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Woman Split Student Loan Payback With Her Mom, When She Passed Away She Found Out That She Owed $80K On $15K Of Debt
The majority will agree that student years are the most exciting ones; that newly found independence, new connections, friendships you’ll cherish for the rest of your existence and that wild nightlife that you’ll probably still reminisce about in your 50s.
Though the entertaining part of attending college is not the only part folks are looking forward to – many spend years studying and preparing for the subject they are eager to dedicate their life to, and once they enter those classroom doors, they feel like they can conquer the world.
More info: Twitter
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Folks have mixed opinions about student loan forgiveness – however, this online user has a story to tell
Image credits: Ben+Sam (not the actual photo)
However, college is not all about rainbows and unicorns. You’ll experience a decent amount of stress during those couple of years; sleepless nights and anxious mornings will probably be your best friends, at least during exam seasons. And then, after you graduate, you’ll have to deal with the one and only – debt.
A former graduate revealed how a $15K student loan her late mother wanted to help her with has turned into a $80K debt
Image credits: michelleimiller
The Twitter user started off her thread by revealing that she’s not that pumped about being this personal on the internet – however, she feels like she needs to tell this story so perhaps, fellow college attendees can get a thing or two out of it. Michelle then began with the backstory: unfortunately, the woman’s mother passed away in December 2020 with what she believed to be $40,000 in student loan debt.
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
When the OP was attending college, together with her late mother, they made a deal, saying that they’d split the loan payback in half. The author managed to pay her $15K back in approximately 10 years, though what she didn’t know was that her mother was never able to pay her part off. The woman discovered that her mother had the debt in 2019 when she was helping her out with a refinancing scam. Naturally, Michelle asked her mother if she could take over the loans, but she declined. The woman decided to let it go, but kept an eye on her savings in case her mom would eventually let her help.
In 2020, the author’s mother became ill due to medical malpractice that happened 30 years ago. Moreover, during that period, the company that she worked for started closing down, leaving the woman worried that they’d shut down her department before she could retire the following year.
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
Michelle’s mother barely had enough money to make it through her retirement years, as the difference between poverty and living somewhat comfortably was the $400 monthly payments on those student loans. However, the author’s mother still managed to lighten up the stress-inducing atmosphere by saying that she was good at being broke.
Suddenly, the woman fell very ill. The author didn’t know that her mother was dying, and they spent their last week together talking about her care options and potential house repairs. Michelle, once again, asked her mother if she was willing to let her take care of the loans, to which the woman said that it was a gift and that she needed to do it herself.
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: michelleimiller
Michelle then revealed that the reason why she decided to tell this story was because every time she sees or encounters someone who believes that erasing debt is a “gift to elites”, she thinks about her late mother, a working class woman.
After her beloved mother had passed away, the author’s friend helped Michelle go through the woman’s papers to deal with the post-death formalities. She stumbled upon the loan papers and realized that her mother had lied about the amount she owed. Turns out, it was $80K and not $40K.
Image credits: michelleimiller
Image credits: TheTruthAbout (not the actual photo)
A couple of hours later, after the thread began to gain a lot of attention, Michelle made another tweet, saying that she’d like to add some things about her late mother, so she’s not just poor and sick in the netizens’ imagination. The author revealed that the woman was very funny and an outstanding cook. She read different books weekly, was tough and loved her daughter more than “physics might suggest is possible”.
Fellow Twitter users shared a couple of thoughts regarding the thread
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What do you think ?
finisz 3 years ago
I'm afraid, this post is too US-american for me to understand. Seriously, not bullying.
Alma Muminovic 3 years ago
Count yourself lucky if you dont understand it. Means you dont have to experience it.
Load More Replies...
Alma Muminovic 3 years ago
Predatory student loans should not exist, period. How the system is set up in the US is vial. An education should not cripple you for decades, it’s suppose to give you a better future not a worse one. It’s ridiculous!
Zophra 3 years ago
I would love to see free college in the USA. If that can't happen, loans are still a necessary evil for mosr people. But if there was no interest, what would be the motivation to pay it back at all? The loan company would lose money and stop giving loans, which means more people can't attend college. What I think would be more realistic is a low interest rate with a final cap on the amount of interest relative to the amount borrowed so it can't keep compounding.
Miller Smith 3 years ago
There is no such thing as a free college. You know that.
Load More Replies... Honu 3 years ago
I wonder how much she paid over the course of the loan. At $400/month, if there were no interest, that payment would've paid off the loan in a little over 3 years. Of course, that is never the case. There is always interest. But even with an interest rate of 10%, this loan could've been paid off in 5 years with a payment of about $320 and a total cost of about $19K. Were there late penalties stacking up? Deferments? They have to have some sort of predatory voodoo in their loan agreements to have her owing that on top of the thousands she likely did pay over the years. That's usurious.
DeeAnn Pruitt 3 years ago
I understand this all too well. My $20K college loans are now at over $105K and I've been paying for most of my adult life. It is a debt I will never get past. AND I've worked for the state educational system for more than 15 years. I never ever encourage students to take on student loans. The whole system is horrible.
Encyclopedia Purple 3 years ago
They exploit students because they can. The stuff about how students are selfish is just a story to support that.
Frances M 3 years ago
I wish I could say that you should study abroad, but you’d be a foreign student at those universities and have to pay as much as a home university. Only people who are already citizens in those countries get free (or close to it) education. And the rest of the world does wish they could help you.
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
Sorry but even if you have to pay for it, you'll pay less than in US. It's more the common living costs.
Load More Replies...
K Wit 3 years ago
My husband and I are fortunate enough to be able to pay for my daughters college. We would not even think about her taking loans. If that had been the case she would've went to a community college. Universities are too damn expensive as it is having to take a loan at that interest rate is a punch in the face. There should be loan forgiveness absolutely and the price of college should be lowered. When my dad died his bank and his credit cards tried to make me pay his debt. I laughed at them all.
Kathleen Pearlman 3 years ago
My husband took money out of our retirement to pay off my daughter's $40,000 tuition. She'd graduated with honors from a college that was a renamed "secretarial school". Transferred to a 4-year university that wouldn't take her transfers and made her do 4 years all over. I wish we'd let the student loan go for a while. My husband refuses to pay interest so I guess we came out ahead.
Christina 3 years ago
No, I do not agree that student loans should be forgiven. Nor should interest be 0% . You are taking money from someone, that they could invest in other ways. It's not a gift. Should predatory colleges and loan companies be stopped? Yes, but I'm not sure I trust our government to do so since it helped create this problem. Perhaps a cap on predatory interest or fees. What do I think should be done? Start with not subsidizing college education by the government, which is allows the cost to rise at rates far above inflation. Gov gives money, colleges realize they can charge more, people complain about the cost and the gov gives more money. Encourage kids to NOT go to college unless they know what they want AND their career path needs college. (Jobs stop requiring a BA for a secretary position). Encourage them to take a year to work in their preferred field as a grunt. Maybe consider trades. Even consider local schooling or online certification.
smash17 3 years ago
Meanwhile in NZ, student loans are interest free, in France, university cost $500/yr, in Italy, university is free. But there will always be Americas who argue for the status quo. No need for universal health care either. Eyeroll.
Load More Replies...
Queen Jackson. 3 years ago
So we’re just skip over the scamming and botched surgery parts. Like what the actual f**k,
Lara Kristelle 3 years ago
I'm lucky that my parents were able to send me to a state university in our country because that's all we could afford. The cherry on top is not worrying about paying back student loans years after graduating because the tuition has been paid off prior.
Doreen Anna 3 years ago
Am here to say a big thank you to this man who help me with his powerful spell to bring back my ex who left me for someone else , thank you my ex is back to me , if you want his help you can email him: greatmutaba@ gmail. com
Christian Fay 3 years ago
A $400 monthly payment in $16k in debt ? I'm calling bulls**t. Even if you borrowed at 12% (which is all but impossible), at $400 per month you'd have repaid the loan in less than five years.
Vidonia Thompson 3 years ago
Student loans shouldn't exist at all. Tax the rich, tax ppl with higher incomes then a average neurosurgeon, tax name-branded stores, tax big companies imagine how much you can fund a college with that? (If this is not how it works pls tell me I might be wrong but I do have the right mindset)
Jonathan West 3 years ago
More people stretching themselves too thin and saying it's unfair that other tax players don't gift them money so they can be happy again.
Laura Pantazis 3 years ago
I'm middle ground on this issue. Forgive all the interest, but not the principle since they agreed to pay that amount for their education.
Bex 3 years ago
Most people have already paid more than the interestless principal, do this would erase student debt for far more people than is currently proposed, and would favor those with higher incomes more than just paying off loans for those with incomes under the cap.
Load More Replies...
Tom Lippert 3 years ago
I paid cash for my wife's degree working 3 jobs for 5 years. You've got no sympathy from me.
Luthor 3 years ago (edited)
I'll never understand this mindset. "I had to struggle, impossibly, so everyone else must too!" Why wouldn't you want to make your and others' lives easier? It's such a U.S. sensibility. ME ME ME. As opposed to "I shouldn't have had to sacrifice so much and neither should you". Why are you like this? Having to work 3 bloody jobs to afford an education isn't a win, it's a tragedy.
Load More Replies...
finisz 3 years ago
I'm afraid, this post is too US-american for me to understand. Seriously, not bullying.
Alma Muminovic 3 years ago
Count yourself lucky if you dont understand it. Means you dont have to experience it.
Load More Replies... Alma Muminovic 3 years ago
Predatory student loans should not exist, period. How the system is set up in the US is vial. An education should not cripple you for decades, it’s suppose to give you a better future not a worse one. It’s ridiculous!
Zophra 3 years ago
I would love to see free college in the USA. If that can't happen, loans are still a necessary evil for mosr people. But if there was no interest, what would be the motivation to pay it back at all? The loan company would lose money and stop giving loans, which means more people can't attend college. What I think would be more realistic is a low interest rate with a final cap on the amount of interest relative to the amount borrowed so it can't keep compounding.
Miller Smith 3 years ago
There is no such thing as a free college. You know that.
Load More Replies... Honu 3 years ago
I wonder how much she paid over the course of the loan. At $400/month, if there were no interest, that payment would've paid off the loan in a little over 3 years. Of course, that is never the case. There is always interest. But even with an interest rate of 10%, this loan could've been paid off in 5 years with a payment of about $320 and a total cost of about $19K. Were there late penalties stacking up? Deferments? They have to have some sort of predatory voodoo in their loan agreements to have her owing that on top of the thousands she likely did pay over the years. That's usurious.
DeeAnn Pruitt 3 years ago
I understand this all too well. My $20K college loans are now at over $105K and I've been paying for most of my adult life. It is a debt I will never get past. AND I've worked for the state educational system for more than 15 years. I never ever encourage students to take on student loans. The whole system is horrible.
Encyclopedia Purple 3 years ago
They exploit students because they can. The stuff about how students are selfish is just a story to support that.
Frances M 3 years ago
I wish I could say that you should study abroad, but you’d be a foreign student at those universities and have to pay as much as a home university. Only people who are already citizens in those countries get free (or close to it) education. And the rest of the world does wish they could help you.
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
Sorry but even if you have to pay for it, you'll pay less than in US. It's more the common living costs.
Load More Replies... K Wit 3 years ago
My husband and I are fortunate enough to be able to pay for my daughters college. We would not even think about her taking loans. If that had been the case she would've went to a community college. Universities are too damn expensive as it is having to take a loan at that interest rate is a punch in the face. There should be loan forgiveness absolutely and the price of college should be lowered. When my dad died his bank and his credit cards tried to make me pay his debt. I laughed at them all.
Kathleen Pearlman 3 years ago
My husband took money out of our retirement to pay off my daughter's $40,000 tuition. She'd graduated with honors from a college that was a renamed "secretarial school". Transferred to a 4-year university that wouldn't take her transfers and made her do 4 years all over. I wish we'd let the student loan go for a while. My husband refuses to pay interest so I guess we came out ahead.
Christina 3 years ago
No, I do not agree that student loans should be forgiven. Nor should interest be 0% . You are taking money from someone, that they could invest in other ways. It's not a gift. Should predatory colleges and loan companies be stopped? Yes, but I'm not sure I trust our government to do so since it helped create this problem. Perhaps a cap on predatory interest or fees. What do I think should be done? Start with not subsidizing college education by the government, which is allows the cost to rise at rates far above inflation. Gov gives money, colleges realize they can charge more, people complain about the cost and the gov gives more money. Encourage kids to NOT go to college unless they know what they want AND their career path needs college. (Jobs stop requiring a BA for a secretary position). Encourage them to take a year to work in their preferred field as a grunt. Maybe consider trades. Even consider local schooling or online certification.
smash17 3 years ago
Meanwhile in NZ, student loans are interest free, in France, university cost $500/yr, in Italy, university is free. But there will always be Americas who argue for the status quo. No need for universal health care either. Eyeroll.
Load More Replies... Queen Jackson. 3 years ago
So we’re just skip over the scamming and botched surgery parts. Like what the actual f**k,
Lara Kristelle 3 years ago
I'm lucky that my parents were able to send me to a state university in our country because that's all we could afford. The cherry on top is not worrying about paying back student loans years after graduating because the tuition has been paid off prior.
Doreen Anna 3 years ago
Am here to say a big thank you to this man who help me with his powerful spell to bring back my ex who left me for someone else , thank you my ex is back to me , if you want his help you can email him: greatmutaba@ gmail. com
Christian Fay 3 years ago
A $400 monthly payment in $16k in debt ? I'm calling bulls**t. Even if you borrowed at 12% (which is all but impossible), at $400 per month you'd have repaid the loan in less than five years.
Vidonia Thompson 3 years ago
Student loans shouldn't exist at all. Tax the rich, tax ppl with higher incomes then a average neurosurgeon, tax name-branded stores, tax big companies imagine how much you can fund a college with that? (If this is not how it works pls tell me I might be wrong but I do have the right mindset)
Jonathan West 3 years ago
More people stretching themselves too thin and saying it's unfair that other tax players don't gift them money so they can be happy again.
Laura Pantazis 3 years ago
I'm middle ground on this issue. Forgive all the interest, but not the principle since they agreed to pay that amount for their education.
Bex 3 years ago
Most people have already paid more than the interestless principal, do this would erase student debt for far more people than is currently proposed, and would favor those with higher incomes more than just paying off loans for those with incomes under the cap.
Load More Replies... Tom Lippert 3 years ago
I paid cash for my wife's degree working 3 jobs for 5 years. You've got no sympathy from me.
Luthor 3 years ago (edited)
I'll never understand this mindset. "I had to struggle, impossibly, so everyone else must too!" Why wouldn't you want to make your and others' lives easier? It's such a U.S. sensibility. ME ME ME. As opposed to "I shouldn't have had to sacrifice so much and neither should you". Why are you like this? Having to work 3 bloody jobs to afford an education isn't a win, it's a tragedy.
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