Re:Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market
by was_boring on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @01:33PM
(#15854277)
question: why would you pay it off early? money (generally) gets cheaper over time and if interest is lower then inflation there is no reason to pay it off early as the debt becomes cheaper every year.
Re:Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market
by Veratyr on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @03:14PM
(#15855364)
I no longer live in Australia and as long as you have this debt, you're required to file an Australian tax return. I paid it off to get rid of that hassle.
Also it used to be that voluntary payments got you a discount.
Re:Student Loan Debt Is Now as Big as the U.S. Junk Bond Market
by stephen_g on Wednesday December 06, 2017 @12:21AM
(#15858743)
Most people don't - they just pay the minimum required out of their pay every year once they've reached the threshold.
But getting rid of it does make it easier to borrow more money for a house, etc.
In Australia we have a system somewhere between this and a loan.
You go to (heavily subsidized) university, tuition is paid for by the government with an automatic interest free loan.
Once you earn above a particular (somewhat generous) threshold, your employer automatically starts taking a percentage of your income (depends on income) and pays it towards the loan.
There's no interest but the loan amount is indexed against inflation.
I graduated from one of the country's top universities with $24k AUD (~$18k USD) debt to the government and paid it all off early voluntarily. It used to be that voluntary payments got you a 5% bonus but that's gone now.