Predatory is the right word. We were literally still kids, and they asked us to make a huge financial decision that would impact us for the rest of our lives....
I'm childless at the moment, but kids are definitely something I think about paymentwise
Wow, good tips thank you. I guess I'll start paying more into my pension. My pension is currently tied to my workplace, and I've always been wary of paying into it more just in case I can't take it with me if I work elsewhere.
Is that the case? Can I take my company pension with me? Or that just stays in the company and I can't take it with me when I work somewhere else
Congrats yourself - and yeah that interest on the loan was 6% at one point, I genuinely toyed with the idea of just borrowing from a loan shark to get a cheaper rate haha
I hear from some people that it's just a loan that you kind of live with for the rest of your life until they decide to let you go.
Some student loan forgiveness would have been nice, but no politician seems to be floating that idea anymore, so
Yep, I'll be cautious like a hawk on that final payslip
My brother's in a similar boat (almost triple digits), so he's hiding out and waiting for it to blow over. I could have done the same maybe, but it would have been another 12 years and I was just sick of it.
Why did they do this to us? Sell us on the idea that the only way to land a cushy job was to go to uni, when there were barely enough jobs going around when we got out.
I hate this. I look at my parents generation with jealousy, they had no idea how good they had it
Congrats - has it been a real game changer, or do you just buy fancier groceries now or something haha
Hard to say, AI is kind of making the whole purpose of the education I had redundant.
On the other hand, I feel smart enough to call it out on its bullshit, so maybe that's a skill in itself?
I've got high school friends who never went to uni, and are now heads of finance in various minor banks, and they seem to be doing pretty well in comparison.
But Banking has Looney tunes level of value, so I try not to let that drag me down.
Plan 1, I was one of the lucky ones
It took 10 years, three ex's, two countries, and living with my mother for a bit, but I finally paid it all off.
Ask me how I feel. The guy who took my final payment on the phone was happier than I was
Hah. It's more that I was working in a country that was weak against the pound, and that for some reason SLC charges way higher when you're working abroad.
So whatever I was earning, half would go to rent, a quarter would go to the loan (once you factored in the exchange rate), and I'd have that glorious other quarter to myself.
I am doing better than most I would say, but I also have a sewing machine and have learned through time how to patch my clothes, if that answers your question