If it makes you feel any better, my debt is about 4 times that size. I know it is hard, but just keep on going. Debt may fee like it won’t go away, but you still have a great life.

Suicide sounds better and better.

Suicide, if you really think about it, is not the easy way out  think of all the pain it will cause.

Far better to knuckle down and get out of it through hard work and determination, it will make you a bigger, better, stronger person.

Second, the solutions are to either: leave the country (difficult to do if you have no money) and/or to get involved in activism. We need to get together and start supporting each other and start protesting. The govt & Wall St want us to blame ourselves, to attack each other for being “stupid” enough to have taken out the loans. Don’t fall for it. We went to college because we aren’t stupid. We admitted we were poor and needed help by applying for financial aid. We were told the “loans” were a part of our financial aid package. That was a lie. The loans were a form of indentured servitude.

People, let’s get together and start protesting this thing. Find others who are like-minded and organize protests in your town or city.  Americans need to be educated as to what is going on.

Check out http://www.StudentLoanJustice.org and AllEducationMatters.Blogspot.com
Instead of committing suicide (i.e., giving up) get together w/others who are in pain and get organized. We can fight this but we need to start supporting each other!

Life is getting unbearable each and everyday..I’m running out of options..Any suggetions

I went to a school that supposes to have a 80 percent job placement, was that
ever a lie. They sell you the moon and then in my last quarter my department
head comes to my class and suggests addition school by entering into a master
program so it postpones the student loans. HA! Out of my entire graduation
class I know of 2 who work in my field fulltime. My school in now counting any
job you get as a “in the field job.” I am have to file for
unemployment deferment. And if I cant find anything by then “several
months” maybe I will just head down to the capital building and light myself
on fire,
following the tunisia mans lead.

I went to a school that supposes to have a 80 percent job placement, was that
ever a lie. They sell you the moon and then in my last quarter my department
head comes to my class and suggests addition school by entering into a master
program so it postpones the student loans. HA! Out of my entire graduation
class I know of 2 who work in my field fulltime. My school in now counting any
job you get as a “in the field job.” I am have to file for
unemployment deferment. And if I cant find anything by then “several
months” maybe I will just head down to the capital building and light myself
on fire,
following the tunisia mans lead.

The government did not keep up there end of the bargain did they, how come that is ok?

After all it is the government who pushes this secondary education crap but then when the unemployment is almost 10% and can’t get a job because there are none and they are all over seas the person is STILL Expected to pay there loans.

Jeeze how does that work exactly??? Does that seem fair?

This is why I have no respect for debt in this country NO RESPECT–NO MORE do i feel the shame that everyone tries to make someone feel when they can’t afford to pay of there debt. Does the government feel any shame for screwing up the financial situation in this country????? There is NO accountability anymore. After what has happened with wall street the bank bailouts and everything else.

The American people didn’t get any bailouts in fact I find these loans to be a form of slavery.

I am disgusted with all of it and the shame everyone puts on you when you can’t pay your debt but yet its ok to give millions to car companies and banks.

Why can’t we sue the government for not providing jobs to the American people?

After all isn’t that what a goverment is suppose to do, provide health care, jobs, and security. Well I am waiting for the answer but no one wants to talk about that part of the agreement. Its taboo, really its taboo not for me it isn’t I am not going to pretend this hypocritical bs doesn’t go on!

The American people are expected to keep there end of the agreement up by taking all there money and paying of what should be illegal repayment terms. WITH OR WITHOUT JOBS ITS DOESN’T MATTER, EVEN FINANCIAL HARDSHIP THEY WILL ONLY DO FOR SO LONG ITS LIES!!!!!

I am disgusted with the whole process and have no respect for these institutions anymore!!!!

Its time everyone got a dose of reality and lost all to it then maybe people will get back to being smart instead of stupid sheep.
!!!

Why can’t we sue the government for not providing jobs to the American people?

After all isn’t that what a goverment is suppose to do, provide health care, jobs, and security. Well I am waiting for the answer but no one wants to talk about that part of the agreement. Its taboo, really its taboo not for me it isn’t I am not going to pretend this hypocritical bs doesn’t go on!

The American people are expected to keep there end of the agreement up by taking all there money and paying of what should be illegal repayment terms. WITH OR WITHOUT JOBS ITS DOESN’T MATTER, EVEN FINANCIAL HARDSHIP THEY WILL ONLY DO FOR SO LONG ITS LIES!!!!!

I am disgusted with the whole process and have no respect for these institutions anymore!!!!

Its time everyone got a dose of reality and lost all to it then maybe people will get back to being smart instead of stupid sheep.
!!!

Well people just so happen to be emotional creatures, we aren’t robots (Al Gore excluded). I really feel for John, he was probably suckered into one of these for-profit schools as I was. Biggest mistake of my life. Problem is, I don’t even feel obligated to pay my loan back- the DoE ought to have done its job in disqualifying this sham institution. Or maybe I was too stupid to have realized that sooner.

Only Volunteers with Perkins loans are eligible for a partial cancellation benefit. Fifteen percent of your Perkins loans can be cancelled upon the completion of each 365 days of service during your first two years of service, and 20 percent can be cancelled upon completion of each of the third and fourth years. Therefore, four full years of service would equal a 70 percent cancellation of your existing loan.

I have to say that some of the encouragement to keep on living, while well-intentioned, shows a complete lack of understanding of the psychological torment and emotional hell these individuals are in.

Also, some of the suggestions on remedying the debt shows a complete lack of understanding of the immoral and predatory lending practices of agencies such as Sallie Mae.

I would suggest you read “The Student Loan Scam” by Alan Collinge or check out studentloanjustice.org before offering advice on an issue which is extremely complicated.

The fact that this conversation of suicide is increasingly brought up in a variety of forums as a way to get out of student debt should be a huge alarm that something is drastically wrong with our whole educational system.

It is a very sad situation that education costs so much in this country, and schools keep selling their programs as a way to get ahead in life when the whole economy has changed and there are fewer, less high paying jobs available.

We are moving into a new era beyond the technological age and the old institutions and old wisdom on how to make a meaningful, financially stable life no longer apply in the same way.

While we took on student loans, perhaps unwisely, the system is set up to make a lot of money on defaulted loans and lenders have no desire to make reasonable payment plans.

I hope with pending legislation and the ground swell of protest regarding the current student loan situation, that there will be reasonable remedies soon.

However, that help may come to late for many, me included. While I have been in training for 8 years, the interest on my loans, especially private loans, has escalted the balance to nearly 100,000 greater than my original loan. At this rate I will never get out of debt.

I understand the depression, self-loathing, regret, sense of betrayal, and hopelessness.

And while psychotherapy, medication, and social support, as well as good financial advice, can go a long way, it is not inconceivable that some individuals may decide that suicide is their final choice.

While I am willing to deal with the fallout should I ever default (revoked license, denial of being on insurance panels, garnished wages, getting fired, constant harrassment, and living in near total poverty despite 5 degrees and a fellowship behind me)- I am not willing to let my sister and brother be destroyed because of the loan they co-signed for.

The horror stories of Sallie Mae’s tactics are chilling. You might just as well have stolen drug money from the Mafia, becuase they are going to take you out one way or another…and it won’t be quick and painless…

So, in some cases for certain individuals, the choice may come down to choosing death over seeing the lives of co-signers destroyed.

In my case, if it came to the ultimate choice, I would choose death for the sake of my brother and sister (as I have no children that simplifies the choice).

I would do it willingly, up-front, let everyone know my intentions, write love letter to those I care about, put my affairs in order, have cremation plans paid for, procure the means, and choose the day. And hopefully I would have a courageous friend their to share my final moments.

Some people are repulsed by the thought of suicide, and assume that only mentally unstable individuals would choose it.

However, certain individuals may rationally plan their death as a way to have control over a situation that they view as hopeless, and a way to choose the manner and timing of their death, which they view as a solution that is within their right.

While I am not advocating suicide for anyone over crushing student debt, I am also saying we need to listen and respect their feelings, and their choice if it comes down to that.

Also, when people are given support, along with information on how to take their life painlessly and with certitude, it often empowers them to keep living because they know that if life ever got that unbearable, that they know what to do.

I imagine that there are many who may be incensed at my reply. I am not advocating suicide, but I am saying we should listen with compassion and honor the deep pain these people are experiencing.

Americans as a whole, abhor the notion of death…but there are certainly some things that are worse than death…and that is being alive in a hopeless situation (phsyical or psychological).

Instead of offering platitudes and advice, perhaps we need to investigate what is wrong with our society that those who seek to better their lives through education can be condemned to a life-time of hell in a debtor’s prison.

If Donald Trump, auto companies, mismanaged financial companies, gamblers, shopaholics and third world companies, can all have debt wiped out or significantly reduced when they make mistakes or times go bad (or they get bailed out by the government)…why should those who owe unpayable student loans (for whatever reason) be forced into poverty and disgrace to the point that suicide seems the only viable option???

Something is very wrong with this picture…

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/23/pf/college/student_loan_fugitives/index.htm?postversion=2008102407

I also took out a pile of student loan money I couldn’t afford – but I didn’t find out I couldn’t afford it until after I graduated of course. I graduated in engineering during the recession of the early 90s. Even experienced engineers couldn’t find work. Contrary to popular belief, just because you have degree in engineering, doesn’t mean you will have a job waiting for you upon graduation or that you will immediately be pulling in the big bucks. About half of my friends who graduated with me are not engineers now because they couldn’t find work upon graduating.

Anyway, after a year of searching for work, I went back to grad school to avoid paying the loans and thought that the advanced degree would make me more marketable. That was a big mistake. Advanced degrees don’t make you more marketable … experience does. And a $900 minimum monthly payment awaited me in my future to pay off my $75k student loan balance.

By the time I left grad school, I was very depressed. The student loan debt felt like a huge weight around my neck. I was very stressed over money – had panic attacks, cried a lot. Never thought about suicide though … don’t know why; it just never crossed my mind. “How the hell will I repay all this debt PLUS interest?” constantly raced through my mind. I also had $8k in credit card debt because the loans didn’t pay all my expenses. And I worked 35 hours or more during the entire time I went to school. Still it wasn’t enough.

I felt lied to, cheated and very angry – so many people advised me to goto school and borrow for it. They said that my education would provide opportunities to me. That I would easily pay my loans off because I was going to be an engineer. That I would be free to pursue any direction I wanted, but ironically it all led to my enslavement. I was mostly angry with myself for being so naive and a dumbass for believing all this garbage. I signed for my first student loan at age 17 – what does a 17 year old know about the world of finance … or about how the world works? Still, I haven’t forgiven myself.

So, when I left grad school, I started a little business for less than $100. I used it as a vehicle to “create” experience for myself. I had no intention of sustaining it – I just used it to put on my resume. It worked. However, half of my take home salary went to student loan payments.

I started job hopping in order to increase my salary. I found I could make more money going from job to job than staying at the same place since each new job bumped me up in pay. Work has never been a labor of love, but a means to re-pay my “masters” … the holders of my student loans. I’ve been a money whore – something I never wanted to be.

Unfortunately, I had a bout with life threatening illness in the middle of repaying my loans. But I worked during treatment – I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have those loans.

That was several years ago now, and I just recently sent in my final student loan payment – ironically on the 20th anniversary of when I signed my first promissory note. I still can’t believe it. It feels like I’ve been in prison for 20 years. The shackles have been removed, the cage door opened, and I’m looking around hesitantly … not believing I can really leave. Freedom – finally, I feel that my life can begin.

and then they dont allow a disharge through bankruptcy, as if they dont control the rules? bailout the rich, probe the middle/lower class.

but seriously, can you move to another country to escape being a modern day indentured servant?

What an excellent comment and sage advice.

Steve

If you CAN’T get into Peace Core, or it doesnt work out, and counseling doesnt work out either, then pack up, and move you and your kid to somewhere where the cost of living is cheaper. Dallas, Texas is one place, so is Phoenix, so is Georgia, so is Orlando and Tampa, Florida (not Miami- its expensive), and so are a lot of islands in the Caribbean (they speak english there too, just in case). I’m writing to you from there right now. Any of those places have a lower cost of living but PAY THE SAME SALARIES as big cities like NY or LA or Washington, and have constant sunshine. And that makes a lot of difference in mood (people who live in constant sunshine are usually more cheerful than people who live in cold climates).

Do ALL those things FIRST. If NONE of them still dont work, if the lower cost of living, the counseling, the Peace Core thing, DON’T work…….. THEN, THEN, you can go with suicide- but do that ONLY IF those other things fail first!

Oh, but also, consider this:
Ask yourself how old your son is. If you’re 47, then I’m betting he’s got to be pretty young. If you turn to drinking you become an alcoholic, if you turn to drugs you become a junkie, if you turn to stealing you become a crook, But those titles can be mended, or defended, maybe even justified, in your son’s eyes. But if you kill yourself, you become a quitter. If you kill, yourself, you become a loser- and that is a title, that can never be mended, or defended, in your son’s eyes, because you wont be around anymore, to justify that title to him, and no letter you leave behind can do it for you.

I know this sounds like a corny Hallmark card, and maybe you’ve heard it before, but somebody once told me that while you think you are just ONE PERSON in the WHOLE WORLD, you are THE WHOLE WORLD, to just ONE PERSON.
Who would that one person be?

Good luck soldier-

I’ve be criticized for years in my opinion that student loans can’t be assumed to be “good debt.” In fact nearly 75% of students that have student loans never complete their degree and have nothing to show for the debt.

The more you can speak about about your opinion and what you’ve learned the more people might see the light. Your voice is much more valuable than your death.

Steve

I received a 1440 on my GREs, and later, a 720 on my GMATs. If I knew the truth about the field I was entering, I would have just gone for an MBA, which notably yields a higher salary. But that is one of the big problems we are all faced with. Do we go after our aspirations, or do we enter an already over-saturated field that makes bank? There is no choice anymore.

I made the mistake of going from a “SUNY” (Public-State) Undergrad program into a top tier private Grad school in business(NYU). I have worked at least part-time through all of my schooling, but it was still not enough to supplement my living expenses and education costs.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply to the worries of people such as myself. Venting about the situation helps, as well as knowing that people are out there to listen, but it still doesn’t help the problem. Action needs to be taken from a governmental standpoint.

Do you think that schools need to provide better awareness to students before they take out loans? If so, what do you think they should do to help make people more aware before signing for loans?

Steve

Have you looked into lowering your student loan payment using the Income Based Repayment Program (IBR)?

Steve

At least until then it’ll probably be wage garnishments or something for the rest of my life (of which I can’t even seem to find any real factual information out there on what they take, it’s all scaremonger stuff). Like Meghan, I’ve tried to look at my supposed “options” but they all seem pretty hopeless, depressing, or downright impossible.

Second, call an attorney as Steve mentioned and perhaps an accountant. Clearly, personal finance isn’t your thing and perhaps paying a little bit of money to some ethical professionals isn’t a bad move for you. The attorney may be able to negotiate a better repayment plan.

I am unsure where you work but if you aren’t already consider finding a legal or nursing job in a facility that would be eligible for the public service loan forgiveness program: http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml

Basically you need 120 payments and 5 years with the loan serviced by the Dept of Education, so if you can end up managing two payment a months for five years you will be done. Relatedly, considering the amount of your debt you may eligible for an ICR that the government would pick up the interest for the first three years you are in repayment.

Another work related option is to find employment that offers loan forgiveness such as Americorps, Peace Corps, and Vista. Also, if you are prior service military you are still eligible to enlist, which would reduce your student loans significantly with their forgiveness program.

While Steve cautioned against going back to school the medical field is very lucrative. Do some research first but you might find that the return on becoming an LPN or RN is quick and with the Obama credit, etc. it might a good option for you.

I’m unsure how much you are working but consider a part time job.

Finally, consider moving. If you move to an area that has a lower cost of living then where you are presently you can sock some money away for the loan. Also, if you move to an area that really needs people in either the field you have training or experience you may be able to get a signing bonus. I know that many of the signing bonuses are gone for nurses but remain with some.

I’m not sure I can cobble together words properly to express to you how I feel about your situation. It is easy for me and others to say suicide is not an options. I guess technically it always is. But that doesn’t mean it is the logical option to money troubles.

I would guess that as a result of the traumas and illness you have faced and dealt with that you may well experience financial misfortune in your life. But that money misery is not the problem, it is the symptom created by the other problems in your life.

For example, the pain of deep debt from gambling is not the result of the debt, it is the result of the gambling. Treat the gambling and then treat the debt and a more permanent cure can be achieved. Treat the debt alone and well the problem will return.

Can you tell me more about your loans? Are the government backed loans? Have you been declared disabled? How long ago were these loans?

Steve