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Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by paganel on Thursday January 24, 2019 @06:05AM (#18987627)
Young people still have to pay a huge percentage out of their monthly wage on rent or mortgage. I remember reading that in Norway you can contract a 90+-year mortgage, that's basically putting you and your kids and grand-kids into servitude.
Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by hoaw on Thursday January 24, 2019 @07:11AM (#18987967)
You are probably thinking of Sweden. I have heard it is actually more now, like 200 years (the article says 140 years). Maybe even excluding the mortgage of the co-op. People are essentially renting from the banks, without any means to default. Apparently they have capped it at 105 years now for new mortgages. (People were actually a bit upset).

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/swede...

Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by Thlom on Thursday January 24, 2019 @06:24AM (#18987738)
WTF? Normal mortage is 20-25 years down payment, I've never heard anyone having even a 35 year down payment, let alone 90 years.
Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by michaelt on Thursday January 24, 2019 @07:48AM (#18988159)
In the UK there's such a thing as an "interest-only mortgage" where you don't pay down the principal at all! Which of course means lower monthly payments.

The theory is, if your mortgage interest rate was X% but some other investment like the stock market had much higher returns, a sophisticated investor might want to take the money they would have spent on repaying the principal and instead put it into that better-performing investment, then after 20 years pay off the mortgage principal with said investment.

Post-financial-crisis rules were put in place that mean banks actually have to ensure you're _making_ that higher-performing investment.

Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by ido on Thursday January 24, 2019 @07:12AM (#18987972)
I too remember reading this, but about Stockholm not Norway.
Re:Rural America's “brain drain”: How student debt is emptyi... by farrisbris on Thursday January 24, 2019 @06:41AM (#18987827)
I have never heard of this. I cannot really believe any norwegian bank would grant you anything even close that that.