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??

Is family money not family money then?

The "family money" thing seems to be a common misconceptions round here. It simply is not the case that once you get married your spouse's possessions automatically become yours.

Don't pay it back. To those saying that if you are not paying it back you must have gone to a rubbish uni and be doing a rubbish job - I owe a lot - over 30 grand (6 years at medical school) I think I do a worthwhile job (junior doctor) and I am still only paying off the interest (DOI work part time). At my current wage it would take me 96 years to pay it back, it will be written off before then - or I'll be dead! Obviously if I get promoted then I will earn more and will pay it off faster and may even clear it. More recent medical graduates can owe over £70000 as fees have gone up, a lot of them will never pay it back, and these are jobs that require degrees and are seen as high paid, as the government sets our wages, I feel that's their problem if their not repaid and not mine

Blimey, I wouldn't pay it back. My student debt is £50k and if I ever find myself in the lucky position of having £50k in my bank account, it's not going to be spent on a house/pension.

And my student loan is increasing by £160 every month. I don't earn anywhere near enough to even pay the interest off.

In fact, I don't earn enough to pay any of it back yet.

By the time I do, who knows how big the amount owed will be?

I will follow the terms of the loan.

My view is that you are clearly an intelligent and educated woman and that you are doing yourself damage by not standing on your own two feet.

You only need to read the posts on the relationship topic to understand how vulnerable you make yourself by not being financially independent and by allowing yourself to become the dependent (and therefore unequal) partner in your marriage.

When the children are young, this is reasonable, but to say that you will spend the rest of your life doing good works and not earning anything is self-indulgent and risky.

What will you do if he leaves you when you are 40, 50 etc? They always leave for women who have careers, by the way.

YABU; you took on a debt and now you owe it. It has nothing to do with "giving back" to the community, it's an adult responsibility. And if the loan comes with interest, then you are frittering away all that extra money for no good reason!

If you can pay it off, do it! ASAP! Stop paying them extra money! Pay it off, take the money you were paying on it monthly, use 5-10% for "giving back" to the community, and squirrel away or invest the rest.

The idea is that you get the loan to pay for the education So you can get a good job.

What a thoroughly depressing distortion of the point of education.

Where do you think the money comes from if you aren't paying it?

Should your children be unable to go to university as the funding (student loans) have stopped as too many people failed to repay their debt then I've no doubt you may have second thoughts.

@manumission

What a thoroughly depressing distortion of the point of education.

This is about Higher Education. What other purpose do you think it serves?

This is about Higher Education. What other purpose do you think it serves?

Can you not think of any point other than securing the best paid job possible?

Maybe a more fulfilling job that you wouldn't have been able to get without the degree because 'good' doesn't only come down to the salary.

Besides that, no. I learnt how to dance for 6 hours straight, live on mince and pulses, roll a joint...

Education at lower levels (where I work) has many, many benefits besides academic learning with the end result being a good job. That isn't included at university, in my opinion.

Maybe a more fulfilling job that you wouldn't have been able to get without the degree because 'good' doesn't only come down to the salary

EXACTLY.

Why are you arguing with me?

Manumission

"The idea is that you get the loan to pay for the education So you can get a good job."

What a thoroughly depressing distortion of the point of education.

You said it was depressing that someone said the point of HE was to get a good job.

I agreed with a PP that it was the only reason. You have the education to get a good job. One you wouldn't have without the HE.

You're now asking why I'm arguing. Very confusing.

So you do think that education (ANY education) has innate value and also side benefits?

Or you agree with the poster I quoted who said the whole point was the "good" (I think she meant "well paid" in any case) job?

So you do think that education (ANY education) has innate value and also side benefits?

Yes.

tnemailrap Sat 28-Jan-17 04:43:02

Education at lower levels (where I work) has many, many benefits besides academic learning with the end result being a good job. That isn't included at university, in my opinion.

So what are you arguing with me about?

Jesus wept!

Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks to a Tory government your children will likely pay £50k + for their higher education.

So nothing to do with the accommodation looking like a set out of friends?! With a price tag to match! Students are encouraged to live like kings, which massively adds to their debt. Should tax payers fund that too when these students then decide to be sahm parents and refuse to pay off their loans?!

What about personal responsibility?

YABU
of course you should pay it back if your household income is sufficient
It is pointless bringing up the old mantra that there used to be 'free' education so you should get off without paying back. When university education was free less than 10% of young people went to university and the grant was means-tested (I know I went to university in the 60s)
It was nulabour's insane idea that 50% should go to university so that there are many many students who go for the experience and do rubbish degrees and end up in jobs they could have done without a degree.
This has resulted in a lot of expense for the taxpayer that is wasted and does not help the country one bit

I stopped reading at page 4 so if someone else has said this sorry !
Stop with the " Moral Obligation"!!
If there is a oralm obligation to pay back the loan even when you don't earn enough to then this effectively means that women, who are sadly still substantially the lower paid, least likely to progress high in companies and most likely to interrupt their careers for childcare / elderly care reasons, will come into potential relationships with a debt which effectively their husbands will be obliged to pay off.
Extrapolating this could mean several things..mostly the following two
that women shouldn't be educated because they can't pay for it
Or
That men marrying graduates will have to pay for the privilege,
It also assumes that the reason that women earn less has no balance in value with what they contribute to the country

I think it would be sexist and morally wrong to get your husband to pay for your education.

I'm still in Uni, have another year left then intend on doing another hear to be a teacher. I have no idea how much debt I'll have in the end but I don't think I'll ever repay it.
I want to be a teacher, part time and raise my children

I wonder, if for many, they just do the uni thing to pass the time until they find a way of not working or think it's all about the lifestyle? So many seem to think it's fine to take the money, have three years of fun with no intentions ever of paying it back.

Compulsory payment would stop all the fluffy degrees and non payers and then universities would go back to being for those that actually want a career and need the education behind it.

Theres just so much money wasted and the staff could have been teaching subjects, pupils etc who intended actually doing something with the degree.

YABU; you took on a debt and now you owe it.

She owes it, but she is not liable to pay it back currently. Why do people have such difficulty understanding that?

Should your children be unable to go to university as the funding (student loans) have stopped as too many people failed to repay their debt then I've no doubt you may have second thoughts.

That's not going to happen. We will always need people with university level education.

So nothing to do with the accommodation looking like a set out of friends?! With a price tag to match!

Mummyoflittledragon, you can't have seen my university student accommodation lately if you think it looks like that.