Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for October 04, 2020

And it will take you longer to payoff.

Nothing that a hammer to Rat’s head won’t solve.

Whack!

The “Grand Giver O’ Money” forgot to add "The Honest …. "

This explains why the likes of Trump are rich.

The bought stuff makes great colateral. An education is only worth the paper the degree is printed on.

This is truth, yo. I don’t know why some older people don’t understand it. “Why don’t they just get a (minimum wage) job when they’re in high school? Then they should be able to pay for four years of college. That’s what I did in 1937. Get off my lawn!”

Higher education is a unique thing to purchase: There is a limited supply, but the value is so high that they can charge almost any price (as long as it doesn’t go up so fast that people wake up to the scam). The Democrat plans to make it available at a much lower cost may end up happening, but if the law doesn’t include a non-escalator clause, it will eventually be as troublesome as California’s PERS…

I never could figure out how they came up with the following:

The problem with education costing too much is solved by making even bigger loans that can never be forgiven!

The system in a nutshell:

“I don’t think I want to go to college”

-You’ll end up digging ditches your whole life and be a loser!

“Okay, I’ll go to community college”

-That will be worthless and you’ll end up only able to get a low-paying basic job and will be a loser!

“Okay, I’ll go to university and get a degree in this field I am passionate about”

-That passion is terrible and you’ll never get a job with it and will be a loser!

“Okay, I went to university and got a bachelor’s in a high demand field but I still can’t find work and now I’m 30,000 in debt even though I worked throughout school and skipped several meals a week to study”

-You’re such an entitled elitist! Just get a job and quit whining!

Well, all the other examples have a physical asset the bank can seize, which is why all these loans will most likely require insurance coverage, mostly to make sure the bank is covered.

The people that manage the money don’t want intelligent people running around that aren’t under their thumbs.

I am very old. Sometimes at McDonalds I tell the youngster at the cashier station that I am celebrating today. “I just paid off my student loan.”

if 7% is the highest interest, I’m getting scammed with my credit card…

Stephan because you brought up school I give you a grade of B- for this one …. Croc Power !

Really contribute to the economy? Who talks like that? How many of the school or college goers even care to know what’s an economy?

LOL! The Great River of Cash, otherwise known as our Banking System! That’s pretty much how it operates!

Why is it 7%? Well, for one thing, it’s a government loan and not a bank loan, so there is that… Then there’s the high default rate. It’s an unsecured loan so there are no assets to seize on default.

Why are the others lower? If you default on a mortgage the bank gets the house. If you default on a HELOC the bank gets the house. If you default on an auto loan the bank gets the car. If you default on a student loan the Department of Education gets nada.

Seriously, though, unless you are going into STEM, law, medicine, or business, college is a monumental waste of money. And I’m not even 100% sure on business and computer science anymore.

Moral of the story. Don’t go to the college.

Ditsy Devos approves this message.

Amen. And follow the (7%) Big MONEY to Big Govt.

He was just reading a book on Gothic architecture a week ago – he only learned “flying buttocks”, but hey, a little knowledge is a great thing.

The higher rate of default is on student loans. What is being bought by the loan cannot be repossessed. These are factors in determining the the interest rate on a loan.

Also, a college education today is less a guarantee on whether you will have a high paying, useful (to society) career. But because people can loans to cover even the highest tuition, there is little ncentive for colleges to be competitive in their tuition pricing. After all, they are getting paid. These are prime conditions for an inflationary bubble.

Lastly, the “Giver O’ Cash” for student loans is the federal government, unlike the other ones. The private sector has been disallowed.

Because a mortgage, a home equity loan, and a car loan all have collateral tied to them. How would a lender repossess an education degree (assuming it’s even completed) should the borrower default on their payments?

That’s why I’m making less money.

Need that sad button again.

Leaving aside for the moment the indisputable fact that for most majors in the arts and humanities, a university education is incredibly over-priced, note that the interest charges are deferred for 4years. That adds up to a very large amount of money.

The simple reason colleges charge so much? Beacuse they can.

Only advice I can offer is make sure to choose a major with Marketable value. Don’t go $100,000 into debt for a sociology degree that will have you working as a receptionist or a telemarketer.

Given many of the degrees offered by our pathetic excuses for colleges these days, it seems that it’s only fair to charge 7% or more to losers who decide to major in “feminist studies” and other useless degree programs.

The average college graduate pays about $7800 more a year in federal taxes than the average high school graduate. Over 30 years, that totals about $234,000. If that’s divided by the 4 years it takes to get a college education, the government would break even if it paid every student $58,500 a year to attend school. This doesn’t even consider that with the degree, the person is less likely to ever need unemployment or welfare, that more students would complete high school if they could see a clear way to a really good job, and that they would be enriching the Social Security and Medicare funds. They would also be paying a larger amount in all other types of taxes.The best investment we could make to keep America strong is to not just forgive all student loans but to make all higher education, including trade schools, etc totally free, as long as the student is making decent grades, and increase the number of schools and teachers to make room for all who can profit from the education. There is no better way to spend money than to invest it in our people, to give them every opportunity to be the best they can be. Yes, It’s good for them individually, but the country is made up of individuals, so what’s good for one is good for the country.. We don’t, even during a time of high unemployment, have so much a lack of jobs as we have a lack of people who have the skills to perform the jobs that are available- in other words, a lack of education.

And those loans can’t be defaulted on, because they’re fully backed by the federal government.

My college edjumication cost about $300/semester?

I think it was Harry Truman who once remarked about banks, that they’re more than happy to loan you money as long as you can prove you don’t need it.

Hmm, What’s the default rate on those student loans?

Government loans and related subsidies are the reason tuition costs so much. Any time the government subsidizes something – such as healthcare – the costs rise faster than the general inflation rate.

Defaults on student loans are the primary cause of higher rates (the same is true of all unsecured loans.) The high rate of default is skewed by the non-STEM majors, who – of course – have difficulty finding a productive job.

It took student loans, parent loans, and $5K/year academic scholarships to get my son through his undergrad in a state school. I don’t know how he will afford to go to medical school.

They have lowered rates for 2020-21 thanks to the coronavirus. See https://cnb.cx/3dCnQMy. But Pastis WAS correct—graduate school rates were as high as 7.1% even last year.

Upside-down economics (sigh).

The main factor contributing to the escalation of the cost of college was the Federal governments push to make college “affordable”. Which is also the explanation for the cost of health care. The law of unintended consequences applies to most government action.

Education in America is at its LOWEST! …..you can thank Betsy Wetsy DaVos for that! She has done NOTHING for education except take bribe monies from the Studen Loan Companies…was investigated…..YEP! ANOTHER INCOMPETENT FROM THIS ADMINISTRATION! common Core is a sub- standard education….test results prove it!

“Oh grand giver of cash, I can’t make my payments” – “Then we’ll take your house – and your house – and your Mercedes – and your, er, what do you have, anyway?” (Gee, you don’t think THAT’S why student loan rates are so high, do you?)

I want a house! (Fine, I can take that back if you can’t pay it off.) I want a car! (Fine, I can take that back if you can’t pay it off.) I want to go to a bunch of classes that statistics say I will never complete to get a job that won’t pay nearly that much money! (Fine, I can take… ohhh. Um, it’s gonna cost you.)

lol. the interest on my student loan was 8%.

and it was actually a great deal at the time.

Ah, Rat! I see you have succeeded taking your own advice, you over-achiever, you!

So much sanctimony and so little accuracy.

How we finance post-secondary is horrible. There are lots of alternatives, especially for people actually going into productive and necessary career fields. But there are too many obstacles we allow in their way. I will add the fact many students now are questioning paying full tuition cost for online-only education being done because of COVID-19.

Who was it that said “never give a sucker and even break”?

Could be worse, like the double digit inflation and interest rates of the early ’70s. About that time all the credit card companies left Wisconsin due to our usury laws. And, not to forget the market crash of ’08.

Modern, liberal college is often a poor investment. I got my degree when we were still taught how to think, instead of what to think.

I lucked out and my student loans are at 1 and 5/8 percent

My credit card charges 11% for money they get for next to nothing.

Is that the bank or Congress? These days, I can’t tell the difference between thieves.

Loans without collateral made to people with low net worth and no history of being creditworthy are risky. Banks and other lenders are not “Givers of Cash”. They’re businesses.

It would be irresponsible to make low-interest loans to people who are especially apt to not repay as they agreed to. (Some of us did learn from the sub-prime lending activity and the financial crisis that those loans enabled. Come join us!)

But if someone wants to set up an organization to make loans like that last one — or be a co-signer of loans like that one — I’m sure Mr. Rat would be eager to choose to contribute to it.

And if someone wants to set up a business to make loans like that last one, I’m sure Mr. Rat would be eager to buy a piece of it.

As would all the people who agree with him.

Never a borrower nor a lender be. Unless it’s government money.

everyone wants things now and the sad truth is the other loans had collateral. Supposedly an education doesn’t provide any collateral in the future.

Living wage calculator site: www.livingwage.mit.eduShows states, counties, one income or two person income, independents

This is so true, my wife just went back $$$$.

Yup, thanks to lobbying efforts by unscrupulous money changers, young people today who want a college degree get their futures mortgaged to the hilt before they even get started earning!

I remember my Dad telling me, (in the 60’s), that charging more than 6% interest was illegal in the U.S.My, how things have changed!

Students should get a better rate than banks, they’re a better investment.

I went into the military and went to Vietnam. Presto free collage. It’s a good time to go in as there is no war at this time. Serve your country and your country will pay for Collage.

Except … guaranteed student loans are at extremely low rates, well below commercial ones. Plus, it is one of few unsecured loans that can be extended for decades.

Has anyone else told Mr Pastis about the difference between secured and unsecured loans? Maybe how 7% is actually incredibly low for an unsecured loan, only possible because of the way it is treated in bankruptcy? Or maybe he has no idea that a loan is not from a “giver of cash” but from an organisation making money for old people to use in retirement. There is plenty to criticise banks for, but this is not it.

oh yeah for government guaranteed education loans. (blah). I wonder if college would be less expensive and more practical if people couldn’t pay with loans.

Rule of Capitalism #190: Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and you lose a steady customer.

People seem to miss the point that it is a high interest rate because they have no income, thus a much bigger risk to the loaner. Not saying I think we should make it hard to get an education and wish loans were easier, but from a financial risk aspect, it makes sense.

As the old saying goes… “If at first you don’t succeed, hire someone else to do it.” v

Rat’s admonition makes sense, coming from someone who considers himself Perfect. You can’t better Perfect!

Not hard to understand. It’s risk related.

I hate to age myself this way, but in 1979 the student loan rate of 7% was a good deal.

I had a bank refuse to consolidate my debt so I could pay it off easier. However, they were happy enough to give me a car loan the next time I needed it. They even offered to increase my credit availability on my Visa….I went to the Credit Union and never looked back

In 2009-2010 I bought 3 cars at 0% interest. I also cosigned a loan for my daughter’s freshman year at college. The lowest rate was 8%. She is STILL paying for that loan. In many ways. However, she does say, taking it out was one of the worst decisions of her young life and learned an important lesson. So I guess there’s that.

Unless they miss a payment. Then it’s 39.9%