predatory government loan
privatized … fiscally responsible
Man, I know things are über fucked in the US, but WTF is this nonsense?
It’s the truth. I went from a nearly 8% interest government loan that was presented to me as a normal thing to do and something that I would be able to afford with a good job to a 3% private loan. I should have done it years earlier, but didn’t really know any better until the government took much more money than the loan was worth. The system is fucked.
People agree to take out loans in order to boost their education level and income later. However, these aren’t like a normal loan, where there is a physical asset securing the loan, so to make them work they cannot be discharged via bankruptcy. Some people find this idea predatory. However, it’s a core part of what makes them work at all. Otherwise, one could load up on the student loans, get their degree, declare bankruptcy, then go out into the job market with the boosted income and not pay back what they borrowed.
During periods of very low interest, it can also be fiscally responsible to replace the loans with fixed-rate lower interest ones. During covid, this was pretty popular since interest rates were rock bottom.
