Author Topic: Student Loans  (Read 810 times)

Phil

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Student Loans
« on: Apr 10, 2014, 02:07:27 PM »
I hear that some student loans will never be repaid but at least there's a better system being launched whereby the higher earners will have to pay more to cover the scheme's losses caused by the lower earners who, currently, can defer payment until the age of 50 when it gets written off altogether.



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xetog

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #1 on: Apr 10, 2014, 02:15:26 PM »
They will probably deduct it from their od age pension.
 
 
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granny bee

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #2 on: Apr 11, 2014, 07:50:34 AM »
A student on the radio yesterday was complaining of £45,000 of debt - he was 39 years old!  Can understand why pensions will be paid later in life if folk don't start working until near middle age!

Phil

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #3 on: Apr 11, 2014, 09:07:59 AM »
A student on the radio yesterday was complaining of £45,000 of debt - he was 39 years old!  Can understand why pensions will be paid later in life if folk don't start working until near middle age!


Yes indeed. That's the reason that the new scheme will require high earners to cover the non-payers.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

Granny49

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #4 on: Apr 11, 2014, 09:22:40 AM »
That doesn't really tell us very much though does it Granny Bee.  Did he return as a mature student?  If so had he worked out that this would increase his income?  What did he study?  Why did he accumulate so much debt; was it just on fees or did he have loans to pay for his maintenance?  Did he work while he was at University? 

It's a bit difficult to form an opinion on the amount of information we have.  He is the same age as my son.  Fees were lower then if he went straight to Uni from school and you can choose to clear your debt more quickly and not have it hanging over you.  I would definitely not leap to any conclusions without more facts - anyone can say anything on a phone in and they often do :)
Don't get my personality and my attitude confused.  My personality is me, my attitude depends on you.

Phil

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #5 on: Apr 11, 2014, 10:15:53 AM »
Well it seems only fair & reasonable for those students who get well-paid full-time jobs to pay higher rates of student loan interest in order to offset those who have continual deferments.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

sarahbilly 1

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #6 on: Apr 11, 2014, 12:55:19 PM »
granny bee, my son and his wife both took their masters in their 40s, they have worked since they left university at 21yrs old. so it doesn't necessarily  follow that this chap was not working, paying tax or contributing to a pension s scheme.  [or others who do similar]  on the subject of student loans,  i believe the debt incurred will come home will  to bite us. one of the things talked about in the recession was the enormous personal debt, i.e.  credit card, h/purchase, mortgage debt, personal loans, ect. to add to that 400,000 domiciled students every yr. carrying ave. £44,000 each in debt , which in the next few years  could  outstrip personal debt, i don't think you would have to be a mathematician, to work out we are on a collision course with debt in this country.   

peterpensioner

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #7 on: Apr 11, 2014, 05:14:19 PM »
I am no economist and I do not even understand economics, does anyone? However what worries me is if the amount of debt per person gets to an unsustainable level, the thing that would solve it is very high inflation for a few years, which in effect wipes out the debt. Suppose you are a young man earring, say, £20,000 p.a. and you have £20,000 of debt, big problem. You then have high inflation of, say 20% for 5 years. The same young man is now earning nearly £50,000, assuming his salary has kept pace with inflation, but the debt is still £20,000 i.e. manageable. The only people who suffer are – you’ve guessed it, those on fixed incomes or those with savings. Can any economist out there tell me that the logic is wrong and one way of dealing with large personal debt is several years of high inflation?

Phil

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #8 on: Apr 11, 2014, 06:39:11 PM »
I am no economist and I do not even understand economics, does anyone? However what worries me is if the amount of debt per person gets to an unsustainable level, the thing that would solve it is very high inflation for a few years, which in effect wipes out the debt. Suppose you are a young man earring, say, £20,000 p.a. and you have £20,000 of debt, big problem. You then have high inflation of, say 20% for 5 years. The same young man is now earning nearly £50,000, assuming his salary has kept pace with inflation, but the debt is still £20,000 i.e. manageable. The only people who suffer are – you’ve guessed it, those on fixed incomes or those with savings. Can any economist out there tell me that the logic is wrong and one way of dealing with large personal debt is several years of high inflation?

That's why I like technical subjects insomuch as things either work or they don't because I found, when studying  economics,  that it's too wishy-washy with no meaningful structure.

You only have to listen to 6 ecomomists giving 6 totally different views of the Chancellor's budget.

One economist would agree with your post whilst another would say the the young man would be saddled with an unpayable debt because inflation resulted in his firm going bust & rather than a year-on-year pay rises, he lost his job & couldn't get another one.

That's why I packed in studying it.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

Granny49

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #9 on: Apr 11, 2014, 07:51:59 PM »
I agree SB, that people will continue acquiring knowledge and qualifications well into middle age.  My niece didn't do her doctorate  until her mid thirties and my daughter is contemplating a masters in her early forties.

If you think that a GCSE, the starting point is a level 1/2 depending on the grade, an A level is a level 3, and that a Doctorate is a level 10, you have a long way to go work toward the higher levels and will probably be working in between each qualification. 
Don't get my personality and my attitude confused.  My personality is me, my attitude depends on you.

granny bee

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #10 on: Apr 12, 2014, 06:31:07 AM »
G49, no opinion formed, merely pointing out what was on radio which surely suggests the later one completes academic life and takes up work the later one would expect to receive a pension.  I may of course be wrong, and will of course bow to your obviously superior knowledge of such matters.

Granny49

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Re: Student Loans
« Reply #11 on: Apr 12, 2014, 08:33:49 AM »
I can see the work start:pension thought Granny Bee but as I say, it is likely this person has been working between qualifications if he is 39.  After all it only takes three years usually to get a degree.  When young people go straight from school to University they leave at about 21.  As with all these things it would be really interesting to ask the caller you heard more about how he got to that position and what he has done with his additional learning :)

Don't get my personality and my attitude confused.  My personality is me, my attitude depends on you.