midjd
Administrator
Your Money Admin
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 14:09:23 GMT -5
Posts: 17,719
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Post by midjd on Jun 28, 2011 13:22:39 GMT -5
It's a real quandary... and I think a big part of it is how much of your starting salary is eaten up by loan payments, and how long it takes you to reach a salary where these payments are manageable.
I think of Phil and his compounding lessons - how money invested or contributed to retirement at a young age grows so much more than the same contributions a few years later. If you spend your entire twenties paying off your SLs and have little left over to invest, even if you end up with a high salary, you'll need to factor in the lost gains (assuming you would have been contributing but for your SL payments).
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zibazinski
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 24, 2010 16:12:50 GMT -5
Posts: 47,869 
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 28, 2011 13:29:48 GMT -5
Look, I have a friend whose daughter wanted to be a teacher. A low paying job. Tuition and books were free thanks to Bright Futures. She lived at home and had commuting expenses. Got the same starting salary as anyone else who ran up debt for either themselves or their parents. She wanted to be a teacher but was smart enough to not go into debt for a low paying field. That is one smart girl and if she ever feels she can't stand teaching any longer, she isn't stuck with thousands of dollars of loans that she can never get out from under.
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