Student loan debt is simply a part of college life now. With college tuition skyrocketing as wages stagnate, more and more people are turning to student loans to get an education. But that doesn’t stop the bill from eventually coming due, which is burying people under student loan debt for decades. Many people simply don’t understand how student loan repayment really works and what their options are when things go wrong.
Student Loan Repayment and Debt
Joining Kelly this week is Jay Fleischman, a lawyer who has been helping people with debt problems, especially student loan repayment. Jay created the Student Loan Law Workshop, a place where attorneys can learn how to help clients with their student loan debt. Kelly and Jay talk about the impact of student loan debt, when you should seek help from a lawyer or tax professional, and what options you might have when you can’t pay your student loans.
Listen to Kelly and Jay talk about student loan repayment:
- The percentage of people who take out student loans and their average debt
- The total United States student loan debt
- The difference between private student loan debt and federal student loans
- The rising average college tuition costs
- The common myths about college tuition and student loan debt
- Some of the ways student loans can be confusing to understand
- How COVID-19 impacted student loan repayment
- What to do when you can’t pay your student loan debt
- Student loan forbearance
- Consequences of student loan default including wage garnishment
- Student loan forgiveness and cancellation options
- Defense to student loan repayment as a law
- Statute of limitations on student loan debt
- When should you ask for help
- Student loan refinance and repayment scams
- What parents should know about college tuition and student loan repayment
- How to lower your student loan debt from the very start
- Scholarships and tax credits to help lower student loan debt
- How student loans impact your taxes
About Kelly:
Kelly Phillips Erb created and hosts the Taxgirl podcast, your home for tax news, tax info, and tax policy. In each episode, she shares conversations about taxes, money, and the choices we make. Kelly is a tax attorney who works with taxpayers and tax practitioners like you every day. She helps folks out of tax jams, and hopefully, keeps others from getting into them.
You can find out more about Kelly here and you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin.
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Links:
Kelly’s Website: Taxgirl
Jay Fleischman’s website: Money Wise Lawyer
Jay Fleischman – Twitter | Facebook | Tik Tok
He paid $5,700 for four years which is about $13,065.24 with inflation today. I probably spent $17,000 for all of college tuition but I spend three years at a community college. It would’ve been like $30,000 if I didn’t go to community college. I mean $13,000 vs $30,000 is a big difference and it keeps increasing each year. This is for state schools. Private schools would be more. And I’m not including books or living expenses.