It's daft to pay off student loan

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with inheritance when you are SAHM? friend says they did this...can't help thinking it is a shame as they could do with the money. they are in their 40s and surely student loans get wiped off after a certain number of years.

Namechange If you support a child through a degree the money isn't counted for IHT purposes; which is partially why we did it.

@banjostars oh sorry, I had no idea about that bit - how weird?

And we pay 9% on my entire salary if it's over the threshold.
Those on pay 2 only pay 9% on everything over the threshold not the entire salary.

I didn't even realise just how unfair the system is. Yes newer students have higher loads but if you're paying less per month and it gets wiped out sooner I wouldn't give a damn.

It is the strangest system - if all bar one lot can get wiped at 25 years then ours should be too.

And it is a stupid system, yes we have a lower interest rate - but we also have a much lower threshold - so we more likely to spend longer paying it back.

Someone could quite conceivably spend their entire working life just above the threshold - and still not have paid it back.

What’s the point?

The 98 to 2005 didn't have to pay tuition fees did they so borrowed far less relative to post 2005?

Ive had no choice but to pay mine off. (Will be student loan free in December.) I used degree to get my job and I've bern paying it back since I started work after finishing my degree. I cant wait to be free of it.

Bunch of thieving freeloaders on here! Never heard anything like it. And surely most people will have to pay anyway as the threshold of 25k is so low? That's not a realistic salary to have a decent life on!

The 98 to 2005 didn't have to pay tuition fees did they so borrowed far less relative to post 2005?

They did, but only £1k a year so the overall borrowing was a lot less than people who started in 2006 onwards

Hang on, what's all this about deferment letters?? I was paying mine off through PAYE when working full time, now very very part time and below the threshold, I don't remember ever having to communicate with SLC and explain why I wasn't paying. Not when I was on maternity either. Should I have done?

Most of the high earning, high achieving scientists/linguisists I know moved overseas shortly after graduating, due to lack of opportunities in the UK. Some date back to the times degrees were fully funded via grants, the others have left and have always had zero intentions of paying back SLC from day one.

@tothappy I have to prove every year that I don't earn enough to pay, send in payslips, etc. Maybe it's different for different loans though? Mine is one of the old mortgage ones.

The government loans students money so they can better themselves and increase their opportunities in life and people genuinely think its okay to not pay this back if they can??

The governmemt is not made of fucking money and if you're not earning enough to pay off your loan through the automatic tax, you will almost certainly be taking more from the tax pot than contributing to it

Absolute lunacy to pay a student loan off. The payments are a very small amount, and now you don't even have to start paying until you earn £25k, which in the north of England is quite a decent salary!.

I can't see how anyone can view a student loan as a burden. The system is ridiculous , if you dont pay it off within 30 years then it gets cancelled, you dont pay if you dont work.

The only reason to pay it off is if you are so stupidly well off you can do it without flinching .

The only reason to pay it off is if you are so stupidly well off you can do it without flinching

I paid it off with the first savings I had after graduation. I had no wealth and no financial support from parents. To some it’s stupid, to me i just hate the concept of loans accumulating

@nothinglikeadame
The only reason to pay it off is if you are so stupidly well off you can do it without flinching

Or if you believe that it's wrong to not fairly contribute to society.
I cannot see how failing to pay back a student loan is any different from cheating the benefits system.

@helacells I went to uni in the late 90s, did an MSc after my first degree, then worked full time for 15 years but haven't ever earned over £25,000. I live in a cheap part of the country and with DH on a similar salary have been able to buy a house, car, raise a family etc fine. Incidentally the repayment threshold for the pre 1998 loans is £30,737.

nothinglikeadame

If you read the thread you'd know some of us had to start paying at 18k and will have the loan written off at 65 rather than after 30 years.

And that £120 I pay would make a difference to me financially. I don't mind paying it off, just wish I had the same terms as everyone else.

@TotHappy if you're paying your loans back through PAYE I don't think you have to defer. Deferment letters are sent each year to anyone with remaining pre 1998 loans which are repaid via Direct Debit from a bank account, not through PAYE.

@RedSuitcase deferring isn't "failing to pay the loan back", it's following the loan process as part of the original Ts & Cs of taking the loan out in the first place - you don't make repayments until you reach the earnings threshold for your particular sets of loans. There are different thresholds depending on when the loans were taken.

You’d have to be a mug to pay back a student loan. Hit retirement and the debt is wiped.

Helacells £25,000 may seem low to you but as a very experienced, highly skilled, level 7 qualified lecturer, I earn not much more than this.

The naivety and entitlement on this thread is amazing!
Higher education needs to be funded.
We either do that through
1)People paying their way (loans they actually pay back)
2) We all take a decision to pay more tax as a society.
3) We limit the number of students going to university.
Which is it to be? There's no money tree.

The naivety and entitlement on this thread is amazing!
Higher education needs to be funded.
We either do that through
1)People paying their way (loans they actually pay back)
2) We all take a decision to pay more tax as a society.
3) We limit the number of students going to university.
Which is it to be? There's no money tree.

Exactly. Some people assume that by outsmarting the system they’re taking the money from the “unfair” pot of fairytale money belonging to the filthy rich.

I’m reality, it’s coming out of the pockets of struggling people. There is either less funding for new generations that need it, or there is higher taxes for you and me....

I think it’s quite simple. If you take a loan you give it back. If you disagree with the system, then don’t use it in the first place.

All of those arguments could be made about A-levels and GCSE's. Why aren't they?

It's three more years. What's the big deal? It can be funded by taxation.

1. You are paying the loan off, under the terms and conditions that it wad taken out . Nobody is cheating the government or the general public.

2. I maintain paying a student loan off is poor financial practice, something the MSE website agrees with. You cannot think of a student loan like a mortgage or car loan. It's no more than a graduate tax. The misinformation and scaremongering about student debt puts people off going to uni, or returning to learning.

3. If you are paying back £120 per month you must be earning a very decent salary. At the moment someone who earns £30k p.a. only pays back £87 per month. Not a debilitating amount on £2500 per month income. Also your uni education probably led to you earning your salary so it was a goid investment?

All about opinions I guess, but when you work for a university you do get frustrated with the misinformation and ignorance regarding the student funding system.