Law Schools, Student Loans

How To Talk With Older People About Law School Loans

With some explanation, individuals from any generation can understand the complexities of living with student debt.

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Student debt is one of the many things that separates millennials from generations that grew up before us.  Due to rising tuition costs and changes in the educational system, many law students today borrow much more debt than individuals who graduated decades ago.  Student loans can have a huge impact on someone’s life, since debt influences many of the decisions that everyone makes.  Indeed, student loans can impact what jobs you take, where you decide to live, how you will save for retirement, and other major life decisions.

In my own experience, older people have offered me advice or critiqued my life choices even though many of these decisions were impacted by my student debt.  I am sure these kibitzers would have altered their analysis if they understood my student debt situation.  It can oftentimes be aggravating to explain student debt to older people in one’s circle.  Indeed, my grandfather and other older people in my life had trouble grasping the enormity of the student debt I borrowed, and I am sure that many people out there have also had frustrating conversations trying to convey the reality of living with law school loans.  However, there are a few strategies you can employ to discuss student loans with older individuals in your circle so that they can more fully understand your situation.

At the beginning of any conversation explaining student loans, it is important to discuss just how much debt you borrowed to attend law school, and in many situations, to pay for college.  Many older individuals only had to pay an unbelievably small amount of money to earn their degrees, and this impacts their perception of millennials and student debt.  Indeed, numerous older individuals even think that any increase in the cost of law school tuition over the years is merely due to inflation.  As such, many believe that the amount of money millennials borrow to attend law school is similar to the amount older generations paid on an inflation-adjusted basis.

When speaking with older individuals about law school loans, it is important at the beginning to refute this “inflation myth” and explain that tuition costs have been increasing higher than the rate of inflation for decades.  As such, older people paid many times less money to attend law school and college even on an inflation-adjusted basis than millennials pay today.

Next, it is important to be frank about the exact amount of money you borrowed to attend law school.  My grandfather and others were shocked when I related that I borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to earn my degrees.  Since this amount is nearly enough to buy a house, most people can easily grasp this sum.  Understanding the enormity of your student debt situation will enable older people to better comprehend many of your life decisions.

It is also critical to relate to older individuals why it is important to pay down student debt.  I can’t even count how many times my grandfather told me that people in his generation had their debt forgiven, since banks lost their student loan paperwork or otherwise forgot about them.  My grandfather would tell me to hold off on paying down my student debt in case I somehow had my debt forgiven in a similar way!  Of course, it is easy to rebut this argument, but it is a little more difficult to explain why extra money should be used to pay down debt.

Older people with no student debt experiences have advised me many times to just keep extra money in the bank or use it to purchase personal items.  In response, I tell them some advantages of paying down student loans early that they might not know about.  I have discussed this topic at length on my own website, and there are three main arguments I usually convey.  First is that paying off student loans will ensure that you spend less money on interest over the life of this debt.  Many individuals both old and young were shocked when I told them that my student loans were accruing interest at a rate of $31 a day, and this information illustrates why it is important to pay down this debt as soon as possible.  Indeed, I estimate that I saved around $50,000 in interest payments by paying off my debt early, and this information helps illustrate why it is advisable to pay off this debt immediately.

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The second benefit of paying off student loans early is that you can pick off the smaller loans first and reduce your total monthly student loan payment.  This is important, since many banks will be more inclined to grant you a mortgage and other types of loans if your total monthly student debt payment is lower.  In addition, having a smaller monthly student debt payment will provide more flexibility if you want to change jobs or make other life decisions.

The third main advantage of paying off student loans early is that this will advance the due date of the loans.  Some (like my grandfather) might advise you to leave money in the bank in case a life emergency arises such that you cannot pay student loans for a period of time.  However, advancing the due date on your loans means you do not need to make a debt payment right away if an emergency arises, and you are also still able to benefit from the other advantages I noted above.

All told, it can be difficult to talk with older individuals about law school loans, since people from prior generations usually did not have to contend with crushing student debt.  It can also be frustrating when these individuals offer advice without fully grasping your student debt situation.  However, with some explanation, individuals from any generation can understand the complexities of living with student debt.

Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at [email protected].

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