Burden of Student Debt

I’ve been an advocate of paying off highest interest first. For us this has meant aggressively paying off our second mortgage and paying close to the minimum for student loans. This in principle seems like a very sound proposition – pay off highest interest debt for the fastest possible pay down overall.

I’ve also advocated for this on the basis that the odds of someone coming along and paying off your mortgage are unlikely, but the odds of help or forgiveness of student loans from employers and so forth is a remote possibility.

All this being said, it feels different now that my student loans are coming due. Given that I’m in Afghanistan and have one more course to finish towards my Masters degree, my deferment status has recently changed. I will also have one final payment due next summer when my independent course is complete.

Sure the payments aren’t too retched, around $400 a month, but the thought of it makes my throat tighten. It feels extremely restrictive to have this payment looming over my head for the next umpteen years.

This is particularly the case given that if we choose to graduate out of the DINKs category, it would fall during that time period. Right now I have every capability of readjusting my budget and making this monthly payment. However, should I ever want to take off any time for the possibility of children, this would become even more restrictive.

My twin sister has faced this as a challenge herself. I’ve seen her have to deal with being forced to work only to cover the cost of day care and her student loans. Not having the flexibility to choose if that was her priority.

I’ve told myself that I don’t want to end up in that situation. Now it feels that it’s time to put my money where my mouth is. Thus it seems that after we’ve reached our goal of paying of our second mortgage, that I might just have to buck up and settle my debts for the attaining the education that has allowed me to get where I am today.

While the idea of forking my extra Afghanistan cash towards student loans doesn’t feel as fun as looking into additional rental property or starting a business, the reality is that it would give me the freedom I seek later in life. In the end we will work to find a balance between the two to reach our goals.

Money can’t buy you everything, but it can give you options. I’ll still need to think about it some, but this feels like a reasonable use of my time here.

Wish me luck!

Miel