More or less paying down debt can be a good investment. The important thing to remember is that there is no one answer to this question, everyone is unique and everyone has unique situations and should evaluate the best option for their family according to these guidelines. However there are some major reasons why paying down debt cannot be such a good investment.
If the debt is manageable to pay down with reasonable effort, then paying down the debt can be a great investment. By decreasing the debt you owe, you increase your net wealth, which in turn is an investment or saving. There are some examples where the debt that is being paid down is an expensive, high interest debt in which paying down the debt of a credit card has a higher average
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It is important that people continue to pay their mortgage if possible and use the money they are not using to pay off their debt to hire a lawyer and pay the government fees of bankruptcy.
Secondly, if you have government student loans and have qualifies for student loan forgiveness, it is important to just pay the bare minimum on these loans because they are likely to be forgiven in 10 years or less if they are not paid off and it is better to put your money to better use.
The most dangerous kind of debt today is student loans. These loans cannot be forgotten in bankruptcy (except for in extremely rare circumstances such as severe lifetime disability) due to a bill that was passed in 2005. Even in bankruptcy, there is no income based repayment or loan forgiveness, therefore they can keep hounding you and you can keep paying down these loans forever, especially because of the extremely high interest rates on these loans. However, if you have taken out these loans and they are still manageable, you need to take care of these loans now and pay them off completely before they spiral out of
It would appear that a debt snowball could be mathematically unbeneficial. It would seem that paying off the highest debt or the highest interest rate might be better options. In this situation, a person is not looking for the math to work, but to find a way to feel like you are getting somewhere. There are so many reasons that people keep trudging on when it comes to relieving debt.
Along with scholarships, fellowships, and grants, student loans are an important method of financing post-secondary education. With tuition costs rising, more students are borrowing to pay for college education today. However, not all students realize the burden of paying back their student loans. Many are defaulting.
Wilson states that for the 65 percent of students that graduate with debt, the average amount owed is a staggering $20,000.00. On the contrary, as many as a third of all college students will graduate with no debt at all. Some may think that $20k is an outrageous amount of debt. But if you consider what the average adult spends on their first new car, it puts things into perspective. A new 2016 Nissan Rogue SUV for $20k could be paid off in an average of 4-5 years. This is where one would argue about what
Eligibility for the forgiveness: President Obama has announced for this program a while ago. The eligible persons for this program will be the students working under the government for the last 10 years. In the middle of this time, you need to repay at least 120 payments.
An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling on the government to forgive their student loan debts so that through their spending the slowly recovering economy can finally return to its pre-2008 strength.
Doyle states in his article, “As of this writing, the total amount of outstanding student loan debt has been estimated at $960 billion (Kantrowitz, 2011).” Right now, there is only 7.4 billion people on earth, but not all of those people are in debt. So, massive debt with not near enough people to even cover the debt on the whole planet put this issue into perspective. Many people talk about applying for scholarships but scholarships can only cover so much of the price, and even then, the scholarships aren’t guaranteed. Now what about paying off the loans? How will that take? “First, incomes vary tremendously across different choices of majors and professions. Second, the incomes of individuals starting out in the labor market vary according to the state of the labor market at that time.” There are many different factors that go into this process. As stated in the previous paragraph, those who do both work and school are more apt to pay their debt off at a quicker pace. But, how much they make and how often they paid is another contributing factor. If the average college student is making minimum wage (part time) and is going to an in
Most people today accept the debt that comes from college. Students consider student loan debt as a “good debt.” They see other students make this mistake but follow their path anyway. Nearly 80% of college-bound students have not projected the total amount of money they will need to graduate college.
Analyzing all points of view, a great amount of individuals ask themselves why should the government forgive student debts. When our national debt is already sky-high, giving money away (forgiving) will only up the bill our country already has, according to Debt to the Penny (2014) our current debt today is $17,858,510,713,719.34. Another huge concern is the possibility of higher taxes! Government has to find a way to recover the money some way right? Why should the debt free individuals
This debt accounts for six percent of our nation’s $16.7 trillion debt (Denhart). Since student loan debt is such a big part of the national debt, if the student defaults on their loan then the United States taxpayer has to carry the burden of the loan (Denhart). Students who are graduating with debt do have a couple of different options that they can choose from. There is a six-month grace period after graduation to allow the student time to find a job and programs to try to help eliminate debt. “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that one-fourth of the American workforce may be eligible for repayment or loan forgiveness programs” (Atteberry, N.P.).
Over the years, the process of declaring bankruptcy has become incredibly simple. Because of this change, the number of people declaring bankruptcy is at an all time high. Today, bankruptcy is a common thing among companies and individuals alike. The American bankruptcy law allows people to avoid paying their debts by offering the debtors a discharge without a harsh consequence. By not having repercussions for their actions, bankruptcy filers often plan future bankruptcies, allowing them to steal even more money from creditors with no punishment. There are 13 different chapters in the bankruptcy system with the principal chapters being 7,11, and 13. You can only file for bankruptcy under these three chapters, the others are there to explain how the system works. Under Chapter 7, a person’s debts are wiped away while under chapters 11 and 13, debts are frozen while the debtor figures out a way to repay them. The people filing Chapter 7 are stealing money from creditors who are trying to help them. It is one’s moral duty to pay back his debts and one should be disgraced and embarrassed if they borrowed money they cannot pay back. Over 1,400,000 people filed for bankruptcy in 1998 under Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. 75% of them were under Chapter 7, leaving “retailers, bankers, and credit-card companies” with $40 billion in unpaid debts (Kopecki 5) (Pomykala 16). The use of different reforms could cut down on the number of Chapter 7 filings and put responsibility back on the debtor. Declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy is ethically and morally wrong and through different reforms this current “right” would be considered a crime.
College is worth the debt because in the end you will have so much to show for it, money, education and happiness. You won 't even be worried about the money you owe because you will be able to pay it off at any time. You will be able to show your kids a better life and help them strive for a higher education too. You will also be able to spend more time doing fun things with your family and not stressing over bills. More college means more money, more money means more education and more education means more happiness. The college education will always be worth the debt at the
However, debt is part of life. Without a few ups and downs, being alive would be too boring. Depending on the type of education one gets, college is worth the money; there is an error many students make is go to a university that is beyond their financial means. Jobs that get good pay aren 't that expensive to study for. In fact, classes are offered at a local community college that isn 't very expensive as other institutions.
Bankruptcy as a financial management is a legitimate proceeding involving a person or business that cant repay outstanding debts. The general meaning of bankruptcy is the point at which somebody has credit debt that they are making payments on and can no more make those installment because of occupation misfortune, market investment losses or any kind of income loss that prevents them to make their installments schedule. At the point when a person can no more make these payment they seek for a financial company that specializes in bankruptcy. This firm will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the credit company and if that does not work will file for bankruptcy. There are structures to fill out which include one’s income, tax returns and
Debt is defined as something, typically money, that is owed or due to another person or business. I have not had to deal with debt at all, because of my family. Growing up, my family has remained debt free. That means my parents have not ever owed a form or repayment for anything. Of course, we had to make payments every month, but this was for bills. Everyone has to pay bills. We have never been behind on our bills, though we came close. The house that we live in, we paid cash for. The cars that we drive have been paid for with cash. My parents would not buy anything unless they had enough money beforehand. Nowadays you see people drive around in brand new cars. People go out, and build brand new houses that they do not have enough money for. My family does not have brand new, built from the bottom up house, but we have a home that we are comfortable in. We enjoy our house. Other people may not like it, but what does their opinion matter for? It is our house. We are comfortable in it. My parents bought me a new car for my Quincenera. Instead of having the party, I had the choice to get a car. I obviously picked the
Mortgages, car loans, student loans, and having children, are all situations that can drive families to the overwhelming doom of debt. Debt is mostly overlooked for the simple reason that it may be considered normal. Certain types of debt, like car and mortgage payments, are almost always expected. Debt is sometimes very difficult to evade, especially if money is not managed sensibly. Many families accumulate debt due to overspending, medical bills, and unemployment.