Derek Melleby from CPYU does a good service in writing about debt and the college student. Like most things college, the roots of the problem arise out of the family of origin and prior experiences before college.
There is an old adage to not borrow money on anything that depreciates in value….cars, clothes, food, etc. Especially with the credit card because minimum payments hide the exponential multiplication of the debt as a moist closed area breeds bacteria. Today, even houses may have to be sold for less than what one purchased it for which is a good reason to be cautious about buying a home.
It used to be that a college degree would make someone’s earning potential increase over the long-haul. These days, don’t be so sure. In a tight job market, many college graduates are in jobs that didn’t require a four year college degree. Such students might have the edge in promotions in the future depending on what they actually learned in college, their aptitudes, attitude towards work, and the like–which is now called by the term “Skills Set.”
Living beyond our means has become a national ethos from the government to individuals. The strikes in France about raising the retirement age to 62 shows the Socialist mentality at work…or more correctly, not at work. The average expected life span of those in the early 1900’s in the U.S. was the mid-50’s. Now that people live way beyond what the projections planned for, it is only common sense that people will have to adjust their retirement expectations.
It is only common sense…which isn’t so common anymore.