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Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge
Basically you are saying student loans are not worth it. They are only worth it if the person taking them out feels they got their values worth. That's the only part of the equation that cannot be measured by anyone else.
Can you be a doctor without loans? Not really, unless your parents or your spouse pays for it. Going on at 22 without income, how do you pay for it? But if you want to be a doctor because you dream of it, well then it's probably worth it to you.
Truth is that in life it's all about choices. And making decisions based on what you value. Many people would say being a stay at home mom is a terrible idea.
Why? Loss of income, potential earning power you can't catch up. Yet many do it because it's important to them. One could argue much like student loans, which are non-secured loans, what is the benefit of staying at home? It's unsecured, loss of job skills, etc.
But again it's a personal choice. Staying at home with a child is a risk. Risk of income, risk of death, risk of disability of primary breadwinner, risk of divorce, but consciously people make choices like taking out a mortgage or student loan.
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Not at all, I'm saying, you can pay a lot of different amounts for the same degree. Maybe he could have paid less for his degree, Maybe not. As a rule, it seems that high SL debt does provide for a high income, which is good, but IMO, paying off the debt before you set your lifestyle to the income is a good plan. It's hard for me to ignore that SL debt is only backed by your abillity to pay it.
The longer you keep the debt, the longer you are at risk. OP is where he is today, I would concentrate on paying off the debt even before the 401k match. In a short period of time he would be debt free and have gobbs of money to invest without the monkey on his back.