Here is what the base of the next big financial crisis will be…it will be students like me who borrowed $30k and then graduated at the start of the great recession – and then were encouraged to use forbearance on their student loans while they struggled to find their feet under them, start families, and pay for modern requirements like cell phones, internet, insurance (car and health and home), and deal with the seemingly invisible (to the government) steeply rising cost of living in virtually every area. Personally, my debt has grown by nearly 20K through forbearance, since I have used forbearance I will not be eligible for debt forgiveness, and my income has never reached a level where debt repayment is a realistic option – so I will continue to use forbearance until companies like Navient say that I no longer can and then I will probably be forced to default or refinance with a different company which will start the same cycle. Meanwhile Navient uses their debt like cash and that imaginary money (which will probably never be repaid) boosts the stagnant economy enough that people don’t see we are in a very perilous situation. And then – it bursts – and it is too late.
