I think the author underestimates how long he's financially hamstrung for. Yes he paid off the debt in a decade which is relatively impressive from a no degree

I think the author underestimates how long he's financially hamstrung for. Yes he paid off the debt in a decade which is relatively impressive from a no degree job. But without that debt and with four extra years of work while he was in school when would he have had some sort of housing downpayment? Keeping in mind the insane acceleration of real estate prices in many markets he might find he'll never have a down payment now, but could have had one as early as 2012 if the four years of work done instead of school generated it.