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

I’m on plan 1 so it’s 4.3%

That's higher than the interest rate on my mortgage so it isn't exactly cheap for a long term financial product.

I guess it depends on what other debts you have.

Do you earn above the threshold? Or are you just not paying it?

It really isn't "the whole point of a degree". It's actually a fairly new concept that university education is vocational and any specialism that isn't is labelled "Mickey mouse" degree.

Cool story, bro

But people don’t want to stop earning money and they don’t plan to do that.

They want to increase their income as they get further into adult life and to have as much control as possible over what to do with that income. Carrying debt that you can’t dispose of with payments that will increase as your income goes up is a financial inflexibility that many people don’t want. They’d rather deal with a some extra discomfort paying it off in the short term and then move on to other financial goals and priorities without that non-discretionary expense to work around.

I don't know if yours is cheap, mine taken out in 2015 is 9% interest so about as expensive as it gets. Currently I am not even covering annual interest so the loan keeps growing. If I were a higher rate taxpayer, I would absolutely prioritise paying it off.

But interest keeps accruing. So what you owe increases.

I had one of the old style ones that was written off after 25 years, taken out in the late 90s. I didn’t pay a penny towards it as I never earned above the threshold so was able to defer each year. In the couple of years before it was due to be written off whoever held the loan wrote to me offering for me to pay a proportion of it to have it written off sooner but I never bothered knowing it would be written off soon. I don’t feel guilty about is as the reason I never earned over the threshold is because I chose a ‘worthy’ but not well paid career that benefits wider society so I have paid my dues that way.

DH paid his off in one go when he inherited money. He has a relatively low income so might have never paid it off otherwise (however, he was on the old Plan 1 where you had to pay until you're 65, so 40+ years in his case), but just wanted rid of it - like @OneShoeShort says.

You're economically productive, sure. Just below the threshold for repayments. Which is fine. Circumstances do change though. In the many, many years before the debt is written off. Interest keeps applying annually wether you're paying or not. Wouldn't be a risk Id be prepared to take. But it's up to you.

I paid mine off long before I had a mortgage; lived in London so a mortgage was a far-off dream but paying off the loan was manageable. And gave me one less thing to fret about and more money in my pay packet – aside from the mortgage I have now, I have no debt and don’t like debt. The more choices you can make with salary the better; think I used the money I “saved” by no longer paying the loan and used it on pension payments instead.

Yes - as a lower earner - each year I had to defer repayment by filling in a declaration and earnings form and sending it back to student loans company . Six years ago I moved house and forgot to do the deferment .
The debt was then sold on to Link financial who contact me every three months to ask when an I gonna start paying the debt - I am still on low income and in utility use debt so have not yet been forced to make any payments . Funny thing is I woukd stil be eligible for deferment if they hadn’t sold my debt to another agency !

Do you really think that’s the only reason people go to university?

If you’re making a decent amount of money and your only other debt is a mortgage or low-rate car note then it often makes financial sense to pay it off. And yes it can affect your ability to borrow for other things.

But people generally just don’t like carrying debt. Having debt payments, even if they’re income-based, means you have less control over your spending and saving so clearing it off their books is a relief. This is particularly true for a debt that isn’t tied to a tangible, salable asset like a mortgage. Your mortgage goes away when you decide to sell your home, and people receive a very direct, calculable benefit from home ownership and paying on a mortgage - you can look at the cost of rent and the equity you’re building and that debt feels productive. And if you realize it isn’t productive enough to justify the ongoing expense you can sell. You can’t sell off your degree if you decide it isn’t bringing you enough financial benefit to offset the loans and it’s difficult to measure the marginal income having it provides, so the debt just feels like a purely negative burden.

My husband now has about £300 a month extra after paying his off. I’ll never earn enough to pay mine so it’s not worth it for me but it definitely was worth a few extra payments to clear his!

They just take it out your salary if you're above the repayment threshold. So you're paying interest on that as well as on your mortgage? Maybe other people have someone else to enable them to earn less and have a mortgage?

I went to Uni when I was in my 30's, had the grants and loans etc. Finished uni in 2009, and have been paying off my loan via salary for what feels like forever.

I make my final payment this summer and quite honestly I'll be glad to see the back of it. The money will then go on pushing down our mortgage.

Because it’s less relevant as the balance doesn’t change the monthly payment.

It is your intention to not pay it off that is the problem.

Sorry for ruining the economy by paying off my student loan as per the rules set by the government @Nobodyknowsitall.

They ask you the monthly payment.
You have to list all your financial commitments on any mortgage application like student loan, personal loans, childcare etc.