Let's you and I be clear: I agree with you that 2.8k/mo is not a dealbreaking debt load for a couple with a joint income of 200k. I'm just suggesting that, on the story's own terms, it clearly could be: their marriage could have easily broken up because that (large) amount of debt was incompatible with their life plan.
Breaking up is not going to reduce their debt.
No, but if both of them want kids, it will allow them to find a partner that isn't saddled with $1600/mo in college loans. As a partnership, breaking up potentially cuts their debt load in half.
Re:The Great College Hoax
by nostrademons on Friday February 06, 2009 @12:30AM
(#469407)
It sounded like they'd already had kids together, in which case breaking up opens up a whole other can of worms...
I still think it's ridiculous. I'm not going to go into a point by point rundown because it would take a lot of space and fork the argument several times, but basically I feel that if you ran these numbers by most Americans they would first laugh out loud, then get a little angry.
You seem to think access to top schools and a luxurious lifestyle are prerequisites for a marriage. Empirically, this is false.
That's looking at this situation WITH children. Once you take the children out, as was true with the original case, it gets even more ridiculous. They no longer have such a case for a mortgage and even if they do keep it, they can put away about 1500 a month by not feeding and babysitting a kid.