Cactus Game Design Message Boards

...My wife and I just paid off our last student loan in April!  Took about 10 years and $90k of payments (principal + interest) to get it done.  Just have a mortgage now to contend with   

There were times when I never thought we'd be free of that debt.  But we've always used most of our free cash flow each month to make extra principal payments on debt instead of spending.  And every time we paid a loan off, we added that loan payment to the next smallest one.  Over time, the "Debt Snowball" effect actually did happen.

For those of you struggling with debt, there is hope.

...Now to convince my wife that my monthly allocation for Redemption funds needs to be increased   

* And to anyone considering going to college - I strongly encourage you to do some research before blindly signing any papers that put you in debt.  Research which fields need a college degree and which ones don't, research which fields have strong demand and which ones are oversaturated, research what it would cost (principal + interest) for any debt, research the opportunity cost to not only pay for 4 years of college but also forgo 4 working years of your life (about 10% of an average person's working life), research what trade school/vocational school has to offer, and finally, research what the Bible has to say about debt.

Sounds like it's time to celebrate with a family vacation, maybe sometime in August...I hear Texas is nice that time of year... 

Congrats man, that's a great feeling! 

Congratulations. 

Paying on the principal is always a great idea.  I was able to pay off my truck 18 months early. 

Also, staying out of credit card debt is a good idea.  When I got married 19 years ago, we got into debt on our credit cards.  It took us several years to pay them off.  We have not been into credit card debt for over 10 plus years.

VJ

Congrats, that's no small thing at all! Sounds like you guys used the Dave Ramsey plan?

A modified version of his plan. 

College is very profitable for those putting you into debt

College CAN be "very profitable".  Just like not going to college CAN be "very profitable".  But it's not guaranteed to the point where you can say it IS very profitable.  In fact, by definition, it is the opposite of profitable from the outset, as you pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to college - AND you miss out on 4 years of full-time employment.  That's a massive setback at the beginning of your working life that cannot be understated.

And it's not guaranteed that a degree will get you a significantly higher paying job than not going to college.  And it does need to be significantly higher to make up for the gap, which is larger when accounting for interest compounding on debt, as well as lost growth in retirement plans such as a 401(k) or Roth IRA.

I'm not arguing that no one should go to college.  I am arguing that high school students should do more research and be more prudent about the decision to go to college or not.  I also have a problem with the "stigma" that is often slapped on people who don't go to college, as if they've somehow made the worst decision of their life and they need to be ashamed for it.