While I'm still failing at life in certain things, I managed to close one chapter of my life in a good way. In 2004 I consolidated my student loans from undergrad and grad school, and set out on a repayment plan. Instead of waiting until the end of the year for my "official" repayment date and paying the extra interest, I took my bonus this year as soon as it posted in my account, and paid off the remaining balance. I now am officially debt-free!
This doesn't mean that things are peachy; I'm still never going to own anything (especially in NYC), my rent is crazy high, my neighbor is a selfish, loud asshole, there's nowhere to advance to at my job, and I'm still (and always) struggling with depression and vices. But it's something to be proud of considering how many others cannot meet their payments no matter how hard they try.
Of course, I got lucky in many ways. I went to school before the insane cost inflation really hit about 10 years ago, my parents paid most of my undergrad costs and I was on scholarship for grad school, but still there are certain debts you have to take on. It seems wrong to me that students today have to make major sacrifices and STILL end up with more debt from just their undergrad degree than I had for both grad and undergrad combined. I know that a large part of this is that my parents were wonderful and sacrificed a lot to mostly cover my sister and I, but I think that in today's world, at today's prices, even they couldn't have helped as much as they did.
I'm almost 100% sure I'm never going back to school again since grad school soured me on the idea so much, but if I end up laid off or in other dire straits that require retraning for another career I would end up in debt again for the same reason I can't own anything. The money that would be spent for a down payment, tuition, or anything that is a serious monetary commitment is in my IRA and 401K and if I sacrifice that, I'm (supposedly) losing my retirement (although considering the returns that are likely that still may not be enough to retire). In today's world, unless you're extremely wealthy or extremely lucky by winning the lottery, genetic or traditional, you'll be sacrificing other pieces of your hard-earned money to put yourself out there and hope that the new degree/training/profession will pay off in the long run.
That's why I stay in the job I can't advance at. It still pays the best wage in my profession, I have wonderful colleagues, the job can be very interesting, and there are certain perks. For now, the perk is having a bonus large enough to pay off my loans. I can be proud of that.
This doesn't mean that things are peachy; I'm still never going to own anything (especially in NYC), my rent is crazy high, my neighbor is a selfish, loud asshole, there's nowhere to advance to at my job, and I'm still (and always) struggling with depression and vices. But it's something to be proud of considering how many others cannot meet their payments no matter how hard they try.
Of course, I got lucky in many ways. I went to school before the insane cost inflation really hit about 10 years ago, my parents paid most of my undergrad costs and I was on scholarship for grad school, but still there are certain debts you have to take on. It seems wrong to me that students today have to make major sacrifices and STILL end up with more debt from just their undergrad degree than I had for both grad and undergrad combined. I know that a large part of this is that my parents were wonderful and sacrificed a lot to mostly cover my sister and I, but I think that in today's world, at today's prices, even they couldn't have helped as much as they did.
I'm almost 100% sure I'm never going back to school again since grad school soured me on the idea so much, but if I end up laid off or in other dire straits that require retraning for another career I would end up in debt again for the same reason I can't own anything. The money that would be spent for a down payment, tuition, or anything that is a serious monetary commitment is in my IRA and 401K and if I sacrifice that, I'm (supposedly) losing my retirement (although considering the returns that are likely that still may not be enough to retire). In today's world, unless you're extremely wealthy or extremely lucky by winning the lottery, genetic or traditional, you'll be sacrificing other pieces of your hard-earned money to put yourself out there and hope that the new degree/training/profession will pay off in the long run.
That's why I stay in the job I can't advance at. It still pays the best wage in my profession, I have wonderful colleagues, the job can be very interesting, and there are certain perks. For now, the perk is having a bonus large enough to pay off my loans. I can be proud of that.
posted by AnonymousX at 7:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home