seems to be common for truck drivers to not carry health insurance, as well. Therefore, medical bills have seriously eaten into their income. I'd heavily discourage people from choosing the profession.