To not pay off my student loan (current SAHM) even though we can afford it?

[SwissSarah]

I got my degree 10 years ago and have about £10K to pay from my student loan. I never earned enough to pay back any of it pre kids (did low paid community work) and have been a SAHM for 5 years and plan to be for at least the next 5. I anticipate never working full time and probably doing lots of voluntary stuff in the community as that's what I love doing. (DH earns well so no pressure to earn myself)

My DH thinks we should pay it back as I borrowed it. I think that I am contributing massively to my local community and giving back in so many other ways and if I'm not earning enough then I shouldn't worry about not paying it back. What do you think??

Look it up on Martin Lewis the money saving expert. I've seen him talk about this & he says it's a loan you don't need to pay back (unless your earning enough) then it's deducted. It was my understanding you do not need to & it's not wise to either based on his advice

Yes you should pay it back, you spent the money. If everyone didn't bother, then the loans would soon stop.

It should be compulsory starting within six months of the course finishing, it would stop all the uni time wasters and non payers.

I haven't paid mine back and it gets written off this year or next year......is it age 40 or after 20 years. I keep forgetting?

Dh earns enough that he could pay it off but it's not his debt.

I can't believe people see this as a moral obligation! Fuck the fucking government! She's obeying the ts and cs of the loan; what's the issue?

Put it in a high interest account for your children's uni fees so they don't need to take a loan in the future.

I'm with sorrel on this one.

Plus, it's not real debt, save your money!

Don't pay it unless you have to. Student finance is a disgrace.

Have just checked, written off 25 years after my last loan so in 5 years time. I won't earn enough in the next five years to have to pay it back.

If it was called a graduate tax (which is what it is) rather than a loan would people still say it had to be paid back? The whole point of it was that it would be paid back from earnings when they are over a threshold, yours are not so it is not being taken from your paye..
I am in he same situation, if and when I am earning enough it will start being paid back again, until then I will not be using my husbands earnings to pay it.. I don't feel any guilt about this.

No way, just don't! There's being honest and then there's being a mug! You aren't doing anything illegal so don't! If it makes you feel better put it in a bank account for your own child's future education.

Don't pay it! Dh is a sahd and there is no chance I'd pay for his fine art degree

You should pay it back. It's one thing if you never earned enough to pay the full amount back despite intending to, but to be able to pay and conciously choose not to is morally wrong. Using volunteering as the excuse just makes me think far less of you, to be brutally honest - plenty of pepole, including me, volunteer and pay back their student loans. It's not either/or

Student loan repayment are in effect a convoluted tax, not a loan.

When it comes to tax and benefits, the rules are the rules. You pay what tax you owe, whether you think its fair or not, and take what benefits you're entitled to, whether you think it's fair or not.

If you substitute your own conception of right and wrong for the law, you are in effect saying that there are two sets of rules, the official ones and mine, and at any given time I will apply whichever of the two leaves me the worst off. That is nuts.

(The reason I say you would be applying the rules that leave you worst off is because when there's an unfairness in the opposite direction, you presumably don't break the law and pay less tax than the law requires, or lie to claim more benefits than it allows.)

Not paying it back is acceptable by the terms of the loan. You are not doing anything legally wrong.

Personally I would consider paying it off once I had sufficient savings to weather a job loss/ anything else we wanted to do.

Family comes first

Argh no dont pay it unless you have absolutely nothing else you need to spend it on!! Save for your kids first.

You only have to pay it back if you earn enough.
Those who were lucky enough to be educated, when degrees were funded by grant, don't pay it back. Just obey the rules and the law regarding student loans.

I think it firstly depends on whether there is anything else you would spend the money on instead and secondly it might be worth paying it off if your circumstances might change due to illness, death, divorce and you find yourself needing to work at some point in the future. A 10k holiday now might be better spent paying it off, whereas 10k put in savings for the future might be more worthwhile.

What about the students who did 2 jobs, saved up to study or went without so they would be debt-free - are they fools or honest?

I'm in a similar boat to you OP, graduated 14 years ago, £11k debt, never earned enough to pay it back due to low paid third sector roles (which required degree level education). I don't feel guilty at all. Those were the terms I was given, placed on us by the previous generations that had their university education for free. Don't pay it back and don't feel guilty.

Loads of people on this thread presumably went to uni for free, or their parents did, depending on their age. I'm sorry but education is a human right. Did you know if we increased corporate tax by about 0.1% we could cover the cost of the student loans of every UK student? Student debt is a government choice and not an economic necessity.

In your position there is absolutely no way I would voluntarily pay off the loan and I think your DH is absolutely mad to even consider it. DH should put as much effort into trying to get companies like Amazon to stop avoiding tax if he's that concerned about economic obligations.

Saying that you do 'volunteering' is a relevant detail! I volunteer on a regular basis and Im a mature student. I know that part of this means I am repaying my debt to society by donating hours of my time. When I graduate it is doubtful that I will reach the threshold for sometime and Im OK with that as you should be.

Do not pay off more than you have to yet... Perhaps pay some small instalments. If you are on the scheme where you only pay when you are earning x per annum this is designed so that you don't struggle whilst you may be able to afford it now you do not know what is round the corner.

You know everyone on MN goes on and on about the baby boomers having so much money and property and how it's all so unfair.
Your DC are going to say similar things about how this generation took out loans with no intention of paying back. The country that they inherit will bear the brunt of your bad debts. Good luck with explaining that.

I'm with fitzsimmons...I have the debt I started to pay some of it off when I was earning enough and now I don't earn enough due to part time and now sahm...It doesn't affect mortgage or credit score...if and when I start to earn enough I'll start paying back. Those were the terms!

I never even think about mine, it just comes off my pay every month. I graduated 4 years ago and owe about £30k.

I would never overpay, or pay when I didn't need to. I would just adhere to the terms of the loan and nothing more. Trust me, when they want your money they'll find you.