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Forum Post: Just how much debt should a 24 year old have?

Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 30, 2012, 2:15 p.m. EST by SteveKJR (-497)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

I'm just curious to this answer for the following reasons: Is it true that the vast majority of todays 24 year olds own more then $50,000 in debt

If this is the case, I can't understand that logic. Here we have a person who is just entering the work force and for some unknown reason thinks it's ok to be in debt in order to "get a good paying job".

I mean the person has no job skills to speak of, only a piece of paper giving credibility to the fact that they continued their education for another 4 years after they graduated from high school.

Even then a person doesn't know what direction they want to go in as far as their occupation.

Does a college degree give a person that much of an advantage over anyone else seeking a job?

I serioulsly doubt it because a person without a college degree can make just as much as if not more then a college grad when it comes to making an income.

Your thoughts please.

11 Comments

11 Comments


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[-] 2 points by jrhirsch (4714) from Sun City, CA 12 years ago

Advertising and mind control. It's the same as buying a car. You are brainwashed into believing you need a 30,000 dollar 4000 lb car that gets 15mpg to transport you from point a to point b. So you go into debt to obtain it. Debt is economic slavery. It makes others rich at your expense. Don't fall for it.

When you are finally employed in that good paying job with the debt paid off, you become the slave master of the same people you once were. You will use the same advertising and mind control to enlist your own slaves

A persons value is not how much they make, but what they contribute, minus what they take.

[-] 1 points by hidden (430) from Los Angeles, CA 12 years ago

Well, that's what competition is. Free Market does not expect everybody to have proper education or a good paying job. The invisible hand will always adjust the prices so the most demanded goods would be barely affordable by only a small percent of population. If you still choose to go that road, you just dug your own grave in never ending debt. So, it's ether Free Market or life conditions. It's like Olympics, only one winner for each category.

If you really think about it, what does diploma really represent? Education? ... or submissive and obedient worker who cannot afford to quit?

[-] 1 points by ARod1993 (2420) 12 years ago

The problem with a bachelor's degree is that it's become the new accepted floor for workers. Getting one guarantees you nothing unless you get one in a particular subset of fields and/or you have a particular set of life skills alongside it when you graduate. Failing to get one, however, makes your chances of advancement when things get better far lower than someone with a degree (again, there are exceptions but as far as I'm aware this is the rule).

[-] 2 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 12 years ago

business don't want people that expect to get paid for their degree

[-] 1 points by bill1102inf2 (357) 12 years ago

they want slaves in china. o wait, they already got those

[-] 1 points by ARod1993 (2420) 12 years ago

There is definitely that factor as well; one of the things that has been going on during the recession is layoffs of large groups of people, quickly followed by rehiring for the same position at recession-grade salaries.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 12 years ago

shifty

[-] 1 points by April (3196) 12 years ago

I agree. The old high school diploma is the new Bachelor Degree. This is the result of overseas outsourcing and increasing productivity improvements to where there is less lower level jobs at a living wage, which in turn, depresses these wages even further. And with the high cost of higher education, which has increased over 1000% since 1980, its no wonder there is a problem.

[-] 0 points by SteveKJR (-497) 12 years ago

I agree with what most of you are saying with regard to "not wanting to have a debt hanging over you when you graduate.

It can still be done today but there is a way to do it. Taking basic courses at community colleges or on line is one way to curb costs.

However, there is going to be a point in time when the elective has to be picked and the cost goes up.

I think instead of expecting to graduate in 4 years spread it out over 6 or 8 years. Use that time to get "on the job training" by working either full time and going to school in the evenings or working part time by taking 2 or 3 classes a week.

Either way a person can benefit in the long run by doing this.

[-] 0 points by smartcapitalist (143) 12 years ago

I too had a loan of around $80k during my MBA. paid it back in 2 years.

[-] 0 points by Kirby (104) 12 years ago

It is sad. My sons have friends with debt for school surpassing $100,000. I graduated with $ 3,000, which paid I off in two years. I know these are 1970's prices, but this kind of debt today is so massive. It equals the cost of a home, not a car. Obama said in his sotu speech, that colleges can't keep raising prices and expecting students to get loans to pay for it. I agree with the president on something.

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