About a year and a half ago I posted about the student debt situation and how many flaws there are in the system, so on Wednesday I was extremely happy with the news that at least $10,000, and up to $20,000 for Pell recipients, will be forgiven! No, it doesn't address the cause of the crisis in terms of exorbitant costs for college, nor does it substantially help those who have tens of thousands still outstanding, but my god, something is better than nothing. It's a lot like the ACA/Obamacare in that regard. Health care plans are still really expensive and insurance companies are still allowed to perform daily highway robberies on the population in exchange for lifesaving care which should be a basic right, but at least with the ACA you have a possibility for non-employer health insurance instead of automatic medical bankruptcy. It's a step in the right direction, even if it doesn't cross the finish line, or even cover more than a mile in the marathon.

Most of all I think about when I paid off my student loan in 2013. It was SUCH a relief to know that chapter was closed, and allowed me to focus more on retirement and the future of my money instead of paying for the past. There are a lot of younger people across the country who had $10,000 or less in loans left simultaneously experiencing that feeling for the first time, and that has brought a smile to my face every time I think of it this week. 

I know there are many people who are completely against the idea of any loan forgiveness. There are a lot of others angry that $50,000 wasn't forgiven, or think that all student loans should have been forgiven, but realistically that was never going to happen. I'm a little angry that the focus has been 100% on the loan forgiveness/restructuring without addressing needlessly inflated tuition and the disappearance of state subsidies, but considering where this country is and the deep problems we face in so many aspects of our society I hope that Biden has a few more tricks up his sleeve. The other pieces may be addressed eventually, but government takes an incredible amount of time for changes to percolate through the bureaucracy, so I may be pleasantly surprised in the future. I certainly hope that I will be.