Just in Time for the Holidays

MSN has two articles up on how my generation is in debt to their eyeballs. Right among an article about gadgets from $10 to $1000.

College Debts and Broken Dreams

A couple of tidbits that struck me personally:

• "This is the first generation who won't necessarily do better than their parents," says Tamara Draut, director of the economic opportunity program at Demos, a research and advocacy organization in New York. "They've been told: 'Apply yourself. You'll get a job, a home.' For many young people that's not the case."
• "A college education doesn't protect you from the vicissitudes of global competition," says Jared Bernstein, director of the living standards program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
• Real earnings for full-time workers between the ages of 25 and 34 who have only a bachelor's degree have, in fact, dropped by almost 10% since 2000, by 5% in 2004 alone. This exaggerates the burden of their debt. For many 30-year-olds, establishing themselves takes longer and is more complicated than they thought it would be. "It's so much more difficult to achieve the adult milestones today than it was 30 years ago," says Draut of the think tank Demos. "There is some sense of betrayal."

If I could do it all over again, I'd do college for the cheapest amount possible. Spending $40,000 a year for a bachelor's degree just isn't worth the cost. Even going to an out-of-state college for $18,000 isn't worth it either. Probably the biggest mistake was passing up the chance to go to Marquette University for about $10,000 a year. Mistake number two was going to f'ing Clemson and going into debt for another $20,000.

The second article, Top 10 Shocks for College Grads, is more of the same. Most of the stuff I've realized for a while now. Other than the very recent debt I've put on my credit card, I don't have any problem with the other stuff. Like doing taxes (being an Econ major helps), or car insurance.

Still, if I had to do it all over again, I would've either pursued scholarships more aggressively, or just gone to a much less expensive school.

Another item to remember is that if finances get totally out of control and a graduate decides to declare bankruptcy, everything will be forgiven except student loans. "Those never go away," Tytel says.

Great. It looks like moving to Canada is looking better and better every single day.

Fucking government.