5.5 year after graduating, student loans are paid off!

[JM Aggie08]

Honestly, they could have been paid off sooner, but in that amount of time I've purchased/paid off a vehicle as well as purchased our home (needed to get that sweet, sweet 20% down). The ~$50k weight on my shoulders upon graduating is no more

/happy dance.

 

[bfun_x1]

Congrats! When I paid mine off it felt like I was putting in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and then putting the puzzle away forever.

 

[PJFrylar]

Congrats! I never took out student loans. I paid for a tech school out of pocket, got a full time job, stabilized financially, and went back to school to finish a Bachelor's out of pocket. Considering that I'm 30, still renting, and just about to hit entry level as an engineer (with 11 years of experience as a tech) .. it probably wasn't the best path. It was my path though, and I never owed anyone a dime. I think it was the concept of owing someone else a boat load of money that led to me going back to school rather than buying a house a few years ago. That will go right down the toilet when I do actually buy my first house though ;P.

 

[rh71]

Anyone else's parents pay for their college? We plan to pay it forward with our kids, as much as we can. Of course tuition is insane these days compared to 20 years ago.. plus no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

While a good life lesson to some, I don't believe in having my kids struggle out of school when we can help them. What's 4 more years after the first 18? My parents helped me get off to a great start financially because of no debt. It didn't spoil me like many would fear. And I had been working P/T jobs since I was 14 so it's not like I was a slacker.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Congrats! I got lucky in that my summer job was enough to pay for my college, books, and other expenses. I also had a scholarship and bursaries so that helped a lot too. So when I graduated I actually had extra money in the bank. Stayed at home for a few years so I could save for a house, then moved out. I don't see the sense of rushing out the nest if you arn't financially prepared for it. As much as I wanted to be on my own I also wanted to get a good start.

 

[TheVrolok]

Congrats! I am intensely jealous.

 

[allisolm]

Anyone else's parents pay for their college?

My parents and a scholarship paid for everything except spending money and I worked in the dorm cafeteria during the year and had a summer job and those took care of the rest. When it was our children's time, they both had acedemic scholarships that paid most of it and we paid for the rest. They both graduated with masters and no debt for anyone. Both children are extremely productive citizens and, more important, good people so I don't think it harmed them any not to have to work or go into debt for a college education.

 

[IronWing]

Congratulations Aggie! I had debt from grad school, not from undergrad but school was a lot cheaper back then. I remember that feeling of having it paid off. Yippee!

 

[allisolm]

And congrats to you JM Aggie08! Any debt retired leaves a good feeling and is a praiseworthy accomplishment.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Anyone else's parents pay for their college? We plan to pay it forward with our kids, as much as we can. Of course tuition is insane these days compared to 20 years ago.. plus no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

While a good life lesson to some, I don't believe in having my kids struggle out of school when we can help them. What's 4 more years after the first 18? My parents helped me get off to a great start financially because of no debt. It didn't spoil me like many would fear. And I had been working P/T jobs since I was 14 so it's not like I was a slacker.

Meh, my parents paid for me. I also went to community college for the first 2 years and didn't go to an expensive out-of-state or private school. Just make sure you (and your kids) understand that you were spoiled as fuck (like me) - especially if you didn't have to work during your time in college for rent or food money.

And yes, I'm already socking away 529 money for my future college kids.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Sounds a lot like my situation. I didn't have any school debt as I didn't go to school. My wife did and we paid her loan off last year. We also paid off her car last year. And we just refinanced our house this month to a 15 year loan @ 3.625% with no pmi. I know it was hard work for us and a great sense of accomplishment. Congrats.

 

[Exterous]

Thats awesome - congratulations! I'm sure it's quite the feeling of accomplishment to be completely done. Mine are paid off but, thanks to grad school, we've got about 4 years left on my wife's. It helped that we both did 2 years at a cheaper school before transferring to ones more prominent (and expensive) in our chosen fields

Anyone else's parents pay for their college? We plan to pay it forward with our kids, as much as we can. Of course tuition is insane these days compared to 20 years ago.. plus no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

One thing I've heard that I think sounds interesting is parents who only pay for part of college until 1-2 years after their kid graduates. After 1-2 years the parents pay off the remaining debt as a surprise. Potentially gives the kids more of a sense of value\responsibility for education during school, gets them used to paying a recurring bill and now that income they were sending to student loans can be directed towards retirement savings. It obviously costs the parents more but "its a small price to pay" for when viewed against the potential benefits - especially getting compound interest working for them early when its significantly more beneficial

 

[rh71]

One thing I've heard that I think sounds interesting is parents who only pay for part of college until 1-2 years after their kid graduates. After 1-2 years the parents pay off the remaining debt as a surprise. Potentially gives the kids more of a sense of value\responsibility for education during school, gets them used to paying a recurring bill and now that income they were sending to student loans can be directed towards retirement savings. It obviously costs the parents more but "its a small price to pay" for when viewed against the potential benefits - especially getting compound interest working for them early when its significantly more beneficial

Agree about parents' money potentially building up interest, but ultimately the money/estate is passed onto offspring anyway. In an ideal situation where there's enough to go around that is. Not to sound judgmental, but a lot of adults don't make the right financial decisions and piss it all away, or lead their kids into financial hardship (ie. kicking them out at 18).

 

[Majes]

I graduated with no debt thanks to scholarships, working, and some help from the parents.
My wife graduated 120k in the hole...
We currently have 2 cars paid off, 70k left to go on our house, and about 75k left on her loans.
We're both teachers so I think we're doing okay, but it's going to be challenging when we start having kids of our own.

 

[repoman0]

Congrats! Sounds like we are pretty much the same age. I paid mine down to about 15-20% of the original balance the first few years out of school, then realized I was pissing away all this extra money on 3-4% loans when I should have been saving it. Finally bought my house end of last year but I only had 5% down. Now I pay the minimum which is like $80/month and I'll be done in a few more years.

 

[RLGL]

My daughter wound up owing 86K. She will have them paid off this summer six years after graduating. Congrats to all who don't let them drag out years and years.

 

[woodman1999]

Anyone else's parents pay for their college?

Actually, my grandparents paid for mine. My parents grandparents paid for theirs, and my parents plan to pay for their grandkids, so I get a little bit more time to save up. If my kids decide to have kids, I plan on paying for theirs and making damn sure my kids understand the expectations for their kids kids.

If my kids chose not to have kids, Vegas baby. Vegas.

I have also heard of parents who pay off their kids student loans only if they graduate. An interesting motivational technique, but only if the kid fully understands the consequences of dropping out.

 

[ponyo]

Congrats!

$50k is decent chunk to pay off in 5 years for young graduate. My parents paid for my college and gave me plenty of spending money. I plan to do the same for my daughter. That's the least I can do as a parent.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Anyone else's parents pay for their college? We plan to pay it forward with our kids, as much as we can. Of course tuition is insane these days compared to 20 years ago.. plus no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

While a good life lesson to some, I don't believe in having my kids struggle out of school when we can help them. What's 4 more years after the first 18? My parents helped me get off to a great start financially because of no debt. It didn't spoil me like many would fear. And I had been working P/T jobs since I was 14 so it's not like I was a slacker.

My wife's parents footed her bill, and we expect to do the same for our kids (when we start having them). I know my parents would have, but they were never really in a position to. We wanted for nothing growing up, and in hindsight, that holds more value to me than anything else.

Appreciate the kind words from everyone. I'm usually very hard on myself, but this, this I am proud of.

 

[96Firebird]

Congrats, I also paid mine off last year. ~$45k, and that was just three years of tuition after scholorships and all that. I paid my 2 years of community college out-of-pocket. My parents helped pay my rent while I was responsible for paying for my tuition. They wouldn't get the "Parent Plus" loan either, so I had to get private loans to pay for the balance of my tuition after federal loans. Once I graduated, I was responsible for all of my rent.

I think that is the way to go. Knowing I was spending all this money on my education, I felt an incentive to do well. While having student loan debt wasn't fun, I still managed to contribute to my 401K, pay rent, buy a house and still pay my loan bills. I guess getting a worthwhile degree is essential to being able to pay off debt.

 

[woodman1999]

I think that is the way to go. Knowing I was spending all this money on my education, I felt an incentive to do well. While having student loan debt wasn't fun, I still managed to contribute to my 401K, pay rent, buy a house and still pay my loan bills. I guess getting a worthwhile degree is essential to being able to pay off debt.

Agreed that it's good motivation getting a person to contribute to their own education. I wonder though, do you think this makes kids pursue degrees that they actually want or will make them more financially stable?

 

[local]

My kids can do the same thing I did, get their employer to pay for it.

 

[96Firebird]

Agreed that it's good motivation getting a person to contribute to their own education. I wonder though, do you think this makes kids pursue degrees that they actually want or will make them more financially stable?

I'm not sure... I'd hope it would give pause to those we are pursuing degrees to check on future prospects of that degree. But as we all know, 18 year olds graduating high school don't always have their best interests in mind. I think going to a community college is a better idea. When I graduated high school, I wanted to pursue an engineering degree. Community college solidified that, and I continued to earn a mechanical engineering degree. But I know plenty of people who switched majors, which is a complete waste of money if you're paying a full year's tuition at a private college.

 

[zinfamous]

Nice! That's a shit load of new beer money each month!

 

[Stopsignhank]

Congrats! I remember when I paid off my student loan, but it was a long time ago. Now that you can afford day care it is time to start getting you some kids!!!