Naive Question about Student Debt Forum

[DELG]

*grocery shops for scurvy diet*
*waits for mom to stock pantry with real food*

[billables247]

Individuals can/should consider their own family circumstances and whether getting money from family makes sense. But I still don't think that should come into general discussions about how quickly a hypothetical person should be able to pay off loans.

Agreed that everybody should and will consider their own individual circumstances.

Still, when it is likely that a large portion of the higher-ed population could potentially get parental support in the case of catastrophic events, a general discussion should mirror reality, not the worst-case scenarios as is given by almost all budgeting discussions around here. People should be aware that they can engage their parents in a conversation about assistance and not carry the burden alone (and in doing so, make a more financially/personally sound decision).

It should not be an automatic assumption, but it should be caveated as a potential solution.

[DELG]

Individuals can/should consider their own family circumstances and whether getting money from family makes sense. But I still don't think that should come into general discussions about how quickly a hypothetical person should be able to pay off loans.

Agreed that everybody should and will consider their own individual circumstances.

Still, when it is likely that a large portion of the higher-ed population could potentially get parental support in the case of catastrophic events, a general discussion should mirror reality, not the worst-case scenarios as is given by almost all budgeting discussions around here. People should be aware that they can engage their parents in a conversation about assistance and not carry the burden alone (and in doing so, make a more financially/personally sound decision).

It should not be an automatic assumption, but it should be caveated as a potential solution.

What do you mean "higher ed population"

Unless I am very lost, the issue is people thinking they can still live like students after grad, INCLUDING leaning on parents. Which is an objectively shitty thing for most biglawyers to do.

[09042014]

*grocery shops for scurvy diet*
*waits for mom to stock pantry with real food*

Wait you still get to eat at columbia cafeterrias at biglaw right

[anyriotgirl]

Individuals can/should consider their own family circumstances and whether getting money from family makes sense. But I still don't think that should come into general discussions about how quickly a hypothetical person should be able to pay off loans.

Agreed that everybody should and will consider their own individual circumstances.

Still, when it is likely that a large portion of the higher-ed population could potentially get parental support in the case of catastrophic events, a general discussion should mirror reality, not the worst-case scenarios as is given by almost all budgeting discussions around here. People should be aware that they can engage their parents in a conversation about assistance and not carry the burden alone (and in doing so, make a more financially/personally sound decision).

It should not be an automatic assumption, but it should be caveated as a potential solution.

What do you mean "higher ed population"

Unless I am very lost, the issue is people thinking they can still live like students after grad, INCLUDING leaning on parents. Which is an objectively shitty thing for most biglawyers to do.

I think this was a convoluted way of saying "I have rich parents"

[dresden doll]

*grocery shops for scurvy diet*
*waits for mom to stock pantry with real food*

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.

[A. Nony Mouse]

All budgeting discussions should consider worst-case scenarios.

[Fiero85]

All budgeting discussions should consider worst-case scenarios.

[09042014]

All budgeting discussions should consider worst-case scenarios.

On TLS, they are always 3/4ths of the cost of a better than best case scenario.

[dresden doll]

I'm laughing so hard right now. This thread is awesome.

[DELG]

All budgeting discussions should consider worst-case scenarios.

They are dude. They're considering hitting up their parents.

In all seriousness am I the only person who, by the time they're in practice, thinks they should be helping their parents and not the other way around? My dad lost his job and part of my worst case calculation is paying his mortgage for a little while.

[09042014]

Found an article about OP https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/ ... 13286.html

[dresden doll]

All budgeting discussions should consider worst-case scenarios.

They are dude. They're considering hitting up their parents.

In all seriousness am I the only person who, by the time they're in practice, thinks they should be helping their parents and not the other way around? My dad lost his job and part of my worst case calculation is paying his mortgage for a little while.

The business that was leasing the first floor of my family home is leaving because they're about to undergo bankruptcy, and my parents are too bogged down with my mom's cancer to look for new tenants.

No, you're definitely not the only one who's thinking that it might be time to try to find a way to send some money home.

[jbagelboy]

if my parents were contributing towards law school tuition, I would probably help them out when I was practicing and had paid off my debt too, rather than continuing asking for more.

[jingosaur]

Regardless of how much debt I'm in and how much I make out of LS, I'm putting myself on a 25 year repayment plan just in case I get in a situation where I have to support family and need the difference between a 10 year loan repayment and a 25 year repayment in order to pay it off.

[rayiner]

This thread is a stunning indictment of millennials.

I don't even know what to say.

[billables247]

Individuals can/should consider their own family circumstances and whether getting money from family makes sense. But I still don't think that should come into general discussions about how quickly a hypothetical person should be able to pay off loans.

Agreed that everybody should and will consider their own individual circumstances.

Still, when it is likely that a large portion of the higher-ed population could potentially get parental support in the case of catastrophic events, a general discussion should mirror reality, not the worst-case scenarios as is given by almost all budgeting discussions around here. People should be aware that they can engage their parents in a conversation about assistance and not carry the burden alone (and in doing so, make a more financially/personally sound decision).

It should not be an automatic assumption, but it should be caveated as a potential solution.

What do you mean "higher ed population"

Unless I am very lost, the issue is people thinking they can still live like students after grad, INCLUDING leaning on parents. Which is an objectively shitty thing for most biglawyers to do.

I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that people who go to grad school typically have family who are at least middle class. In other words, by the time you are out of law school, your parents aren't exactly struggling to make ends meet/living paycheck to paycheck.

I think this was a convoluted way of saying "I have rich parents"

Not exactly - for example, my parents probably combine to make around 120K or so, but they have a house and a chunk of retirement savings. If you were to borrow, and the key word is borrow, 10k from them when you were to suddenly find yourself unemployed, it would not significantly impact the quality of their life.

They are dude. They're considering hitting up their parents.

In all seriousness am I the only person who, by the time they're in practice, thinks they should be helping their parents and not the other way around? My dad lost his job and part of my worst case calculation is paying his mortgage for a little while.

You're absolutely right in that we should help out our parents. That's why I'm saying that money is a two way street - when you have the means to help out your parents and they need it, you do so. When you are in need and they have the means to help you out, they do so. To a reasonable extent, what I earn is my family's and what my family earns is mine.

Nobody is considering "hitting up their parents." I'm proposing that, given you are in a sudden dire situation such as getting laid off, you should not ignore the option of asking for a loan.
We are not talking about trying to leech money off your parents by having them foot your phone bill.

[anyriotgirl]

This thread is a stunning indictment of millennials.

I don't even know what to say.

it's just the loud ones I swear

most of us aren't fucking idiots

[DELG]

Individuals can/should consider their own family circumstances and whether getting money from family makes sense. But I still don't think that should come into general discussions about how quickly a hypothetical person should be able to pay off loans.

Agreed that everybody should and will consider their own individual circumstances.

Still, when it is likely that a large portion of the higher-ed population could potentially get parental support in the case of catastrophic events, a general discussion should mirror reality, not the worst-case scenarios as is given by almost all budgeting discussions around here. People should be aware that they can engage their parents in a conversation about assistance and not carry the burden alone (and in doing so, make a more financially/personally sound decision).

It should not be an automatic assumption, but it should be caveated as a potential solution.

What do you mean "higher ed population"

Unless I am very lost, the issue is people thinking they can still live like students after grad, INCLUDING leaning on parents. Which is an objectively shitty thing for most biglawyers to do.

I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that people who go to grad school typically have family who are at least middle class. In other words, by the time you are out of law school, your parents aren't exactly struggling to make ends meet/living paycheck to paycheck.

I think this was a convoluted way of saying "I have rich parents"

Not exactly - for example, my parents probably combine to make around 120K or so, but they have a house and a chunk of retirement savings. If you were to borrow, and the key word is borrow, 10k from them when you were to suddenly find yourself unemployed, it would not significantly impact the quality of their life.

They are dude. They're considering hitting up their parents.

In all seriousness am I the only person who, by the time they're in practice, thinks they should be helping their parents and not the other way around? My dad lost his job and part of my worst case calculation is paying his mortgage for a little while.

You're absolutely right in that we should help out our parents. That's why I'm saying that money is a two way street - when you have the means to help out your parents and they need it, you do so. When you are in need and they have the means to help you out, they do so. To a reasonable extent, what I earn is my family's and what my family earns is mine.

Nobody is considering "hitting up their parents." I'm proposing that, given you are in a sudden dire situation such as getting laid off, you should not ignore the option of asking for a loan.
We are not talking about trying to leech money off your parents by having them foot your phone bill.

And I am saying you're a fucking adult who should instead pay off loans a little slower so you can support yourself, to the extent practicable. Wow.

[Paul Campos]

This thread has featured almost no comment on the fact that the OP's initial analysis of the practicality of paying off law school debt was based on the assumption that a person's gross salary is the same as his or her take home pay. This would seem to raise some possible questions about the financial sophistication of that analysis.

[DELG]

If I needed to borrow for an indefinite period the money to cover my rent, which is x2.5 my parents mortgage, I think they'd have a seizure. And it's not like people who get laid odd from biglaw tend to rebound quickly.

[DELG]

This thread has featured almost no comment on the fact that the OP's initial analysis of the practicality of paying off law school debt was based on the assumption that a person's gross salary is the same as his or her take home pay. This would seem to raise some possible questions about the financial sophistication of that analysis.

I mean we noted it and moved past it early.

[dresden doll]

This thread has featured almost no comment on the fact that the OP's initial analysis of the practicality of paying off law school debt was based on the assumption that a person's gross salary is the same as his or her take home pay. This would seem to raise some possible questions about the financial sophistication of that analysis.

That was so ridiculous that it got disposed of quickly and without dissent.

[billables247]

And I am saying you're a fucking adult who should instead pay off loans a little slower so you can support yourself, to the extent practicable. Wow.

I don't think I have a good argument for you, DELG. I think it must be a difference in our beliefs and definition of what adulthood means.

For me, being part of a family means you help each other out in situations that call for it. It makes zero sense to me to rack up extra interest payments for the sake of feeling like an "American adult" who is completely and utterly independent from their family. I'd rather pay off my debt in a shorter span of time and trust that my family will be there in the unlikely event that I get fired my first year with no savings, than rack up an extra 20K in interest because I wanted to create a huge nest egg just in case.

Agree to disagree?

[A. Nony Mouse]

I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that people who go to grad school typically have family who are at least middle class. In other words, by the time you are out of law school, your parents aren't exactly struggling to make ends meet/living paycheck to paycheck.

But this is just that - an assumption. I would argue that it's not remotely true often enough to build parents in by default. It also seems to me an assumption that makes it harder for working class/poor people to end up in grad school/law school (and also makes the ones who are there feel invisible).