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I’m ahead on payments because I want to get rid of them. Now I’m wondering if I should hold on to them and stop paying ahead so I am not covering other peoples

I’m ahead on payments because I want to get rid of them. Now I’m wondering if I should hold on to them and stop paying ahead so I am not covering other peoples chunk of the debt today. This sounds cruel in some passive way but I’d rather help signal the unaffordable-ness of the Usa. I can’t afford: - eggs (generally many groceries are more expensive) - a 1-2 bed home of any quality - medical care that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg - my energy bill has doubled - my savings payments have lowered - 9+% inflation And many of these problem have existed for the last 10+ years. But at least we had a pretty great bond market for a few years to help offset regular inflation. If people can’t afford something like a student loan that’s already been “delayed or postponed” they will definitely deprioritize it.

jedberg 1y ago
> Now I’m wondering if I should hold on to them and stop paying ahead If you want to be purely logical about it, the only thing that matters is the interest rate. Can you get higher returns investing the money elsewhere? Then invest it elsewhere. My student loan was at 0.2% (yes, below 1). I made the minimum payment every month for 15 years. I was actually sad when it ended. I wish I could have added to the balance! Also one other thing to remember, a student loan doesn't have collateral. They can't take your degree back if you don't pay. They can garnish your wage, but that's about it.
wakawaka28 1y ago
I am very skeptical that any employed reader of HackerNews in the US cannot afford eggs. Are you working in tech at all? You may resent the state of the economy (as do I) but your loans will not go away. Nor should they. You knew you would have to pay that back when you started studying, and you did in fact study something useful that paid off. Taxpayers took a chance on your future, you got a useful education, and you owe everyone to pay it back.
- righthand 1y ago
  Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. To fight the cost of something as consumers we’re told not to purchase what we can’t afford or agree with. While I can probably eat eggs every day this year, my cost for those eggs has doubled from 2 years ago. So why would I buy eggs just because I can? My point was about how people reason and deprioritize costs.
  - wakawaka28 1y ago
    >The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. We both know that you could afford a $30 dozen eggs, and it would STILL be cheaper than the alternative. That is my point.
    - righthand 1y ago
      Cool, well your point isn’t relevant to my original point then. Because my original point was “here’s things that have increased in expense and how I prioritize costs”. It’s entirely telling that you choose to ignore the latter part of the same line, not only eggs are more expensive but groceries have gone up. Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. Just because you think I should personally stop complaining about the cost of eggs because you’re tired of it or whatever your issue is, doesn’t mean that my complaints and tactics aren’t valid. Go buy some eggs if you really think I should be then. I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out.
      - wakawaka28 1y ago
        >Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. In most cases, this is not the suppliers taking advantage of anyone. Grocers operate on very thin profit margins, as do most food businesses. >I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. Even poor people can still afford eggs. For a software engineer to say they can't afford them is ridiculous. If you talked to a real poor person and they knew how much you earned, and you started saying you can't afford eggs, they'd start wondering wtf you do with your money. >I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. I suffer from high cost of living, despite making great money. But you won't catch me saying my student loans didn't pay off, or that eggs are out of reach. I can't say that no software engineer in the world has such budget issues that they can't afford eggs. But if you can't afford THAT, I wonder what the hell you CAN afford... How are you not starving to death? Are you on food stamps yet? Trust me I know what it's like to not afford things, or to be disappointed with life. But your problems are insignificant compared to those of actual poor people (many of whom get government benefits to sustain them). Your loans appear to have paid off, unless you paid like well over $200k for a 4 year degree or some crap like that.

jedberg 1y ago

> Now I’m wondering if I should hold on to them and stop paying ahead If you want to be purely logical about it, the only thing that matters is the interest rate. Can you get higher returns investing the money elsewhere? Then invest it elsewhere. My student loan was at 0.2% (yes, below 1). I made the minimum payment every month for 15 years. I was actually sad when it ended. I wish I could have added to the balance! Also one other thing to remember, a student loan doesn't have collateral. They can't take your degree back if you don't pay. They can garnish your wage, but that's about it.

wakawaka28 1y ago

I am very skeptical that any employed reader of HackerNews in the US cannot afford eggs. Are you working in tech at all? You may resent the state of the economy (as do I) but your loans will not go away. Nor should they. You knew you would have to pay that back when you started studying, and you did in fact study something useful that paid off. Taxpayers took a chance on your future, you got a useful education, and you owe everyone to pay it back.

righthand 1y ago
Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. To fight the cost of something as consumers we’re told not to purchase what we can’t afford or agree with. While I can probably eat eggs every day this year, my cost for those eggs has doubled from 2 years ago. So why would I buy eggs just because I can? My point was about how people reason and deprioritize costs.
- wakawaka28 1y ago
  >The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. We both know that you could afford a $30 dozen eggs, and it would STILL be cheaper than the alternative. That is my point.
  - righthand 1y ago
    Cool, well your point isn’t relevant to my original point then. Because my original point was “here’s things that have increased in expense and how I prioritize costs”. It’s entirely telling that you choose to ignore the latter part of the same line, not only eggs are more expensive but groceries have gone up. Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. Just because you think I should personally stop complaining about the cost of eggs because you’re tired of it or whatever your issue is, doesn’t mean that my complaints and tactics aren’t valid. Go buy some eggs if you really think I should be then. I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out.
    - wakawaka28 1y ago
      >Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. In most cases, this is not the suppliers taking advantage of anyone. Grocers operate on very thin profit margins, as do most food businesses. >I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. Even poor people can still afford eggs. For a software engineer to say they can't afford them is ridiculous. If you talked to a real poor person and they knew how much you earned, and you started saying you can't afford eggs, they'd start wondering wtf you do with your money. >I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. I suffer from high cost of living, despite making great money. But you won't catch me saying my student loans didn't pay off, or that eggs are out of reach. I can't say that no software engineer in the world has such budget issues that they can't afford eggs. But if you can't afford THAT, I wonder what the hell you CAN afford... How are you not starving to death? Are you on food stamps yet? Trust me I know what it's like to not afford things, or to be disappointed with life. But your problems are insignificant compared to those of actual poor people (many of whom get government benefits to sustain them). Your loans appear to have paid off, unless you paid like well over $200k for a 4 year degree or some crap like that.