Education...before education!
Printed From: CanadaStudentDebt.ca
Category: What Needs to Change?
Forum Name: Suggestions for Improvements for Student Loan Programs
Forum Description: Make suggestions for rule changes etc
URL: https://www.canadastudentdebt.ca/forum_posts.asp?TID=4447
Printed Date: 19/April/2024 at 4:55am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Education...before education!
Posted By: Banco
Subject: Education...before education!
Date Posted: 06/September/2007 at 6:01am
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I think it borders on a crime that kids can get such large loans, without anyone being there to inform them of all the ins and outs and expectations of repayment and management of those loans. I am not excusing my fiscal irresponsibility, but I can see how it came about. I was raised in foster care, and never had any of my own money really. I wasn't exposed to the reality of monthly budgets, money planning, or hell...any personal accountability at all :-D Money was really just an abstraction to me. At 19, to me loans meant education. I didn't understand interest rates, rate of repayment, any of that stuff.
I think in high school career planning classes, student loans and how they work should be explained. The banks should explain, in ways other than 'the fine print', what acquiring a loan means in the long term. Just a thought. Although I signed on the dotted line, I still feel blindsided by the total financial chaos my naivete caused me.
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Replies:
Posted By: jrmevans
Date Posted: 15/September/2007 at 4:52pm
| I hear yea man !!!! Life really isn't taught in school... money, financing budgeting etc being many of the topics that are not really taught.... It should be mandatory ... it's taken me 15 years of being in the real world to even start figuring out what the heck it going on... very depressing really ... |
Posted By: polyhymnia61
Date Posted: 17/September/2007 at 1:45am
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To tell you truth, I don't know if education is the total answer. I worked at the CIBC for 11 years (full-time and while attending uni), and I couldn't avoid being thrown to the wolves (three collection agencies!!). I had a mortgage and credit cards, and used them responsibly. I even worked in consumer loans! Education won't make the call centre people representing the bank any more knowledgeable, nor will it ensure that your paperwork won't be lost five times. Education is useless unless it's constantly updated as often as the student loan programs and rules change, which is usually every year. Education must also be taken with a grain of salt when imparted by people with vested interests: i.e., bankruptcy trustees. If I'd had known then what I know now, I don't know what I would have done differently. I HAD to have a degree; I was the breadwinner of my family, and discovered too late that I couldn't count on my ex-husband for any support. I probably would have plugged on... I wish I knew the answer. ------------- Home is where you are allowed to prosper. |
Posted By: old hippy
Date Posted: 18/September/2007 at 12:11pm
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We still have the right to an education regardless. Repayment education wouldn't have changed my mind because I had to survive other obstacles at that time.
Right now I'm looking at Debt Reduction charts. I'm over the allowed income level (before taxes) but then on the bright side - if I lose my contract and become unemployed I'll be eligible so it won't be a total loss
 I know it's been suggested that demographics should be considered because the cost of living in Vancouver or Toronto is so much higher than other areas - but am I looking at the same chart as someone who's half my age and living in their parents basement? I know there's quite a few out there because recent census results find that 1/2 of all adults in their 20's live at home - a 12% increase since 1986 (no offensive to any of you!) but come on...are we looking at the same IR and DR eligibility charts?
There's not much of an increase for those with dependants either. About $900 more allowable monthly income for Interest Relief but only $300 for Debt Reduction.
Maybe I'm missing something...
P.S. Nice to hear from you Poly
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