What's the worst financial decision you've ever made?

Winter91 said:

I heard that if you got good support (place to stay) you should take out a private loan after a few years to replace your student loans and than declare bankruptcy so they can't come after you for those loans ..

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richiecotite said:

fixed for you bro.

My experience has taught me that for some, a degree (and the effort/money/time in obtaining one) is simply not worth it. But having a degree certainly won't put you behind (unless you're one of the ones I mentioned in the previous sentence), and more often gives one more options.

In my old age (34) I've come full circle from believing you could do anything with a college degree(18-24) to thinking degrees are worthless (25-33) to thinking that a degree is probably a good thing for most people to have. The biggest issue now is the cost. Once upon a time it wasn't as much as opportunity cost compared to a getting a degree now.

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BeezyGotSole said:

Winter91 said:

I heard that if you got good support (place to stay) you should take out a private loan after a few years to replace your student loans and than declare bankruptcy so they can't come after you for those loans ..

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You can't bankrupt student loans, public or private .

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SuperAntigen said:

BeezyGotSole said:

Winter91 said:

I heard that if you got good support (place to stay) you should take out a private loan after a few years to replace your student loans and than declare bankruptcy so they can't come after you for those loans ..

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You can't bankrupt student loans, public or private .

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I think what Winter is saying is that student loan debtors can circumvent their loan obligations by playing switch-a-roo. Essentially, the logic/plan is to secure a private, personal, loan (bank/credit, etc), use that private loan to pay off your student loans, then declare bankruptcy to absolve yourself of the new debt stemming from the private loan.

I think it's possible to do something like this, but I don't think it's practical at all. Declaring bankruptcy, which stays on your record for 7 years, will probably set you back financially in worst ways than SL debt. "Good support" would be the least of your worries. Also, employing this strategy opens you up to criminal charges of fraud. After careful scrutiny of your financial records, any attorney and/or bankruptcy judge worth his/her salt would see the plan for what it is and likely throw the book at you.

I think what it boils down to is to just be smart about money, which in of itself, I suppose, can be argued as a class privilege. The latter point notwithstanding, being smart about your money--seeing a college education, in practical terms, as an expensive transaction--can help folks lessen or outright avoid SL debt.




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