'Sheer ignorance from financial giant Fidelity on student finance' blog discussion

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  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
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    It seemed to be much more focused on a belief that Fidelity was exploiting misunderstandings about student finance, while I think Fidelity was aiming its promotion more at people who simply choose to pay for university because they can. I think that's a bad idea in a high proportion of cases, just not exploiting ignorance about the loans system.

    Now is a great time to be educating people about how student loans work and why it's likely to be best to use them.
  • MothballsWallet
    MothballsWallet Posts: 15,852 Forumite
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    I've never even heard of Fidelity.
  • Arthurian
    Arthurian Posts: 795 Forumite
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    It's all very well saying students shouldn't worry about paying off their student loan because many will never cross the threshold of earning enough. The pressure to repay is there whatever you earn, because you see the debt mounting up with interest charges, year after year, while you are on a low salary and not paying anything back. It's worrying. And at a time when the graduate is thinking of major life changes, such as getting married, starting a family and getting a mortgage, they might think, "Well, how do I know what's going to happen in the next decade? The amount I owe is rising each year with interest. Better pay it off now before I find myself liable to pay and can't."
  • meher
    meher Posts: 15,910 Forumite
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    My inbox has just been dirtied by a terrible press release
    heheh that's how i feel when i see some folks like nigel farage and pat condell enter my living room through the tv
  • John_Pierpoint
    John_Pierpoint Posts: 8,391 Forumite
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    MothballsWallet wrote: »
    I've never even heard of Fidelity.

    Presumably the UK branch of this mob:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelity_Investments
  • Idiophreak
    Idiophreak Posts: 12,024 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    To be honest, as a parent, you'd be fairly daft to consider university as the most important thing to save for.

    If you assume, at the moment, some young people will face four big investments before the age of, say, 35:
    University,
    House,
    Wedding,
    Child

    University is the only one of these that they're going to have a (more or less) guaranteed, low-interest loan for...so why would you choose that one to pay for?

    Take the 27k and give it to them as a deposit. They'll be quite happy paying their 9% per month rather than having to save all their spare cash.

    Pay for their wedding, they'll be happier without a loan hanging over their heads.

    Help set them up with baby gear - they can do without a bunch of prams etc on CCs when they're adjusting to life feeding an extra mouth.

    Just my thoughts, anyway :)
  • LaVerdad
    LaVerdad Posts: 6 Forumite
    Arthurian wrote: »
    It's all very well saying students shouldn't worry about paying off their student loan because many will never cross the threshold of earning enough. The pressure to repay is there whatever you earn, because you see the debt mounting up with interest charges, year after year, while you are on a low salary and not paying anything back. It's worrying. And at a time when the graduate is thinking of major life changes, such as getting married, starting a family and getting a mortgage, they might think, "Well, how do I know what's going to happen in the next decade? The amount I owe is rising each year with interest. Better pay it off now before I find myself liable to pay and can't."

    Yes exactly, to think the government might not change the rules a few years down the line when the deficit isn't reducing enough is incredibly naive. A generation of youngsters owing £50k apiece just screams 'revenue stream' to a politician. I'm fed up of reading advice peddling massive student debt to teenagers on this site - if you aren't going to earn much when you leave you are wasting 3 years at uni, and if you do plan on a successful career, student loans will be crippling to pay back, financially and psychologically. This site should be advising on how to go about studying abroad where fees are not exploitative, or alternatives for uni to those who are not suited.
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