Massive student loan debt is a concern
College is a wonderful thing to go through before going full force into the real world. The issue with a college degree is it never guarantees income. I knew exactly what I wanted to do at the end of high school and went to college to help open the employment doors for me. There are a lot of things I learned in college far beyond what the degree is worth. When you’re done and have that paper in hand, it doesn’t mean you’ll get a job either.
My wife wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in college and switched paths a few times. Then after she graduated there was an opportunity for her to do an internship. Based on the field she was going into, I thought this was a good idea, except it didn’t pay anything. I got a job right out of school and made plenty of income to support the both of us, so it wasn’t a huge problem. After the internship was over, she was not interested in doing that as a career for various reasons. Great, so now what do you want to do with your life?
She ended up getting into a graduate school program in the education field to become a teacher. I was not really involved much in her going to graduate school to pursue this, but I wanted her to find something she would enjoy doing. Now that things are getting to the end of the rope, the amount of student loan debt scares me.
I didn’t know how much exactly she was borrowing, and as it turns out it’s quite a bit. When doctors and lawyers have to take out massive loans, most of the time they can eventually reach an income that will let them manage it. My wife will not be making a huge income, at the most half of what she borrowed, which would make it very difficult to pay off her student loans. Since we are married, income and debt is combined, so we will be paying off these for hopefully only several years. My focus regarding paying off debt is to try and get rid of the credit card debt completely. Once we no longer have those credit card payments to deal with, it will free up extra money to pay down student loans. It will be nice when she gets a salary so we can focus on a mutual goal together.
I know exactly what you mean. Between my husband and I, we have over $100K in student loan debt. I can’t wait until we start paying that down.
I know we’re over 100k and scared to add it up. We don’t know what the regular payments will be on all of the student loans since hers are in deferment. I’m only making the regular payment on my loans because the focus is credit card debt. As the credit cards get paid off the payments will get much larger to knock those things down $700-1k if not more. I’m glad we got in the low interest consolidation at 2.85% which drops another percent I believe after 36 months of payments. Even if my payment were to lower I would keep it the same to try and make it go away faster. I’m glad this past month my big one dropped below 14k finally. I don’t have the patience to be willing to pay on these things for 20+ years of the term. We’ll get them taken care of some day but right now I feel the weight of it.
No use hiding from it. You might as well sit down and add it all up, both you and your wife together and laying it all out. If you had no idea how much your wife was borrowing for school, racking up debt that BOTH of you are responsible for, you might want to think of some good ways for the two of you to regularly discuss finances, be it scheduling a weekly meeting or taking all your paperwork to a coffee house and discussing it all over coffee & scones or something. Hey that sounds like a nice date AND a good family meeting.
I can relate to student loan debt. I had $35,000 to begin with (I think it’s down to $30,000 now) but I told myself that as long as I work in the field of my study, I could justify it.
I’m an accountant and can gladly say that my education has been worth it.
Hopefully, your wife will feel the same when she is done.
I wouldn’t say I’m hiding from it, but there is no point in adding it up at this time. A lot of the student loans were racked up before we were married so it wasn’t my business. This is more like cleaning out the closet to see what we have to deal with. Weekly meetings looking at statements really won’t make it go away. The best solution I can see right now is to wait for the payments on her loans to begin so that we can factor those into our budget. She will also be bringing in much more income to help balance the additional expense.
Since I handle a lot of the financial stuff, it creates some pressure. That’s why I don’t like things being tight, hot checks, bank fees, and feel really good when we get through the month. My wife should take a more active approach in our finances other than passively looking at what comes and goes. I’m dealing with trying to balance a lot of things and sometimes it gets to the point where it’s too much. We’re still trying to find common ground and goals I think.
Jim:
Looking at the debt keeps you focused on what you need to do to reach financial freedom. By not knowing what your current debt load is, you could be making decissions that will add to your debt instead of reduce it. Call her bank and find out what the payment will be when the deferment is over. How about if you start paying now…does it change (ie lower) the overall payment? Looking at the debt weekly will keep it infont of the both of you - and from there, ask yourselves what you are willing to do without to reverse your current spending trend. It will mean sacrafice and a lot of it, but if it is important to the both of you, attack it face on. I agree with you, it is hard to face the numbers together. Do it together and you will grow stronger (and eventually richer) together. Good luck and smart saving.
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding , but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong
What’s a lot of debt?