WRONG. You never 'caught' me saying I was FINE with it. Nice try. I said it COULD happen not that it would or that I would be FINE with it.
Go ahead and do what you want, but those who have their kids burdened with the enslavement of school loans are doing a horrible 'favor' for their kids.
Sure sounds like you wouldn't do anything to stop it -- that's the same as FINE in my book.
I totally agree that student loans are a bad idea, and I still think you're convinced that the FAFSA is just about loans. It isn't. I completed a FAFSA every year. I received a Pell grant. I was
offered loans every year, but I chose the live-in-poverty-and-work-like-a-dog route.
I am quite aware of that. You seem to miss that I spent a great deal of time researching this and found several sources of scholarships for both merit and talent that did not require the filling out of the FAFSA form. I don't need to fill out another form or have someone else knowing our financial situation than is absolutely necessary.
For us the FAFSA makes no sense whatsoever, but we know you can get aid if you know where to look without filling it out.
I really find it hard to believe that the mother of a six-year old is already researching college finance options. Regardless, you found "several" sources of scholarships without FAFSA -- I don't doubt that. But how many are available through FAFSA? Hundreds? Why would you turn your back on hundreds and limit yourself to only those few?
The only loan that does not bother me too much is a 15 year mortgage on a house. We did it without ever taking out a loan for a car or a house. We have found that you don't need a good credit score in this life and refuse to believe the garbage that people put out about its importance. We even are aware of banks that look beyond a FICO score to due such lending.
We just do not borrow money period. We do think loans are evil and people who have them are enslaved by the lender.
If you need a loan to buy a car, you are buying too much car.
I'm not
entirely in disagreement on these topics. We bought our first house on a 30-year mortage and began paying it on a 15-year schedule; it was paid off after 13 years; we never carried a mortgage on our second house (admittedly, it is a fixer-upper). At this point in our lives we are able to pay cash for our cars. And I think the credit score thing is sort of like putting the cart before the horse; you should concern yourself with financial security, and the credit score will follow. I haven't borrowed anything since I turned 40, and one of my goals is never to have another loan.
BUT, your comments are not only worded in a manner intended to aggravate people, they're
downright impossible for the vast majority of young people in today's world. For example, when I bought my first car at age 20, I was a college student and couldn't have scraped together enough money to buy a bicycle -- but without a car I couldn't have worked off campus, which paid more (no public transporation, walking unrealistic) and I couldn't have completed my college internship. My grandmother co-signed for that car, explaining that she'd only do it once: If I paid the bill every month, I'd never need a co-signer again, and if I failed to pay it, she wouldn't help me again.
I do believe that the average American has too much debt. I do believe that everyone should strive to borrow as little as possible and should work towards being debt-free -- but for people just out of school, SOME DEBT is inevitable. Anyone who CAN start out in life without debt has a great deal of help from his or her parents, and a person in that position should understand his or her good fortune and not look down on those who
have to work for everything.
The sense of accomplishment when one bill is paid off is pretty significant.
But you said that no one -- no one -- should ever borrow for any reason, any reason whatsoever -- well, except for a house. So how'd you experience this sense of accomplishment at paying off a bill? Did you buy too much car?
I can say the same to you. You seem completely inflexible in thinking the FAFSA is the ONLY way.
No, it's just the best way. It's the way that opens doors to the most aid.
Try it some time and come back and let us know how it worked out for you. Cash has an amazing psychological effect especially when it is those amounts. Walking away holding that much is far different than walking away with a check.
I've bought several cars (and a house) for cash . . . and no one ever 'specially reacted in any strange way. Whether it's cash or a loan, the seller is going to get his money. If you're buying from a dealership, they PREFER that you finance through them -- more money in the long run.
How can you care so much about getting the best deal on a car and completely discount the best portions of college aid that your child could get? It's quite inconsistant.
No it has nothing to do with that. Take a read of The Millionare Next Door and you will learn that the "rich" did not that way because of what they bought, they are that way because of what they didn't spend.
Living like no one else so we can live like no one else.
I read that book, and it could've been written about my husband and I -- but one of the principles was that wealthy people take advantage of opportunities around them. Opportunities like financial aid available through FAFSA. They do not tend to look down on savings methods as "beneath them" or "not worthy of their time".
Whose catch phrase is that "live like no one else" thing? It's quite vague.
I sold my last car privately and no way would I accept cash from someone. Cashiers check only.
Actually, I'm never selling a car myself again. It seems to bring the crazies out of the woodwork, and I didn't like having them come over to my house.
Actually, we've kept our last couple cars 'til the wheels fell off, and then we donated them to charity. They had no real value any longer, and the tax deduction was worth much more than the money we could've made.
If I did sell a car, I'd insist upon verifying the cashier's check. I agree that I wouldn't accept a suitcase full of 100s -- not unless we could go to the bank (before handing over the car) and verify that they weren't printed in the buyer's garage.
What a story. I am bookmarking it. I know parents like this and it is just so sad. Thanks for sharing.
Think TestifyOnCruises sees herself in this father's actions? In a few more years, her child will.
Without the FAFSA, my child is eligible to apply for this much aid:
$$$$
By filling out the FAFSA, my child would be eligible to apply for your pile, plus a much bigger pile:
$$$$ + $$$$$$$$$
Visuals are always good. Only an idiot could fail to see that more $$$$$ are better!
If the boy was willing to go against his fathers wishes and join the military, why didn't he just go against his fathers wishes and go to a cheaper, less academic school? It doesn't make sense. Sure, the father may not have been willing to pay for it, but lots of kids go to college and figure out a way to pay for it.
Well, I'm thinking back 20 years to share that story, and I don't know that he saw that as an option - remember, he was only 18. What occurs to you and I might not've occured to him. I do know that he considered going to a less expensive university and living at home (so that he could've paid only tuition, and he coudl've transferred to Carolina later), but I suspect his father wouldn't have allowed him to live at home under those circumstances. Thinking back, I think he saw his options as 1) Go live in a dorm at Carolina or 2) Live at home and attend either the university 30 minutes away or community college. Again, he was 18. Not an age revered for seeing all the options. His father, however, should've been more rational.
There is a troublemaker who wants to insinuate that anyone who pays in cash must be doing illegal or won't fill out a form must be nefarious, but this person is easily ignored.
Oh, I'm sure that more than one person on this thread thinks that
the real reason for the rabid anti-FAFSA attitude is probably rooted in not wanting the government to see something.
I am saying I refuse to fill out a form or suggest that my daughter attend any institution of higher learning because I know much better than some posters who put themselves out as "experts" there is a HUGE pool of funds out there that do not require some form to be filled out.
Earlier you said it was "several" sources of aid that don't require FAFSA. Now it's a HUGE pool?
If you'll look back to what I posted yesterday, I provided evidence that the no-FAFSA pool of funds is actually quite small. Even if it were not, I still haven't heard any reason why you'd purposefully deny your child access to an even LARGER pool of financing.
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