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Paying for university up front can be the difference between paying ~£45k today or £100k+ over 30 years. It can actually save you quite a lot of money. I'm deba

• Arainach 5y ago
  Remember to factor in opportunity cost and the cost of inflation. Particularly with rates as low as they are now, debt makes plenty of sense. I refinanced my mortgage for another 30 years at 3.1%. Not only can the market beat that on average, the real purchasing power of the "extra" money in a few decades may be less than those dollars now. To be honest, at those rates I'm almost kicking myself for not pulling more equity out. As a real example, what will increase in value more in those 30 years: the principal on your loans (which in effect costs you double), an Index fund tied to the S&P 500, or a down payment on a house?
• jokethrowaway 5y ago
  Similarly to a mortgage, the value of money now is not the same as the money in 30 years. Depending on the interest % it may make more sense to invest that money. That said, pre-brexit, I would have considered sending the kids to uni somewhere in Europe for free and save the university fees. I paid 10k€ for a 3 years degree which is as close as free as it gets for me (it could have been zero if my family made less money or if I lived by myself and were unemployed). I don't think I would pay more than that for a degree, they're mostly overrated.
• chrisseaton 5y ago
  But you could take the loan and invest the same money and get back more. It's a very cheap, unsecured loan.