Paying Off Student Loans Early
Paying Off Student Loans Early May Be a Big Mistake
Student Loans Start Off Well-intended
Student loans are great. They allow you to seek out your dreams and pursue your passions. Most importantly, they enable you to earn more money so you can provide a better life for yourself and your family. But student loans come at a cost – literally.
Student Loans – The Cost
The average student in the class of 2016 had $37,172.00 in student loan debt. That’s a down payment on a house or a brand new car. If you’re actively repaying those student loans, you are not buying a new car or putting a down payment on a new house. That means there is one less car being made and a whole slew of professions/industries that aren’t benefiting from a new house being purchased (construction, appliances/electronics, roofers, lawn care, etc.). When you spend money, other people around you make money – then they spend money and other people around them make money. Its not rocket science.
Student Loan Payments Leach From the Economy
However, when you have a whole swath of the wage-earning American population spending huge portions of their income to repay student loans – that money goes nowhere. Correction – it goes to the federal government – which might as well be nowhere. That money then gets folded back into the federal budget to get spent on projects like solar-powered beer, llama farmer regulations, or the search to find North Carolina’s best fiddler.
Ok – What’s the Solution?
The solution to the student loan problem may be this – don’t pay them. Well, don’t pay all of them. Current legislation says that if you use a certain type of repayment plan through the William D. Ford Program, then you may be eligible to have your student loans forgiven after 25 years of payments. That may seem like a long time. However, if you cannot afford your current student loan payments, you may want to learn more. If paying your student loans are preventing you from making the major life purchases (a house, a new car, a nice vacation), then you may want to learn more. If you simply want to minimize the amount of money you give Uncle Sam and maximize the amount of money you get to keep, you may want to learn more.
Learn More
Contact The Law Offices of Dax J. Miller, LLC today to learn how we can help you manage your student loans. If you qualify, we may be able to help you get a lower payment and, eventually, get those student loans forgiven.
