January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to keep
(This
a photo of me smiling at my desk used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video
on What's Biden Doing with Student Loan Forgiveness?)
A hot topic right now in politics is the Biden Administration and student loan forgiveness. I myself have been keeping up with all headlines regarding this matter because like most of you all I have a student loan balance. While the balance is small compared to most folks, it’s still a balance and where I’m at currently in my debt free journey. In case you were unaware, about two weeks ago a report came out that President Biden asked Michael Cardona, the Secretary of Education to write a memo regarding the legalities of him being able to forgive student loan debt through an executive order and how much can be forgiven.
Biden’s main buzz around his campaign to become
president was that he would forgive $10,000 in student loan debt. However, now
democrats are pressuring him to forgive at least $50K but Biden seems to be
unsure about this citing that he would rather go through Congress, which is
very unlikely to happen. According to this student loan plan, Biden would allow
those with student loans who make under $125K to be eligible for student loan forgiveness.
In case you were unaware, two groups of people have already qualified for
student loan forgiveness.
Individuals with disabilities declared totally
disabled and those who attended for profit schools who have gone out of
business have recently received student loan forgiveness. While there is, no
timeline on when a decision will be made it seems as if something will most likely
happen by September 30, as this is when the moratorium regarding no
payments and interest accrual will end.
If you’re like me and paying off your debt you’re probably
wondering if you should pay your student loans with student loan forgiveness
seemingly being so close to actually happening. My personal views for myself
are that until I hear the news that loans are being forgiven I plan to pay them.
What do you think? Should we hold off on paying or take advantage of no interest?
Check out the video below for more information.
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