To wonder why anyone rushes to pay off their student finance?

And I am responsible for my debt as per the contract, terms of which were agreed by both myself and the lender. The terms are that I pay 9% of my salary over the threshold until the remainder is cancelled after 30 years. Which is exactly what I do. I am fulfilling my contractual obligations and the lender is fulfilling theirs.

I didn't earn a six figure salary when I paid instalments or a lump sum. It was my debt so I was responsible for paying it back. I don't understand the attitude of feeling no responsibility to pay money you spent.

This one is a good case for working out the interest cost to take it into account. 5% interest will double a sum in 14.4 years, so you'll need to work out total interest plus payments to see if you make a bigger loss in interest despite missing the last 3 years of payment.

I'm on plan 2 and the interest is nearing 9% now. It's also not a choice as soon as I earnt over the threshold they started taking money directly from my wages (via my employer) I currently have about £2k left and plan to get rid as quick as possible. It also affects bonuses as well each year as the more you earn the more you pay so it makes sense to over pay, I worked out I lose one payment a year in interest...

The OP is right. In many cases, student earnings are not high enough for them to repay their student loans before they are written off by SFE. Therefore if you make overpayment in this scenario, you are simply paying money over that you don't need to.

I just used their calculator and it said it’ll take 23 years to pay it off…. But it will get written off when I’m 65, so that’s actually in 20 years.

If people know they will pay it off eventually, then they can avoid interest by paying it earlier, that is the main reason. If you're not earning enough or are in and out of work, then a bigger savings buffer may make more sense for you. Instead of looking at what everyone else is up to with necessarily little understanding of where their situation differs from yours, get some independent financial advice based on all your own financials and circumstances.

So there should not be any teachers, nurses or AHPs or social workers in you opinion? We should all aim higher? Why not scrap these courses then since these professionals are simply settling for life in debt.

What do you mean "avoid repayment". I repay exactly what the loan terms state. It's not really my fault that my postgrad salary is not sufficient to repay the loan in full within its term time. If you are so outraged by that, then go ahead and campaign for the increase in NHS pay and teacher's pay. We will happily pay off our loans if we earn six figure salaries.

This thread inspired me to log on and look.
Apparently my balance is just over £10k and after interest it’s decreasing by about £800 per year. So I guess it’ll be paid off my the time I retire!

I owe them 41 grand 😔 i am paying it off about £60 per month but it's barely touching the surface

Much better to pay it off fast. The interest is insane now. It's a tax for life on earnings - the earnings threshold is very low so it will lower take home pay the longer you have the debt. People should also be aiming high to earn more - thats a good thing. Settling for a lifetime debt under values yourself for life. People need to take responsibilty and aim higher. Particularly with benefits finally being cut back.

For a low earner, yes it likely makes sense not to repay early.

For a lot of middle and higher earners it does absolutely make sense, as due to the interest on the plan they will pay back many times they borrow.

Mine comes out of my pay every month and after art from a cursory check when I receive a statement to see that it’s actually gone in (I recall an issue where the payments weren’t being applied) I don’t pay much attention to it.

I don’t know the outstanding balance, no idea the rate, don’t know if it gets cleared at any stage. It’s just there being paid and probably barely covering the interest.

I can’t afford to overpay so it’s not worth thinking about.

I paid mine off some years ago now, the interest rate - even in Plan 1 - was always the highest 'debt' interest I had at the time and if I still had the student loan today would still be a more than my mortgage rate which is currently 2.15% and which is my only debt.

Personally I never really understood seeing it as a cheap loan because it always seemed expensive, to me. Certainly whenever compared to my own financial situation at the time, it's always been the 'thing' with the highest interest on it.

No, it was factual. You're contributing to a massive pile of unpaid debt. That's not a brag.

Sre you always so prickly when other people express a different but valid view? 🤢

Martin Lewis always says not to overpay as a general rule. Pay other debts, invest spare cash or save before paying off student loans. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-repay/

I didn't have a particularly big student loan debt but always felt it right to pay it off. I paid some in instalments and then the rest as a lump sum. I don't get this attitude of running up debts and not paying them back, or attempting to. It's not the brag you think it is to avoid repayment.

Surely it’s pretty easy to understand that the majority of people do not earn so little that they pay £7 back on their student loan?
Like that can’t really come as a shock to you, surely?