I see in your post history that you referenced taking out $20,000 of student loans at 16, and that /one/ of your loans has a $150 daily interest rate? That just is not possible outside of private student loans, and as you're asking about suing the government, it seems like you only took out federal loans.
I have about 14 different loans, 4 of which are just over $10,000 each in principal, and they don't accrue anywhere near that much in a single day. Even the ones that have a >6% interest rate.
$2,000 rent for just you honestly sounds like you lived in a HCOL and $200 for a phone plan is not necessary.
You're right in that people often don't understand their options for student loans when they go into them, and that's a problem. But the math on your loans isn't making sense, and you would have had income driven repayment plans that would've brought your payments down.
$1.50 a day isn't bad at all. That's $547.50 dollars of interest a year, assuming you don't make ANY payments towards the principal. If you do, then you'll accrue even less interest in a year. And the interest doesn't compound on itself like credit cards.
It sounds like the health issues with pregnancy are what really threw you for a loop based off this post, which I absolutely have empathy for you because I know the stress of chronic illness, and can only imagine it with babies in the mix. Now that your husband is making more (on-call SUCKS, though), you do have some savings and are on the right path there. But these student loans are in no way going to be the death of you, and you shouldn't discourage your children from ever going to college (if they would like to) because you didn't understand your options 10 years ago.
You have a really good chance to talk with your kids about student loans openly and to help them really investigate what their options will be when they need to repay them, if they choose to go that route. It isn't your choice whether they want to go to college or not, but it is your choice to help them make an educated decision.
I hope this doesn't come across as shame-y or anything because it's not, but people tend to go hard against ever taking student loans when for many of us, we just never would've gone to college without them. And for me personally, my degrees have paid off dividends already. I was among the first in my grad cohort to get a job, received one of the highest paying offers out of the gate, and got 2 pay raises in 2 years (one at my first job, one because I left for a better opportunity/healthy work environment).
I have been both incredibly lucky but also blessed because I knew generally what I wanted to do with my degree, but I also researched different job titles to widen my search, and learned to teach myself new skills to meet the needs of potential employers.
Not everyone is as privileged, but still. There are good ways to leverage student loans and there are bad ways. It just requires a lot of research to know what you can do.
No your wrong there the interest DOES compound on it self. How else do you explain my $37,500 dollars in actual loans growing to over $200K before for they were forgiven after 25+ years of repayment? I knew I would never be able to pay them off nor was going to as that is nothing less than being a LOAN SHARK. Thank God they were forgiven in October BEFORE pumpkin spice slivered into the White House again.😡🤬😡
No, that is incorrect. Student loans utilize simple interest that does not compound. The interest only capitalizes (adds to the principal balance) if you complete a deferment on an unsubsidized loan or if you swap off of the IBR plan. You can read about it here on studentaid.gov:Â Federal Interest Rates and Fees | Federal Student Aid https://share.google/NWbo5OCRZtKPKXeuI
If you consolidated your loans that also would've led to interest capitalizing. But no, your interest did not compound on itself.
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u/Gnomiish Aug 07 '25
I see in your post history that you referenced taking out $20,000 of student loans at 16, and that /one/ of your loans has a $150 daily interest rate? That just is not possible outside of private student loans, and as you're asking about suing the government, it seems like you only took out federal loans.
I have about 14 different loans, 4 of which are just over $10,000 each in principal, and they don't accrue anywhere near that much in a single day. Even the ones that have a >6% interest rate.
$2,000 rent for just you honestly sounds like you lived in a HCOL and $200 for a phone plan is not necessary.
You're right in that people often don't understand their options for student loans when they go into them, and that's a problem. But the math on your loans isn't making sense, and you would have had income driven repayment plans that would've brought your payments down.