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Wrapping Up the Student Loan Forgiveness Season-A short episode
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Wrapping Up the Student Loan Forgiveness Season-A short episode

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At the beginning of the summer I decided to dedicate some time to a topic that I really cared about-student loan forgiveness. When I began recording episodes and fleshing out the season, I had no idea that it would become the 13 week season that it would eventually end up being. I spoke with lawyers who had 100’s of thousands of dollars of student loans in the process of navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a debt repayment advocate who was staunchly against it and concerned about the fairness of it all and I spoke with a couple of folks who asked the very real question-what purpose does undergrad actually serve and is it time to just eliminate undergraduate studies. 

As luck would have it, the final decision on whether or not student loan forgiveness would actually happen was brought down the week that I was backpacking in the mountains participating in the Fjallraven Classic with absolutely no access to the internet. I’ll share more about that backpacking trip and why it was so important in another episode. In this episode, I’m going to briefly share my thoughts about the policy, the potential impact and some of the hypocrisy that I’ve observed connected to the policy and some of the financial fallout that some folks might not be aware of. 

In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*

Listen to the Show

Before I finish up this season I do want to thank my guests: 

  • Matt Lane of Matt Lane Writes and the Bad Financial Takes Bracket on Twitter 
  • Kevin Matthews II author of From Burning to Blueprint: Rebuilding Black Wall Street After a Century of Silence

Thank You

I also would like to thank the following sponsors who helped make this season happen.  

  • Cash Freely–If you’re looking to avoid losing your cash back, Cash Freely is a free app that you can use to keep track of all of your cash back rewards.  I love that this app doesn’t require putting in any personal information into the app. If you’re looking to save for Christmas presents, that next trip abroad or to pay towards a debt-this is a great tool to use.
  • Plutus Foundation-What does the Plutus Foundation actually do? The Plutus Foundation supports financial content creators with grants, networking, learning events, and podcasts. Twice a year, we provide grants for financial literacy projects of all types. The foundation highlights excellence through the Plutus Awards, and you can see how you can make a bigger impact with your audience at Plutus Voices and the Plutus Impact Summit. Go to plutusfoundation.org for more information.” If you’re attending FinCon this week good luck to those of you nominated for a Plutus Award!! 
  • Student Loan Planner-If you’re looking for some guidance on what to do with your student loans and you need an outside perspective on what your options are, Student Loan Planner may be the resource for you. Schedule a paid consultation with one of Student Loan Planner’s, student loan consultants who will walk you through what your options are. Student Loan Planner has a 99% satisfaction rate and a whole person focused approach when helping clients. If you’re worried about saving for retirement, going on vacation and the impact of your student loan repayment on those goals, Student Loan Planner consultants understand and respect those concerns and keep that in mind while working with you. Please note “If you’re listening to this episode in 2022 you have until October 31, 2022 to submit your Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver”  I’m proud to partner with Student Loan Planner and if you’re interested in scheduling your student loan paid consultation go to the following link: 

Murphy’s Law Would be that I spend the entire summer waiting to see if the Biden Administration would move forward with student loan forgiveness and then I would go on a week long vacation backpacking in the mountains where I’m offline and the decision would come through. 

What was my initial reaction?

  • A little low-key surprised. In some ways I’ve thought that the Administration has been afraid to do things or embrace policy that might be seen as divisive. 
  • I’m actually glad that they took their time to flesh out the policy
  • While I wasn’t excited about the $10,000 amount, I did love to see that they also included the up to $20,000 in forgiveness for Pell Grant borrowers.
  • What I found is that I need A LOT more time to review and understand the policy. 
  • I am also trying to get more of a read on how the Administration is working to address the bigger issue of college affordability. I’ve heard that they have added a cap on graduate lending, but I can’t seem to easily find information to confirm this. 
  • That said, I have some thoughts.
    • I’ve found it really interesting to observe the PPP Forgiveness vs. Student Loan Argument. 
  • I find that all of the wrong conversations are still being had because quite frankly, a lot of people, in my view, don’t want people that they don’t care for or  believe are lazy to receive Student Loan Forgiveness.
  • In fact, the discourse reminds me a lot of what happened during the first year of COVID. People are being lazy, we shouldn’t pay people to stay at home. Why aren’t people working fast food anymore? Why are people taking actions that just benefit them…vs. Working in roles that benefit me? Or doing things that make my life easier? 
  • I wish people would think about the following:
    • The money that people won’t have to use towards repaying student loans will be used to:
      • Eat at a favorite local restaurant
      • Pay for services
      • Attend the theater, go to the local coffee shop, etc. 
      • Shop for cute clothes
      • Oh, and yes, better their lives. If you’re upset by that fact ask yourself, seriously…why does that bother you? 
  • What I’m left with is the fact that Student Loan Forgiveness will change millions of people’s overall debt load-that means people may now qualify for home purchases, a huge driver in building wealth
  • However, there are some things to watch out for. One, may shock you. Even though these funds aren’t supposed to be taxable, there are some states passing laws to make those funds taxable. Interestingly enough, they didn’t do this for folks receiving PPP loan forgiveness. Basically, they’re punishing people for having access to this benefit.
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Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.
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