60 Minutes tonight

mickeyrat said:

found one..

https://apnews.com/article/business-congress-student-loans-education-cecef88ebeebe2f524022f603f22a83b

Congress Student loans Education

Troubled student loan forgiveness program gets an overhaul

By COLLIN BINKLEY

Yesterday

The Biden administration is temporarily relaxing the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements — a change that could offer debt relief to thousands of teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants.

The Education Department said Wednesday it will drop some of the toughest requirements around Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that was launched in 2007 to steer more college graduates into public service but, since then, has helped just 5,500 borrowers get their loans erased.

Congress created the program as a reward for college students who go into public service. As long as they made 10 years of payments on their federal student loans, the program promised to erase the remainder.

But more than 90% of applicants have been rejected. After making a decade of payments, many borrowers have found that they have the wrong type of federal loan or repayment plan to be eligible for the program. Thousands have ended up stuck with debt they thought would be cleared.

Under the temporary changes, those borrowers will now be eligible to get their loans erased.

Through October 2022, borrowers who have worked 10 years in a qualifying job will be eligible for loan relief no matter what kind of federal loan or repayment plan they have. Past loan payments that were previously ineligible will now count, moving some borrowers closer to the finish line.

The change will immediately make 22,000 borrowers eligible to get loans canceled, and another 27,000 could become eligible if they get previous payments certified, according to the department. In total, more than 550,000 borrowers will be moved closer to forgiveness, the agency said.

“Borrowers who devote a decade of their lives to public service should be able to rely on the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “The system has not delivered on that promise to date, but that is about to change for many borrowers.”

It’s a particular boon for borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans, from a defunct loan program that issued federally backed loans through banks. Loans in that program, which ended in 2010, were previously ineligible but can now be cancelled through the updated rules.

Among other changes, the department will allow military members to count time on active duty toward the 10 years, even if they put a pause on making their payments during that time.

And starting next year, the department will automatically count payments by federal workers and military members toward the required 10 years. Under existing rules, applicants have to apply to get their payments certified.

The changes are seen as a short-term fix while the agency considers permanent improvements through a federal rulemaking process. The department started holding hearings this week as part of a process that could bring sweeping change to federal student aid programs, including the public service benefit.

Advocacy groups praised the temporary changes. Aaron Ament, president of the legal group Student Defense, which has represented students in lawsuits over the program, called it a “huge step in the right direction.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the change is welcome.

“Today we breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Kafkaesque system that dashed the dreams of far too many finally starts to be dismantled,” she said.

The program has been a source of bipartisan scorn — Democrats and Republicans have agreed that the program is flawed and needs to be updated. But Republicans said the Education Department is overstepping its authority by moving to alter a program that Congress created.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the top Republican on the House education committee, said President Joe Biden's administration is “circumventing Congress through executive action.”

“We agree this program is in desperate need of reform; however, such reforms require Congressional action, and we encourage you to work with us to fix the federal loan and repayment program,” Foxx said in a letter to Cardona.

It marks the latest of several attempts to fix the program. In 2018, Congress set aside $700 million to temporarily expand the benefit to all types of loans and payment programs, but after a year, most applications were still being denied.

A report from the Government Accountability Office found that President Donald Trump's administration had created a “confusing and inefficient” process that often disqualified borrowers for rules they were never told about.

In June, a report from the Education Department drew attention to the program’s shortcomings saying it “has spawned much confusion and frustration” while forgiving loans for just 5,500 borrowers.

Definitely a step in the right direction.  Imagine making payments for 8 years thinking you are doing the right thing, and consolidating to more easily manage the loan and then poof all your progress was wiped out.

HughFreakingDillon said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

so it was announced that loan forgiveness is happening for a ton of people and a revamp of the program is in the works

I hope this is true.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

static111 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

2 stories in tonights episode and its fairly well infuriating, so far......

I wasn't surprised at the FB piece.  I also don't think it's much of a whistleblower story.  The girl sounds like she has an axe to grind though.

this woman has an axe to grind? what gives that impression?

Some of the things she said, I don't recall exactly, but a few things she came off as wanting to stick it to FB.  

That is what I got from it.

I was also not the slightest surprised by the story.  It's been known for a while now that this is what they have been doing.

What was the other story that angered you?  The student loan one?  That blew me away and none of it was new either.  The part of that one that got me though was when the gal explained that her minimum payment was a cent under to qualify as a payment.  That one my jaw dropped.

Student loans are a complete scam.  Programmed all through school that the only way to get a future is to get an education. For those of us with less advantages, we get stuck borrowing at high compounding interest rates our whole lives. Unless we get lucky and get a decent job, then we pay those loans off for years before we actually get to begin building any sort of wealth.  There is a better way out there for sure.

My kids will be paying off mine.

luckily they don't transfer down the line...they may not receive any inheritance but they won't have to pay for yours at least.

That must be a recent change. My wife and I have always filed separately so that my debt doesn't impact her credit and also so that her salary isn't included in the calculations for my payment plan. I wonder if we can file jointly now with neither of us being penalized for the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life (i.e., higher ed).

my GF has been paying for years and still owes 6 figures

why wouldn't people open a low interest line of credit so they can pay it off decades earlier?

You'd have to ask her why it is structured and why she has tried to get it consolidated and can't.  She has done many a thing and hit a wall each time.

that's insanity. 

HughFreakingDillon said:

that's insanity. 

Hence so many of us here that came from lower income families being pissed about the situation we are in.

static111 said:

dankind said:

tempo_n_groove said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

so it was announced that loan forgiveness is happening for a ton of people and a revamp of the program is in the works

I hope this is true.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

static111 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

2 stories in tonights episode and its fairly well infuriating, so far......

I wasn't surprised at the FB piece.  I also don't think it's much of a whistleblower story.  The girl sounds like she has an axe to grind though.

this woman has an axe to grind? what gives that impression?

Some of the things she said, I don't recall exactly, but a few things she came off as wanting to stick it to FB.  

That is what I got from it.

I was also not the slightest surprised by the story.  It's been known for a while now that this is what they have been doing.

What was the other story that angered you?  The student loan one?  That blew me away and none of it was new either.  The part of that one that got me though was when the gal explained that her minimum payment was a cent under to qualify as a payment.  That one my jaw dropped.

Student loans are a complete scam.  Programmed all through school that the only way to get a future is to get an education. For those of us with less advantages, we get stuck borrowing at high compounding interest rates our whole lives. Unless we get lucky and get a decent job, then we pay those loans off for years before we actually get to begin building any sort of wealth.  There is a better way out there for sure.

My kids will be paying off mine.

luckily they don't transfer down the line...they may not receive any inheritance but they won't have to pay for yours at least.

That must be a recent change. My wife and I have always filed separately so that my debt doesn't impact her credit and also so that her salary isn't included in the calculations for my payment plan. I wonder if we can file jointly now with neither of us being penalized for the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life (i.e., higher ed).

my GF has been paying for years and still owes 6 figures

why wouldn't people open a low interest line of credit so they can pay it off decades earlier?

You'd have to ask her why it is structured and why she has tried to get it consolidated and can't.  She has done many a thing and hit a wall each time.

The principals are huge because the cost of higher education in the US is through the roof. Interest rates don't get much lower than they do on student loans. But with principals at six figures, those interest payments alone can be similar to a mortgage payment. And the balances just get bigger every year for a lot of us. Mine is well more than double what I originally borrowed at this point.

Mine was double what I actually borrowed.  For a couple years I put everything extra towards it.  Been making decent payments since the cares act lowered rates to zero.  I am now just below what I originally borrowed, nearly a decade later.  I might actually have a chance at paying it off if they decide to extend the interest freeze.

My wife really wants to buy a house, but I am in the lets not buy a house until we pay off our student loans camp, which would basically mean we may possibly never reach homeownership before becoming geriatrics, and we don't even have 6 figure debt combined.

You're where I was about 10 years ago with my wife. I still don't see the benefits of homeownership at all, but I will tell you that my enormous student loan debt was pretty much ignored by mortgage brokers in the two states where we've bought (New York and Massachusetts) -- and this was after lenders had tightened up again after the global financial crisis. In fact, if I recall correctly, I was the principal owner of the first house we bought when we moved to Massachusetts because I was the only one employed at the time, and I make a little more than half of what my wife makes.

At any rate, all of my handwringing over how my student loan debt would prevent her from achieving homeownership was just wasted energy at the time. Again, I still don't see the benefits of homeownership. My wife, however, is very happy to be a homeowner, and I'm not really affected by it much -- mortgage payments have been about equal to rent, if not less -- except when I have to fix something myself instead of calling the landlord/super. That part blows. 

I do get to tap out on most plumbing and electrical, though.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

tempo_n_groove said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

so it was announced that loan forgiveness is happening for a ton of people and a revamp of the program is in the works

I hope this is true.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

static111 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

2 stories in tonights episode and its fairly well infuriating, so far......

I wasn't surprised at the FB piece.  I also don't think it's much of a whistleblower story.  The girl sounds like she has an axe to grind though.

this woman has an axe to grind? what gives that impression?

Some of the things she said, I don't recall exactly, but a few things she came off as wanting to stick it to FB.  

That is what I got from it.

I was also not the slightest surprised by the story.  It's been known for a while now that this is what they have been doing.

What was the other story that angered you?  The student loan one?  That blew me away and none of it was new either.  The part of that one that got me though was when the gal explained that her minimum payment was a cent under to qualify as a payment.  That one my jaw dropped.

Student loans are a complete scam.  Programmed all through school that the only way to get a future is to get an education. For those of us with less advantages, we get stuck borrowing at high compounding interest rates our whole lives. Unless we get lucky and get a decent job, then we pay those loans off for years before we actually get to begin building any sort of wealth.  There is a better way out there for sure.

My kids will be paying off mine.

luckily they don't transfer down the line...they may not receive any inheritance but they won't have to pay for yours at least.

That must be a recent change. My wife and I have always filed separately so that my debt doesn't impact her credit and also so that her salary isn't included in the calculations for my payment plan. I wonder if we can file jointly now with neither of us being penalized for the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life (i.e., higher ed).

my GF has been paying for years and still owes 6 figures

why wouldn't people open a low interest line of credit so they can pay it off decades earlier?

You'd have to ask her why it is structured and why she has tried to get it consolidated and can't.  She has done many a thing and hit a wall each time.

The principals are huge because the cost of higher education in the US is through the roof. Interest rates don't get much lower than they do on student loans. But with principals at six figures, those interest payments alone can be similar to a mortgage payment. And the balances just get bigger every year for a lot of us. Mine is well more than double what I originally borrowed at this point.

Mine was double what I actually borrowed.  For a couple years I put everything extra towards it.  Been making decent payments since the cares act lowered rates to zero.  I am now just below what I originally borrowed, nearly a decade later.  I might actually have a chance at paying it off if they decide to extend the interest freeze.

My wife really wants to buy a house, but I am in the lets not buy a house until we pay off our student loans camp, which would basically mean we may possibly never reach homeownership before becoming geriatrics, and we don't even have 6 figure debt combined.

You're where I was about 10 years ago with my wife. I still don't see the benefits of homeownership at all, but I will tell you that my enormous student loan debt was pretty much ignored by mortgage brokers in the two states where we've bought (New York and Massachusetts) -- and this was after lenders had tightened up again after the global financial crisis. In fact, if I recall correctly, I was the principal owner of the first house we bought when we moved to Massachusetts because I was the only one employed at the time, and I make a little more than half of what my wife makes.

At any rate, all of my handwringing over how my student loan debt would prevent her from achieving homeownership was just wasted energy at the time. Again, I still don't see the benefits of homeownership. My wife, however, is very happy to be a homeowner, and I'm not really affected by it much -- mortgage payments have been about equal to rent, if not less -- except when I have to fix something myself instead of calling the landlord/super. That part blows. 

I do get to tap out on most plumbing and electrical, though.

Whenever you go to sell I think you may....

static111 said:

nicknyr15 said:

I did mortgage loans for about 10 years and student debt and medical debt were always overlooked by underwriters as long as everything else checked out. 

Yeah I am not worried about lenders, I am aware that student debt is overlooked.  I just don't see the benefit of adding additional debt when I have a pile that may never go away.  Really to get enough socked away for a nice down payment we would likely have to not pay for something else. And while not paying rent sounds appealing being evicted doesn't and that leaves student loans as the only other monthly payment, which we also can't escape.

Oh I get it. I’m not arguing any of that. It sucks. 

static111 said:

dankind said:

tempo_n_groove said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

so it was announced that loan forgiveness is happening for a ton of people and a revamp of the program is in the works

I hope this is true.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

static111 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

2 stories in tonights episode and its fairly well infuriating, so far......

I wasn't surprised at the FB piece.  I also don't think it's much of a whistleblower story.  The girl sounds like she has an axe to grind though.

this woman has an axe to grind? what gives that impression?

Some of the things she said, I don't recall exactly, but a few things she came off as wanting to stick it to FB.  

That is what I got from it.

I was also not the slightest surprised by the story.  It's been known for a while now that this is what they have been doing.

What was the other story that angered you?  The student loan one?  That blew me away and none of it was new either.  The part of that one that got me though was when the gal explained that her minimum payment was a cent under to qualify as a payment.  That one my jaw dropped.

Student loans are a complete scam.  Programmed all through school that the only way to get a future is to get an education. For those of us with less advantages, we get stuck borrowing at high compounding interest rates our whole lives. Unless we get lucky and get a decent job, then we pay those loans off for years before we actually get to begin building any sort of wealth.  There is a better way out there for sure.

My kids will be paying off mine.

luckily they don't transfer down the line...they may not receive any inheritance but they won't have to pay for yours at least.

That must be a recent change. My wife and I have always filed separately so that my debt doesn't impact her credit and also so that her salary isn't included in the calculations for my payment plan. I wonder if we can file jointly now with neither of us being penalized for the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life (i.e., higher ed).

my GF has been paying for years and still owes 6 figures

why wouldn't people open a low interest line of credit so they can pay it off decades earlier?

You'd have to ask her why it is structured and why she has tried to get it consolidated and can't.  She has done many a thing and hit a wall each time.

The principals are huge because the cost of higher education in the US is through the roof. Interest rates don't get much lower than they do on student loans. But with principals at six figures, those interest payments alone can be similar to a mortgage payment. And the balances just get bigger every year for a lot of us. Mine is well more than double what I originally borrowed at this point.

Mine was double what I actually borrowed.  For a couple years I put everything extra towards it.  Been making decent payments since the cares act lowered rates to zero.  I am now just below what I originally borrowed, nearly a decade later.  I might actually have a chance at paying it off if they decide to extend the interest freeze.

My wife really wants to buy a house, but I am in the lets not buy a house until we pay off our student loans camp, which would basically mean we may possibly never reach homeownership before becoming geriatrics, and we don't even have 6 figure debt combined.

I’m not a real estate expert, but my $0.02 is buy if you can afford it, unless you plan to move every 2-3 years. Most places it’s cheaper to own, meaning your mortgage is less than the rental rate. I bought my first home 8 years ago and it’s doubled in equity. My mortgage is less than half what the rental market would be by now.
That’s the whole reason people buy property to rent, they can get a $1000 mortgage and rent it for $1500 the first year. 10 years later they have the same mortgage (taxes and insurance will go up slightly) but by then they have a ton of equity that the renters paid for and are now renting the same place for $2000.

static111 said:

mace1229 said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

tempo_n_groove said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

so it was announced that loan forgiveness is happening for a ton of people and a revamp of the program is in the works

I hope this is true.

dankind said:

static111 said:

dankind said:

static111 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

tempo_n_groove said:

mickeyrat said:

2 stories in tonights episode and its fairly well infuriating, so far......

I wasn't surprised at the FB piece.  I also don't think it's much of a whistleblower story.  The girl sounds like she has an axe to grind though.

this woman has an axe to grind? what gives that impression?

Some of the things she said, I don't recall exactly, but a few things she came off as wanting to stick it to FB.  

That is what I got from it.

I was also not the slightest surprised by the story.  It's been known for a while now that this is what they have been doing.

What was the other story that angered you?  The student loan one?  That blew me away and none of it was new either.  The part of that one that got me though was when the gal explained that her minimum payment was a cent under to qualify as a payment.  That one my jaw dropped.

Student loans are a complete scam.  Programmed all through school that the only way to get a future is to get an education. For those of us with less advantages, we get stuck borrowing at high compounding interest rates our whole lives. Unless we get lucky and get a decent job, then we pay those loans off for years before we actually get to begin building any sort of wealth.  There is a better way out there for sure.

My kids will be paying off mine.

luckily they don't transfer down the line...they may not receive any inheritance but they won't have to pay for yours at least.

That must be a recent change. My wife and I have always filed separately so that my debt doesn't impact her credit and also so that her salary isn't included in the calculations for my payment plan. I wonder if we can file jointly now with neither of us being penalized for the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life (i.e., higher ed).

my GF has been paying for years and still owes 6 figures

why wouldn't people open a low interest line of credit so they can pay it off decades earlier?

You'd have to ask her why it is structured and why she has tried to get it consolidated and can't.  She has done many a thing and hit a wall each time.

The principals are huge because the cost of higher education in the US is through the roof. Interest rates don't get much lower than they do on student loans. But with principals at six figures, those interest payments alone can be similar to a mortgage payment. And the balances just get bigger every year for a lot of us. Mine is well more than double what I originally borrowed at this point.

Mine was double what I actually borrowed.  For a couple years I put everything extra towards it.  Been making decent payments since the cares act lowered rates to zero.  I am now just below what I originally borrowed, nearly a decade later.  I might actually have a chance at paying it off if they decide to extend the interest freeze.

My wife really wants to buy a house, but I am in the lets not buy a house until we pay off our student loans camp, which would basically mean we may possibly never reach homeownership before becoming geriatrics, and we don't even have 6 figure debt combined.

I’m not a real estate expert, but my $0.02 is buy if you can afford it, unless you plan to move every 2-3 years. Most places it’s cheaper to own, meaning your mortgage is less than the rental rate. I bought my first home 8 years ago and it’s doubled in equity. My mortgage is less than half what the rental market would be by now.
That’s the whole reason people buy property to rent, they can get a $1000 mortgage and rent it for $1500 the first year. 10 years later they have the same mortgage (taxes and insurance will go up slightly) but by then they have a ton of equity that the renters paid for and are now renting the same place for $2000.

Agree on all points.  The problem is coming up with money for a down payment while paying rent and making those payments towards the student loans.  10% down gotta come from somewhere. And while I have been steadily making more money the last few years it seems like the price of everything goes up at the same time.  Could be worse, but it could be better.

You can do an FHA mortgage with 3.5% down.