Hey all,
With the index moving up to 3.9% should I pay my HECS debt off and be done with it.
I have the required cash sitting in a savings account and that won't need to be touched for 10years+
On the other hand I'm a stay at home dad and its going to be a very long time until I earn over $46k and potentially may never again. So maybe I just take the debt to the grave??
Thanks
@pogichinoy: Bollocks.
lots of people went to uni but back then. It wasn't merely a money-making enterprise (for the faculties). And what poor decision making skills do I have?
If I can't get a job because they want a degree or some such, regardless of my abilities and experience doing the actual work then what I stated was correct. I don't really care, I'm doing OK in that regard, I was just making the observation. And if I had a dollar for everyone I know who had to retrain a graduate once in the workplace to be able to do the actual job they 'studied' for then I wouldn't have to work at all.
@EightImmortals: https://www.mq.edu.au/thisweek/archives/wp-content/uploads/2…
Look at the years University was free and compare that to the population at the time.
Your poor decision making skills is into thinking a university degree is mandatory to be successful, as you stated. Guess what that makes you? Gullible.
@pogichinoy: Well Seek and other job sites have raised me to assume a degree is needed for most professions if you don't wanna get stuck on low wage and low growth. And even then, lets add some years of experience too.
@cookie2: The brainwashing is rife.
And has this perception changed when you see people with degrees on low wages and low growth? As well as blue collar workers without degrees but not on low wage and low growth?
@pogichinoy: Honesty my networking circle is pretty minimal and I don't know many that have degrees (that i know of). I have known one that has a degree but not employed within what they studied. All i know is that I look at so many interesting jobs with variety and percieved growth and more and more are pushing for degrees. This crosses it out for many. Low wage and low growth is possible in most jobs but a degree gives a higher likelihood of getting a job with a higher pay than otherwise in the same area.
@cookie2: Agree that a degree can give a higher likelihood of getting a job, wealth, prosperity etc
But depends on the degree and the job.
A degree in political science most likely won’t attract a high wage with high growth. However a degree in actuarial studies will.
An electrician apprenticeship most likely attracts a better career than that of a graphic designer.
At the end of the day it’s down to the individual.
@pogichinoy: Sounds like you're saying that it's down to the degree itself, rather than the individual.
@cookie2: Not at all. A person with a degree in political science or accounting can still end up working at maccas if they don’t have the drive.
University in Australia was free a short while ago.
University in Australia was free a short while ago.
Cool. How does that change the fact that every person who engages in a student loan scheme agrees to that contractually in writing?
This truly is the entitled generation…
@1st-Amendment: You are aware that part of it is that you're only required to pay it back after you earn above a certain threshold? Seems like you don't like the current Australian law, or previous Australian law and instead want to be more like the yanks.
I just find it ironic that you're such a stickler for following the contract yet it seems you're the only one here who wants to change it.
If you're such a stickler for contracts…
Odd comment. You tried to imply that because something was free once, this gives you the right to ignore your any legal obligations. That is all.
Seems like you don't like the current Australian law…
It would only seem like that if you can't read…
@1st-Amendment: The legal obligation is you only pay it back if you earn above a certain threshold. You are aware of that, right? I'm following all my legal obligations. Everyone engaging in HECS is. You're the only person here advocating the contract not be followed.
You're the only person here advocating the contract not be followed.
Reading skills = 0
The post I replied to implied that these debts should be wiped. It's not my fault that you can't read.
How does that change the fact that every person who engages in a student loan scheme agrees to that contractually in writing?
Well, unless you are rich, or Mummy and Daddy are paying, what is your choice? Funny, I feel the entitled generation are the ones who availed free education and then whinge about young people who are upset with that.
Well, unless you are rich, or Mummy and Daddy are paying, what is your choice?
Another choice is to not take out the loan and choose another path in life. You make the choice, you take responsibility for that choice. That is what being an adult is all about.
Funny, I feel the entitled generation are the ones who availed free education and then whinge about young people who are upset with that.
Maybe use less feelings next time and try to focus on facts, then you won't sound so immature. FWIW I chose to go to Uni and chose to get a loan to fund that choice. It cost me almost $100k which I paid off over many years. So who is entitled now?
Maybe use less feelings next time and try to focus on facts
Not having a dig at you, more the LNP opinion of "the age of entitlement is over, from the most entitled cockwaffles we have ever seen"
FWIW I studied 2 degrees, paid my HECS and am happy with the result, I was in the very first cohort of HECS students - however the higher education sector with increasing HECS and crappy "pay for a degree" options out there now put more of a burden on the low income student, add into that the increase in university fees in line with cuts to funding alongside the fact that a more educated population is a net gain for the country - years of LNP education policies have turned us into the stupid country.
and crappy "pay for a degree" options out there now put more of a burden on the low income student,
Well there actually is no burden since you have a choice not to choose such poor a outcome for yourself.
A university degree is not the only path to success. You only have to count the number of tradies driving $100k vehicles to see that.
the fact that a more educated population is a net gain for the country
But is it? I get that some level of education is important, hence why every party agrees to fund K-12. But what value is society getting out of a million people with an Arts degree? If you choose to do a stupid degree that offers no job prospect at the end of it, why should I pay for that?
@1st-Amendment: What is this contract you keep talking about? Can you point to any government documentation?
I got my HECS debt simply by accepting the HECS funded place at university. I don't remember signing any contract.
What is this contract you keep talking about?
I got my HECS debt simply by accepting…
The word 'accept' means you entered into an agreement, ie a legally binding contract.
@1st-Amendment: Thanks. I was wondering if you knew something at all, but you have made it clear that you are just making stuff up and are as clueless as you seem.
HECS is enforced by statue law, not contract law.
Thanks. I was wondering if you knew something at all, but you have made it clear that you are just making stuff up and are as clueless as you seem.
Because you said so lol…
HECS is enforced by statue law, not contract law.
Cool story, this has nothing to do with what I said.
Reading skills = 0
You aren't allowed to declare bankruptcy on student debt in the US, which is the same as Australia, but they are generally more forgiving when it comes to wiping the debt (ie: on failure to make repayments due to sickness or poor health).
That's an average of $36k per person of that 45 million, which isn't really that terrible for a college degree. The people with the high earning job degrees - lawyers, doctors, etc - are the ones that will have far more than that $36k, but will easily afford to re-pay it, so the others will be left with a debt of significantly less than that $36k.
Student loan debt being the second highest category of consumer debt behind mortgage isn't really a bad thing or unexpected. What other big debts do people get? Car loans and credit cards, and if your credit card debt is bigger than a car loan you have much bigger problems.
With the index moving up to 3.9% should I pay my hecs debt off and be done with it
How do you actually intend to live? Unless you're smooching off your partner, you will have to pay it somehow. If you have investments, and your investment income or capital gains exceed the threshold, you will still have to pay the HECS.
just wait for rekttrading comment and do exactly as he says
50% daily gains in a 1% unlimited loan facility
Does he have a reputation for not being bright? I'm arguing with him elsewhere in this post and it's very painful lol.
He has a reputation for being obsessed with crypto and thinking that means he's an expert in everything financial. And that crypto is the answer to every finisher problem.
Well, his username checks out after that luna fiasco..
A combined income of 120k with no debts should be enough to get by on. I guess time will tell
Then just pay the hecs debt.
I will say this. You don't know where life will take you and in regards to work and pay in particular, nothing is certain.
Pay it off and try to get a job that pays you over 46k a year.
Don't pay it if you can.
"Buy, borrow, ☠️"
Do exactly as rekt says.+1
University education became free in Australia on January 1, 1974. This was just in time for the 1956 cohort of Baby Boomers to commence tertiary studies.
In 1989 fees were reintroduced. This was just in time for the last of the Baby Boomers to graduate after failing a few subjects on the way.
July 15, 2014 by Stephen King
Awful isn’t it. Then the recipients of a free uni education let loose on students and the poor in parliament 🤦♂️🙄
Awful isn’t it.
Yes Labor's welfare policies are awful. But then some people keep repeating the same action expecting a different result…
You're a stay at home dad now but won't be forever. Do you really think you will never earn over 46k?
Not with that attitude, he won't.
Are you going to teach your child/children to take on debts (borrowing from the rest of us taxpayers, actually) and never pay them back?
Like you.
Are you going to teach your child/children that we shouldn't, as a society, encourage people to become more educated? HECS is a pretty fair system that ensures that anyone can (more or less) go to uni if they want to, and then pay for it later should that education (or some other avenue) lead to some financial success.
Are you going to teach your child/children that all debts are equal and there is no such thing as a "return on investment"? HECS debt is hardly like getting a line of credit you can't affort to buy sh*t you can't afford, that depreciates massively and never provides any return.
If you think paying back a debt you don't have to is a good move you are financially illiterate
its going to be a very long time until I earn over 46k and potentially may never again.
you do know kids grow up right? they go to school.
Unless you have a million+ sitting in a bank account I have no idea how you aim to go through life without getting so incredibly bored without something to fill your time, and doing fun/interesting things generally requires money
No idea why you'd settle to living with minimal income over such a tiny amount of student debt
it will limit your borrowing capacity if you need to buy properties later on
high inflation environment will hurt you with this sort of debt, the debt just pile on and compounding
youre the sort of bloke that lets his mates shout rounds at the pub and never gets the next round either i bet
i hope they lump that hecs debt onto your kids
nah don't have the disposable income to drink at the pub
Take it to the grave
Just pay a small amount each year to stop the balance from increasing beyond where it is. If your situation changes down the line, then you can start paying more of it off. Easy.
Good answer
whats your age?
32
thanks, age is the critical part, you still have lot of time to change jobs and earn more, after sometime this amount will seem like a cake.
Mines 30k, bloody horrific. If I had my time again I wouldn’t have done it, damned if you do, damned if you don’t
A trade would have been the way to go for me
Did you not end up in a good career? What did you study and what do you do now for a job? I have an obscene hecs debt too, I started a science degree and failed a bunch of subjects and wasted a lot of hecs, then did computer science and did well and am now in a good job so it was worth it for me (but would have been better had I figured out to go into computer science right away).
It's good you ended up in the right place. How did you get into computer science, was it electives you did during your first degree. I think alot of people have no idea what they want to do so end up racking up massive debt.
If there was an option to trial heaps of different subjects to get a taste of what you may like. It would provide a little more direction
had no idea what I wanted to do out of school so studied commerce just passed and didn't apply myself. Moved to the country with the Mrs got a job in a mine and became a mine surveyor. Now living on the coast and only option to continue is being FIFO which isn't family friendly. Now I just do some casual handyman stuff
Oh that sounds annoying that you can't use your degree at all! Do you ever feel like going back to uni and doing something else? It is probably hard if your wife's job wouldn't pay for everything plus you have kids which isn't study friendly.
For me, I saw an advertisement on TV about doing computer science at Charles Sturt uni, thought that sounded interesting, read about it and decided I wanted to do that instead of trying to finish my science degree. Turned out I loved it. I love maths but didn't have the discipline to do 3rd year uni level maths but computer science ticked the same part of the brain (solving problems, thinking logically) but was more practical. Maybe there's a discipline out there that will tick the right parts of your brain too that you just need to find. When you do handyman stuff, do you really enjoy it? Like fixing problems for people, working with your hands etc? Maybe you would enjoy doing a trade like being an electrician? If you don't like it, but are just doing it because you happen to have the skills and it is a way to bring in money - that's harder. But I am sure there exists something out there that you would really love to do.
(I didn't do any computer science electives when I was studying science, my only exposure was programming in visual basic in high school)
@Quantumcat: Can I ask how Charles Sturt are for online? I have been considering one of their courses but it's so difficult when online reviews for most unis are really bad!
@cookie2: It was pretty good. If you are doing bachelor of computer science there is an amazing community on discord, alums sharing knowledge with current students, current students helping each other, lots of documents being shared, helping each other decide what subjects to take, job search and career help, etc. Unfortunately I only discovered it in my last semester but it had been going for a year or two before that. There are the usual official discussion boards for each subject but it isn't the same as live discussion. The lecturers are all pretty nice and have time for individual students to have a call with them or email discussion if there's something you are having difficulty with. There's one lecturer who is very notorious as being super intense and enthusiastic and a bit weird, he covers quite a number of subjects so if you do the degree you have about a 100% chance of taking one of his classes.
@Quantumcat: Thanks heaps for the feedback, i was particularly looking at their bach of information studies that they do. Just not sure if I should drop the coin ( well onto Hecs anyway).
@Quantumcat: I wouldn't be able to study again. But yes you are right I'll definitely be seeking a job I enjoy
Hi,
I am really surprised! For someone with a Commerce degree you should have this financial situation figured out :-)
If it's sitting in an account not earning any interest and you have debts accruing high interest. You should definitely pay it off!!
The only reason to keep the debt is if your money is earning more (after tax) than the cost of that debt.
If you try to buy a house HECS debt will affect your borrowing capacity more that the amount of the actual debt. Get rid of it ASAP.
@xavster: You kinda missed the brief about not earning enough so letting the debt accumulate then be wiped out upon death. Our home is also owned outright so borrowing capacity isn't an issue not that I would have any capacity due to my low income
I always suggest people to study something with concrete skills i.e. you can build something out of your skills. So generally science engineering etc, society needs it.
Then why did you do it to start with? No one forced you to, it was a choice, and everyone knows they are going to get a debt when they start.
Do you ever wake up and think "I'll try being a nice person today"?
I try every day. However, when people complain about situations of their own making, and try to pass the buck onto others, it really makes it difficult for me. There are plenty of threads where I've been nice, the common theme to those though, is that people have likely taken some personal responsibility, and don't blame everyone else for their woes.
Have you got a reason as to why people shouldn't pay back a debt that they chose to take on?
Perhaps I should go and buy a new car tomorrow on finance. Maybe next year I'll realise that it wasn't that good, and has lost a lot of its value, however I think the bank should just forgive my loan, as I had been told that new cars were great, so it isn't really my fault. I should get to keep the car as well. That seems quite fair.
@brendanm: When you go into a university course, you don't know if you are going to love it or not, or be good at it. If you take two seconds to try to see things from the other person's point of view before commenting, you won't find it so difficult anymore.
@Quantumcat: Yes, I can see that from others perspective. At what point does that become the taxpayers problem? Why should others fund peoples bad choices?
I'm not even being mean or nasty, just expecting that people will own their decisions.
Then why did you do it to start with?
It should be fairly obvious that they thought they would enjoy it and/or be good at it. Do you really think they went into it with the intention to waste 3-4 years of their life and go into debt? Or do you think they don't realise now that the decision turned out poorly and need to have it spelled out to them? There was no need for your comment whatsoever. It didn't help at all and it wasn't a nice thing to say. If you see someone trip over and break their arm, is it your instinct to ask them why they chose to put their feet there and if they like being in lots of pain, and when they cry out in pain to tell them nobody forced them to break their arm, it was their own choice? If you aren't going to comfort them, or call an ambulance, just keep walking mate.
@Quantumcat: My comment went along with others from that poster further up, saying how terrible "student debt" is a concept.
This is the exactly why free University is a terrible idea (at least for most degrees), people don't know what they want to do except "go to university", and waste time and money on things they no longer wish to pursue, or that have terrible career prospects. The taxpayer is then left to shoulder the responsibility.
@brendanm: This is true to a point. Uni does need to be accessible to the disadvantaged to middle class mortgage belt. I am the first in my family to graduate. Sure I paid and did not expect it for free. There were still many upfront costs i.e. text books that were mandatory because of lazy lecturers. I also paid compulsory student union fees which are now gone. Also pumping the price of arts degrees in trying to increase STEM participation is DUMB. Who ever says arts disciplines don’t have merit lacks creativity and free thought.
@brendanm: By that argument, we shouldn't make high school free either, kids don't know what they want except "go to school"
@od810: Yes, one is general overall learning, and one is extremely specific learning, what a fantastic point 🙄
@brendanm: What is general learning and what's specific learning? Why does general learning need to be 12 years? Primary school maths & english are enough for day to day living.
@Quantumcat: Discovering yourself is a part of life, as is figuring out what you like and want to do in life.
This isn’t free and you either have to pay for it in financial cost or time.
This isn’t anything new and people need to be reminded of this instead of feeling entitled.
Kind regards,
Gen Yer
LOL being nice gets you nowhere.
People need a hard dose of reality. That’s why our country are raising many adults who aren’t ready for the real world.
It seemed like it was necessary for the field I wanted to go into, and i actually dropped out half way through and just worked in the literal area; no one cared if I had said degree or not. Went back to work on it during lockdown and nearly done, having the debt of a unfinished degree also solidified the choice. It’s generalist and opens up the door to more defined study but yeah…with the hikes in fees it becomes less appealing and having to focus on getting a job where the employer may cover a chuck of the post grad fees in a dream win/win scenario eg an MBA
I think you have answered your own question "With the index moving up to 3.9% should I pay my HECS debt off and be done with it."
It's interest on the loan by another name. I'm sure you would be happier to be rid of the debt.
Poor people work hard to pay off debt. Sometimes working themselves to death.
Wealthy people buy, borrow, die. The estate takes care of the debt.
Rich people get rich, go bankrupt, learn, and get rich again.
No, Cash is king in this market, they may index it, but you can also use your after tax income to pay it back,
That's what it's desgined for. And then write off more stuff so you don't feel it as much with realted education expenses.
If you have, invest it in an asset class that matches your risk appetite, if you don't have much of a risk appetite, term deposit
Pay it off and you won't have to think about it ever again.
Pay it.
Is there still a discount for paying in lump sum?
Not since many years ago
make sure you're not a Russian, otherwise yatch=no yatch
Russos can't get HECS.
be an Australian citizen and meet the residency requirements (you must study at least some of your course in Australia)
dual citizenship OR make business with Russia Gov
"I have the required cash sitting in a savings account and that won't need to be touched for 10years+"
This is a no brainer, into the stock market it goes.
Anyone got any information for me? I have about mid 30ks in my hecs and I’m 26
Any suggestions? Working full time and earning decent money
*edit: not looking at paying it entirely off but want to understand if contributions are a good idea
your HECS will comes out of your PAYG when your salary reach a certain figure
if you are earning the big bucks it get knocked out fairly quickly
I do understand that - what is frustrating though (which I found out recently), is this saved amount is paid post indexation and not when taken out
if you are earning "good money" the govt is gonna dock your salary or tax returns, theres no hiding m8
to many variables but you'd probably be better of saving it and using for a deposit on a home or investing elsewhere to make more than the index
@pogichinoy: From 1974 to 1989.