Would you like to one day buy a house, start a family, or enjoy a Taco Bell burrito for dinner without Fannie Mae coming around to “check in” on you? Do you feel like the only option is to run? Vice reports that the weight of student loans has become so much for some that they’re moving out of the country and letting their loans collect dust.
“It’s a phenomenon that I’m quite familiar with actually,” says student loan lawyer and author Adam S. Minsky. “In my experience, people leave because there’s a sense of hopelessness and they see greater opportunities overseas, usually through a combination of higher pay and lower living expenses. They think they’ll be better positioned to either pay their loans in real time, from abroad, or to save up and be in a better place to address the loans a couple of years from now.”
Does leaving it all behind and moving to the Caribbean actually work or is that just something better left to books and movies? Surprisingly, experts suggest that moving out of the country can make one untouchable by loan companies, but there are some important issues to consider. Those who are completely dodging their debts won’t be able to come back and settle down in America (unless they pay off those loans), nor will they be able to work for American companies abroad without getting hit with some hefty penalties. And if the idea of moving to Sweden to escape your loans is suddenly sounding good to you, you should also consider whether anyone signed off on your loan besides you. If your mortgage-addled mom and dad were the ones who put their name on the dotted line, the money you owe is now their responsibility.
Vice Spoke to several people who are in debt in amounts that range from $35,000 to $160,000 (that’s not an unusual amount, by the way; those who attend professional schools for graduate study, for instance, can often graduate with upwards of $200,000 in debt) and they had a lot to say about why they left the country instead of sticking around and “doing the right thing.”
From the account of a man who moved to Europe to avoid paying $160,000 in loans:
Debt is not the main reason I moved to Europe. I moved for my career, but in the back of my mind it was a way to start a clean slate. At the same time, I could never really escape because my parents were co-signers. My parents own a home and were planning on leaving it to us as inheritance. They were nervous about having their house taken away from them because of me not paying student loans, and subsequently signed the house over to my sister so they wouldn’t own anything the bank could come after.
To be honest, I just don’t see myself living in America again—for reasons outside of student debt. My parents are moving back to El Salvador, where they’re from, and then I’ll have no ties to America. I don’t really like America or the direction it’s heading. For now, I don’t need to care about going back there.
The entire article is a worthwhile and sobering read. You can check it out here. Then print it out and show it to your parents every time they ask why college and grad school may not be as doable for you as it was for them. And no, not everyone can go into a STEM field. But even that probably wouldn’t help pay back the amount of money so many people now owe by age 22.
(Via Vice)
