Your net worth...

Generally, educational debt is worthwhile. Generally leads to either a better paid job or better job satisfaction which let's me honest, are two things then generally drive people in their day today lives.

Lucky if the two can be satisfied together (As I hope they can with my chosen career) but each to their own.

One problem is a lot of people who go to uni, get plastered all the time and only went to uni because they didn't know what they want to do or just for the experiance. Whilst I'm not saying it's a mistake to go to uni if you don't know what you want as a career, because I think quite the opposite, but I think a lot of people get in a lot of debt with student overdrafts loans etc and it never really helps them.

Just as a side, a student loan is not included in a bankruptcy.

[L3nny]

I can sleep at night because I used my credit card to buy a really comfy bed.

[timwilky]

I cringe at student debt, probably because I was the recipient of a full grant and company sponsorship, from a time when the state valued an educated workforce and was prepared to invest in it.

These days it would appear that the state uses higher education as a method of delaying the inevitable and a couple of million school leavers knocking on the door of the labour exchange to sign on the unemployment register.

I was out last night for an extended family meal, my nephew who will go to university in September was sat next to me.

Even though he is going to the local university and living at home he intends to take his full loan, to fund his holiday. His only expense is his drinking/womanising/car and he already has a part time job to fund those. I therefore cannot understand why he is so keen to take on the debt when he can live without it.

Originally Posted by timwilky

I cringe at student debt, probably because I was the recipient of a full grant and company sponsorship, from a time when the state valued an educated workforce and was prepared to invest in it.

These days it would appear that the state uses higher education as a method of delaying the inevitable and a couple of million school leavers knocking on the door of the labour exchange to sign on the unemployment register.

I was out last night for an extended family meal, my nephew who will go to university in September was sat next to me.

Even though he is going to the local university and living at home he intends to take his full loan, to fund his holiday. His only expense is his drinking/womanising/car and he already has a part time job to fund those. I therefore cannot understand why he is so keen to take on the debt when he can live without it.

Perhaps I'll be taking a similar path to you, from what I've read. The place I work for is going to put me through a degree after my apprenticeship.

I've also been brought up so that I only buy things if I have the money- I wouldn't want it any other way. I've got 10 grands worth of musical instruments under my bed all bought and paid for by my own earnings. Same with my car and bike.

Strange though that with the exact same upbringing, my younger sister (who earns a lot more than me) hasn't taken a blind bit of notice and has just bought a 500 quid car by getting an overdraft.

I do find it funny that I'm worth more dead than alive. But I have very little debt and when I do use my credit card the interest on the balance is less 1% a month. The student is a pain, but at %0 right now but 9% of what I take home is not a small amount!

I would have probally been a lot better off had I not have spent time working in the US and travelling, however I suspect life would have been far more dull had I stayed in the UK and worked.

I See there are two types of dept,

recoverable, i.e car or bike where providing it is suitably insured and you haven't stretched the payments to the extremes, if you need to you can dispose of these assets on borrowed money and pay off the debt, typically within reason i.e a coupla hundred pounds or so.

Unrecoverable - Holidays, meals out, drinks, clothes etc etc, the "stuff" you dont need and cant sell on to pay of the debt.

I used debt to bring forward things in life, i.e cars and bikes etc, the mortgage is just that, id be paying it in rent if not to a bank. But all my debt is recoverable wherever possible. I hate loans but they serve a purpose but will only get one if I know I can afford it and it suits my lifestyle at this moment and the foreseeable time for the loan.

Only debt I have is the mortgage, everything else like credit cards and such I pay off immediately. All my cars and bikes I've bought in full.

She on the other hand seems to have always been living just on the edge of going into her overdraft, I don't know wtf she spends it on.

Originally Posted by MrTom

Ah just the usual, hookers, fast cars etc.!

No really its debts from doing a masters plus the cost of training to be a pilot. I'm very fortunate in that a large sum of the loan is interest free, and if the airline who is supporting me through training does give me a job then I'll be let off another fair chunk for staying with them 3 years, which I will! However, as it stands now I am committed to be £100k down.

I must add that I agree with all the comments about not spending what you don't have. I've never had a credit card, and I've never borrowed to buy luxuries. I see my debts purely as investment, hopefully I'll be able to pay them off!

Doing a masters doesn't really amount to that much money though...unless you've been living the life of Walter Mitty whilst doing it!

Take it you're not looking at getting a mortgage anytime soon then....-£100k already...good luck!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by 454697819

I See there are two types of dept,

recoverable, i.e car or bike where providing it is suitably insured and you haven't stretched the payments to the extremes, if you need to you can dispose of these assets on borrowed money and pay off the debt, typically within reason i.e a coupla hundred pounds or so.

Unrecoverable - Holidays, meals out, drinks, clothes etc etc, the "stuff" you dont need and cant sell on to pay of the debt.

I used debt to bring forward things in life, i.e cars and bikes etc, the mortgage is just that, id be paying it in rent if not to a bank. But all my debt is recoverable wherever possible. I hate loans but they serve a purpose but will only get one if I know I can afford it and it suits my lifestyle at this moment and the foreseeable time for the loan.

A bit simplistic.
Where does educational debt fall? You can't sell it to pay off the loan, but has been argued above it's very worthwhile to improve your financial prospects in life.
Also what about getting a car with a loan, but you end up selling the car without paying off the loan.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by 454697819

recoverable, i.e car or bike where providing it is suitably insured and you haven't stretched the payments to the extremes, if you need to you can dispose of these assets on borrowed money and pay off the debt, typically within reason i.e a coupla hundred pounds or so.

Hardly, imagine a new car, 10k finance which is worth 8k the second you sign the dotted line.