Student loan repayment

[MichaelAwkward]

It is a massive debt tho? Not sure about the new repayment plan, but if you're earning circa 45k on the old repayment plan you lose circa 200 quid a month post tax, which is noticeable.

Thankfully only about 6k on mine as no tuition fees in Scotland

It is, but it doesn't appear on your credit rating or anything so the only effect depends on how much you earn above £25k, on which you pay 9%.

So, £50 a month less than on the older plan. £150 a month isn't a massive amount when you're bringing home nearly £2700 a month, I don't think.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

A student loan behaves more like a tax than a debt and should be considered as such.

 

[Buffman]

A student loan behaves more like a tax than a debt and should be considered as such.

Which is true if your career requires a degree, but unfortunately now folk often "want/need" degrees to become an admin assistant etc.

Especially bad for something like nursing!

 

[MichaelAwkward]

In which case they will probably never pay anything towards it.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Which is true if your career requires a degree, but unfortunately now folk often "want/need" degrees to become an admin assistant etc.

Especially bad for something like nursing!

Not sure I get your argument, the subject or job doesn't affect they way in which student loans behave, its still a tax on people that can't afford to pay for their further education upfront (if they graduate or not).

Though I do agree that some degrees are no longer special and a lot of graduates that have them don't need or use them but I'm not sure how that effects nursing, the number of training places are ultimately determined by the Government/DoH/NHS.

The interest in nursing is dropping because its a high stress, undervalued and poorly paid (especially in the early years) job that requires a lot of training and certification to get into. It just not an attractive prospect to the type of graduate they need to enter the profession and not because of student loans.

A starting salary is just £22k and tend to top out below £30k for most unless you progress into management after getting years of experience. Not exactly an attractive prospect compared to other careers.

 

[Guest2]

I realised my student loan was a problem when I went traveling for a year and came back to it being about 3k more than when I went! When I started earning good money it would be quite a big chunk each year so decided to pay the lot off in about 4 chunks. One of the best things I have done getting rid of that loan

 

[Panos]

What happens to your Student Loan if you move abroad? I think you are supposed to tell them and pay it manually, but what happens if you just drop off the PAYE system and don't inform them?

If you plan to move permanently out yes. Ignore it completely. In 5 years get foreign passport also.
Is one of the stupid loopholes thousands of students from across the globe (especially EU citizens) exploit, they can get loans easily and leave the country.
Then go to find them to pay the loan, even if they are in EU is impossible. Hence the big boom on the actual debt. From £20bn in 2010, now (Mar 2017 official figures) is closing to £100bn. (£89.3 England, £4.5bn Scotland, £3.7bn Wales, £3bn NI)

And here we are, those of us living in England cannot finish our OU degree because of the high tuition fees in England (Scotland same course is 1/3 the price), nor are eligible for a student loan because we work.
Yet we cannot fund the UO course because we have mortgages, cars and families to sustain.

No wonder the news about social mobility went down the drain the last 6 years. Is at the lowest point since the late 1800s, completely collapses from the peak in 2011!!!!!!!

FYI I am not a Brexiteer, just a Greek living and working here the last 15 years, and was forced to stop the OU Astronomy bachelors degree at the end of level 2 because the Level 3 courses from £250 skyrocketed to £2600 (£2900 atm in England, £960 in Scotland). However I am frustrated when I read in Italian or Greek forums, of people doing exactly what I described above. And they are not only them. Germans and French exploit that also.

But not the Swedes where you get paid to go to the University....

 

[Fusion]

When I started earning good money it would be quite a big chunk each year so decided to pay the lot off in about 4 chunks. One of the best things I have done getting rid of that loan

See, some people stand by this, that’s it's best to pay it off. What was the interest rate on yours? I’m on plan 1, so it’s 1.5%. Technically I’d be better off paying off my mortgage or investing that money, where I’m likely to get more than 1.5%. But there is also a psychological benefit to paying off the loan.

 

[mid_gen]

Psychological? It's a no-brainer. 1.5% loan makes zero sense to pay off. I could clear mine whenever but I have the money invested instead.

 

[weringo]

Paying off the loan early at 1.5% is mental. Not only could you earn a higher rate by investing elsewhere, but it's not actually a true debt - if you lose your job or for example become disabled and can't work you're going to regret paying the loan off when your bank come asking for late mortgage payments.

 

[Buffman]

Not sure I get your argument, the subject or job doesn't affect they way in which student loans behave, its still a tax on people that can't afford to pay for their further education upfront (if they graduate or not).

Though I do agree that some degrees are no longer special and a lot of graduates that have them don't need or use them but I'm not sure how that effects nursing, the number of training places are ultimately determined by the Government/DoH/NHS.

The interest in nursing is dropping because its a high stress, undervalued and poorly paid (especially in the early years) job that requires a lot of training and certification to get into. It just not an attractive prospect to the type of graduate they need to enter the profession and not because of student loans.

A starting salary is just £22k and tend to top out below £30k for most unless you progress into management after getting years of experience. Not exactly an attractive prospect compared to other careers.

What I'm getting at is that employers ask for degrees when they're not required.

Previously courses like nursing were vocational and didn't require a degree, now is an extra 9k debt for a salary which hasn't increased (infact significantly decreased due to the cost of living). The job is also increasing in difficulty (due to reduced staff) as you've highlighted.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Debt collector came after my other half for an outstanding sum on student loan repayment. Obviously we confirmed this with student loans before paying them anything.

I'm sure you know better though, and your MLG pro Destiny mates

wtf has destiny got to do with this? you are obsessed. get over it.

 

[Fusion]

I just don't like debt. I'm sure I will continue investing the money elsewhere, but the loan is always a niggle. Just my stubborn attitude.

 

[Guest2]

See, some people stand by this, that’s it's best to pay it off. What was the interest rate on yours? I’m on plan 1, so it’s 1.5%. Technically I’d be better off paying off my mortgage or investing that money, where I’m likely to get more than 1.5%. But there is also a psychological benefit to paying off the loan.

It started out (in 2004) at something like 1.5% then slowly crept up to 4.5% then went back down to 0.50% then up again to 1.5%

As people say, yes, it's not a massive overhead at 1.5% but it was still more than my ISA interest rate. It was more the psychological thing for me too and that whenever I earned overtime it skimmed a chunk off my monthly pay. I basically hammered overtime for a year and cleared it instead of spending money on tosh like a new GPU or hundreds of pounds on clothes every month. I would get paid and stick £1000 or £1500 down on my student loan, that way I couldn't spend it! Glad I did because now i'm getting a mortgage I wouldn't have been able to borrow as much and would have probably not been able to save it (due to it 'burning a hold in my pocket' as my dad phrases it)

 

[SpeedFreak]

Just to throw it out there, would having the student loan cash as a deposit 3 or 4 years ago have allowed you to buy sooner at a lower price?

 

[dowie]

FYI I am not a Brexiteer, just a Greek living and working here the last 15 years, and was forced to stop the OU Astronomy bachelors degree at the end of level 2 because the Level 3 courses from £250 skyrocketed to £2600 (£2900 atm in England, £960 in Scotland). However I am frustrated when I read in Italian or Greek forums, of people doing exactly what I described above. And they are not only them. Germans and French exploit that also.

But not the Swedes where you get paid to go to the University....

you should have been covered under transitional fee arrangements AFAIK

 

[Panos]

you should have been covered under transitional fee arrangements AFAIK

Not with my income.

 

[Guest2]

Just to throw it out there, would having the student loan cash as a deposit 3 or 4 years ago have allowed you to buy sooner at a lower price?

3 years ago I was not in the position to have been able to afford a mortgage (salary wise)
The overtime was never guaranteed so couldn't have based a mortgage on that. But yes, it would have helped had I had the salary I was on now back then

 

[dowie]

Not with my income.

They had nothing to do with income.

 

[dl8860]

It started out (in 2004) at something like 1.5% then slowly crept up to 4.5% then went back down to 0.50% then up again to 1.5%

As people say, yes, it's not a massive overhead at 1.5% but it was still more than my ISA interest rate. It was more the psychological thing for me too and that whenever I earned overtime it skimmed a chunk off my monthly pay. I basically hammered overtime for a year and cleared it instead of spending money on tosh like a new GPU or hundreds of pounds on clothes every month. I would get paid and stick £1000 or £1500 down on my student loan, that way I couldn't spend it! Glad I did because now i'm getting a mortgage I wouldn't have been able to borrow as much and would have probably not been able to save it (due to it 'burning a hold in my pocket' as my dad phrases it)

I really don't think a student loan is taken into account RE mortgage lending checks. It's strange you have the discipline to pay off the debt monthly but not to pay that same money into something like a S&S ISA monthly. Each to their own, but as long as you are aware that you aren't being as effective with your money as you could be.