Hi antm, I would love to see the stats on graduate debt problems since the introduction of student loans. I think these loans have taken away a generation's inhibitions about debt and disassociate debt from actual ability to repay...we are being encouraged to gamble on future earnings! And I don't think at 18 you are mature enough to make the distinction between SLs and credit cards. It all gets tied up together as debt for university so it's ok. I'm not bucking responsibility but I think the discussion about irresponsible lending vs irresponsible borrowing needs to be reframed to include the government's irresponsible encouragement of young people to take on debt they can't actually afford. All the time I was accruing debt I never sought help because I believed I would be able to manage my debts with the next promotion etc. Anyway, now I have no disposable and will be chasing another two promotions in the next four years, so finishing the iva will seem like wining the lottery!!
Broke of London and antm I could not agree more with you both. I too got in debt a little at Uni and never got out.
I would not encourage a child of mine to go to University unless they were very smart and focussed on a career path. To go just cos you can I think is pure madness as graduate jobs with good wages are getting fewer and fewer as more people go to University.
A mate of mine left School at 18 and did not go to Uinversity, he went into the building trade and now owns his own renovation firm and is loaded. Meanwhile smarter me went to Uni, got a useless degree that did not help my job prospects, accrued loads of debt and joined the jobs market 3 years behind everyone else!!
1st payment Oct 2008, last payment Dec 2013. Certificate received March 2015 due to PPI claim.
My daughter has about £18k in student loans but as she doesn't have a full time job yet then she hasn't started to pay them back.
In defence of the banks, she was never offered a credit card whilst at university or a loan, and in fact she could only get a Solo card with her bank account. The only credit she had was for a laptop (now fully paid back) and her mobile phone contract.
She knows how deeply we are in debt so hopefully she will learn from our mistakes.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Banks have privately realised the student Market is not the cash cow they were hoping it would be so they have retrenched somewhat. The government are also quieter on the "debt is an investment" message. This is a good thing for students now as they take a more considered view of whether university is an investment or not. I think Luke, antm and I are all around the same age (30ish guys?) and we were among the first to take out debt for uni and the govt were plugging it for all it was worth. We as debtors can individually take responsibility for ourselves but debt is an epidemic and that was started/ encouraged by systemic failures. Sorry if the thread has moved on...o started this post before work this morning and am only just finishing now!
There should never have been anything like student loans, it should have been grants as it was in my day.
My daughter also had to pay for expensive books as well - £80+ a time. Fortunately she had her grandparents and Ebay to help - now those prices I think are a huge scam and shouldn't be allowed.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Yup we were the guinea pigs of the new University system which totally sucks!
Books a fortune, after my first year I 'buddied up' with half a dozen mates and we bought all the books between us so was much cheaper, was a pain to sometimes get hold of the book and you maybe only had it a few days, but did focus the mind on studying rather than lazing about doing nowt [:)]
1st payment Oct 2008, last payment Dec 2013. Certificate received March 2015 due to PPI claim.
Not sure about the recommendation though - I will have to speak to daughter about that though!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
