Should I be paying my student loan off?

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King_Mustard
King_Mustard Posts: 386 Forumite
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edited 7 December 2017 at 12:02AM in Loans
I finished university in 2008, owing SLC around £11,800.

I hadn't paid anything until 2014, when it had increased to around £12,500.

Since then, I've paid £25 manually each week.

Between 2008 and now, I've never paid more than £8 each month from my payslip (many of the years, less than that).

I'm now (late 2017) at roughly £7,900.

I doubt I'll ever earn much above 25% on top of minimum wage per annum, due to anxiety issues.

I've been told by many people I shouldn't have bothered and that I should keep the £109 each monthly to myself.

I know is sounds silly but are they right?

Is there an advantage to paying it off?

Comments

  • PeacefulWaters
    PeacefulWaters Posts: 8,495 Forumite
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    Googl "Martin Lewis and student loans" and you'll get an explanation as to why you shouldn't pay off more than the mandatory amounts you see deducted from salary.
  • adamh87
    adamh87 Posts: 51 Forumite
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    edited 9 December 2017 at 8:25PM
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    If you're on Plan 1 definitely keep repayments to a minimum. It's at less than inflation which means it's depreciating by itself in real terms.

    I also have anxiety and thinking about SL definitely aggravates it, but if you're earning below the threshold the money's much better in your pocket than with the SLC.

    Keep the money and use it to look after yourself. If you want to be really safe add it to a current account with decent interest. You'd theoretically repay the total off quicker by accumulating the money in savings accounts (you can find a fair few paying more than the SLC's 1.5% interest rate) than you would by making voluntary overpayments.

    If you ever breach the limit and need to make PAYE loan repayments, you can use a salary sacrifice pension to 'reduce' your wages back to below the threshold by making pension contributions.

    Edit: Plan 1 student loans have been privatised, some at quite ridiculous prices: https://www.standard.co.uk/business/anthony-hilton-real-story-exposed-by-student-loan-book-sale-a3712946.html

    There's always a chance the rules could be changed, especially now there will be some private interest in ensuring they're repaid. Still, given the low interest rate vs inflation it's still worth keeping repayments to a minimum.
  • Bill3
    Bill3 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I'm working on 2 jobs to pay my loan and I hate it. I hate writing and you know what? I work for a writing company website!!! Karma?
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
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    What are your earnings Bill ?
  • ViolaLass
    ViolaLass Posts: 5,764 Forumite
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    Bill3 wrote: »
    I'm working on 2 jobs to pay my loan and I hate it. I hate writing and you know what? I work for a writing company website!!! Karma?

    To repay your student loan? Why?
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