A 5,000-Year-Old Plan to Erase Debts Is Now a Hot Topic in America

[disneysteve]

Honestly age is not a measure of maturity ..... 16/ 18 /21 or 25 .....some are responsible and ready at an early age and i know some past 40 that could not make a smart & responsible decision if they were given 3 chances.

Absolutely. But physiologically speaking, you simply aren't "done" at age 18. You're brain is still developing for 5-7 more years. That doesn't mean there aren't bright, responsible 18-year-olds out there, but if I was going to pick a single age at which to give people full legal rights, it wouldn't be 18.

[riverwed070707]

Honestly, I think part of the problem is counting 18-year-olds as adults. Developmentally, you're just not fully matured intellectually at that age. Physiologically, your brain isn't fully developed until around age 25. It should come as no surprise to anyone that teenagers often make poor decisions or don't consider the future consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, the law treats teenagers as adults and gives them the right to sign those contracts. I'd love to see the "contract" age raised to 21.

If I couldn't have signed a contract until I was 21, I would have been homeless for 4 years. I definitely would not have been able to go to college and made steps to improve my situation. Would have been stuck in some waitressing job and who knows if I would have ended up on a similar path - certainly wouldn't have been a better one if I got a 3 year later start on being able to get a degree and a decent paying job. I was married with a kid and owned a home at 21... Definitely would have taken offense to being treated like a child at 20 when I'd been supporting myself since 16.

[Smallsteps]

If I couldn't have signed a contract until I was 21, I would have been homeless for 4 years. I definitely would not have been able to go to college and made steps to improve my situation. Would have been stuck in some waitressing job and who knows if I would have ended up on a similar path - certainly wouldn't have been a better one if I got a 3 year later start on being able to get a degree and a decent paying job. I was married with a kid and owned a home at 21... Definitely would have taken offense to being treated like a child at 20 when I'd been supporting myself since 16.

You area great example of what CAN be done. There are far more people out there that can and do make good decisions like not getting in over their head in debt but are not recognized for their efforts.
People OFTEN swap at what age someone can make SMART decisions daily based on the subject of discussion..... not the persons ability to reason. The idea that they can do many other things but are too clueless to commit to pay a loan....... seems to be a bit convenient of an excuse.

If people are not matured intellectually until 25 perhaps we need to re-evaluate the Many items they are allowed to do driving a car/ smoking /drinking at 21 or even suggested lowering voting age .
It is a very slippery slope.

Unfortunately it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and For many students, they KNOW being a victim or playing " I had no idea"............. can pay off,.....
if a certain amount of people take the stance that EVERYONE cannot make smart choice and GOVERNMENT should step in........
perhaps parents ( or really big brother) should make all deals until someone is 30? 40? 50?

[riverwed070707]

You area great example of what CAN be done. There are far more people out there that can and do make good decisions like not getting in over their head in debt but are not recognized for their efforts.
People OFTEN swap at what age someone can make SMART decisions daily based on the subject of discussion..... not the persons ability to reason. The idea that they can do many other things but are too clueless to commit to pay a loan....... seems to be a bit convenient of an excuse.

If people are not matured intellectually until 25 perhaps we need to re-evaluate the Many items they are allowed to do driving a car/ smoking /drinking at 21 or even suggested lowering voting age .
It is a very slippery slope.

Unfortunately it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and For many students, they KNOW being a victim or playing " I had no idea"............. can pay off,.....
if a certain amount of people take the stance that EVERYONE cannot make smart choice and GOVERNMENT should step in........
perhaps parents ( or really big brother) should make all deals until someone is 30? 40? 50?

Exactly my thoughts. We are creatures of survival at our core. Not to be that person that always blames the parents but I really do think this is a toughen up and get your sh!t together situation. It doesn't seem to me like it's the poor and disadvantaged who are in this situation - it's the kids who always have a fallback plan, a bailout, the ones who call mom and dad to come fix it. Maybe I'm stereotyping a bit but if I recall correctly, you have to have a credit worthy co-signer to even get a non-government loan. I also think its ok to let kids make mistakes - if my DD puts herself in a financial bind, I'm not coming to her rescue. I'll help her figure it out and come up with a recovery plan but I'm not going to fix it for her because what does that teach? Firmly believe the fix to this is in financial education (at school and at home) and affordable education. The concept of student loans originated in the idea that once you graduate, you'll be making enough money to repay them. Clearly as school costs have gone up and wages have stayed stagnant, that really isn't the case and borrowing only puts you further behind to start.