Comments on: Law School Debt

By: Caity

Caity — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:22:23 +0000

I would say that there’s debt, and then there’s really bad debt. The former being incurred as the “best option” (going to college, buying a home), and the latter being more a la Confessions of a Shopaholic…

Debt is never good, but is less of an evil if there’s an actual long-term benefit…
Caity´s last blog ..Networking

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:49:25 +0000

First, I do not believe in good debt vs. bad debt. In my opinion, all debt is just that–debt, and it needs to be repaid. If anything, educational debt is the WORST debt because of its non-dischargeable nature.

Second, and this isn’t personal, but I am sick and tired of students whining about having to take a certain level job to pay their loans. Really? STOP IT!

I say this as someone who graduated law school from Georgetown with $205,000 in debt, more than TWICE the average. I was unemployed from May 2005 (graduation) through August 2006, doing whatever contract position I could get my hands on in the meantime. I worked part-time at Sephora because I had to pay my rent, and I had ZERO savings to speak of.

Do you know how many payments I missed? NONE! Absolutely not one payment has ever been missed on account of my lack of employment, and when I started working, I was making $60k, which ain’t that much when you owe $205k. And that didn’t include my car loan, since I was now working 30 miles away from home.

Sorry I ranted on, but that is one of my soapbox issues. It is more than possible to pay loans at lower salaries. It is a matter of prioritizing, and it can be done.

And I will say, I’ve delayed buying a house, but it’s not because of my loans. It’s because of my other unsecured debt. And I’ve delayed having kids because, well, I’m not married yet. But we aren’t using the loans as a reason not to have children or buy a home. And for the record, my boyfriend has close to $300k in student loans, so between us we’re already at $500k.

By: Don@MoneyReasons

Don@MoneyReasons — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:30:10 +0000

I believe there is good debt and bad debt to an extent…

Debt is good if it generates a profit for you. So debt to buy rental properties is okay imho… Taking debt to manage seasonal financial for small business needs is okay, but definitely less desirable…

But most debts are to risky for my taste. That said, mortgages are at extremely low interest rates right now…

By: Sunflowers

Sunflowers — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:19:01 +0000

The vast majority of us don’t have the luxury of “staying away from [educational] debt.” I’m one of those graduates who will emerge with 100k. And in prior years the vast majority of my classmates were coming out and making 120k+ salaries. The debt load is much more sobering now because of the state of the legal market.

I believe that educational debt is good debt, but I agree with Kasey that not all of it is good. I’m not thrilled with the amount of debt I have, but considering I have the potential to make much more than what I’ve racked up… I look at it as good debt, a good investment in myself and my future.
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By: Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog

Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:13:55 +0000

I do believe in good and bad debt… but I don’t think that you can say things like, “all educational debt is good.” I wouldn’t call going to art school for $100,000 so that you can potentially make $20,0000 such great debt. I think it’s all relative. Plus, educational loans are usually at a low interest rate, come in reasonable monthly bills, and don’t reflect poorly upon your credit.
Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog´s last blog ..Moooore Great Closets

By: Investing Newbie

Investing Newbie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:58:43 +0000

I’m with you, debt, is debt, is DEBT. I have heard people using the term “investment” to describe good debt. I guess…
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