'Don't pay your kids tuition fees upfront' Discussion Area
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Why? It's not hard to imagine the son of David Cameron saying that the country can no longer afford to write off these loans and that they will continue until retirement (as was discussed on another thread on this board). In which case the scenarios painted in the guide are bogus.
Well, I said 'pretty confident' not 'certain'. My main reason is that the deadline of 30 years is a definite statement and it would be a big deal to try to change it and it would hit the headlines in all the newspapers. It would be far easier to make a less blatant change, like freezing the threshold above which loans are repayable. All the calculator in the guide assumes that the threshold will rise with wage inflation. If after a while it didn't rise, the amount repaid would be more than is suggested now. So I'm not saying that a future government won't tinker with the figures, just that I'd be surprised if it was the 30 year limit they headed for.
(Actually, I think we agree more than we disagree - it is the uncertainty of the terms and conditions of such a long term commitment that worries me most about student loans and I agree that Martin doesn't really address that in his guides.)0 -
... for example, from New Zealand last year"Hon Peter Dunne: Student loan repayment threshold remains same
16 December 2009
The income threshold at which New Zealand-based borrowers must begin repaying their student loans will remain at $19,084 for the 2010-11 tax year, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced today.
The threshold is reviewed annually and in previous years has generally been adjusted according to the September consumer price index.
“The decision to hold the student loan repayment threshold at the current level for the 2010-11 tax year takes into account the current economic climate and the very significant cost of this $9.6 billion asset to the Crown,” Mr Dunne said.
“While the impact on individual borrowers is likely to be minimal, the effect of maintaining the current repayment threshold is expected to lower the overall costs of the scheme to the Crown and is the right decision for the times,” Mr Dunne said.
The threshold will be reviewed again for the 2011-12 tax year."
http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/hon-peter-dunne-student-loan-repayment-threshold/0 -
I noticed this right to change the T&Cs when my son was doing his SL paperwork and while I agree it is unlikely there will be significant changes it is possible and I find it concerning (as a matter of principle) that the government is in effect making our children sign a contract in which one side can change the terms if they feel like it but not the other. OK I'm not actually desperately worried about it but it's not helpful when you are trying to help educate a child/adult/18 year old in the ways of the world. Or maybe it is - learn early that you can't trust a politician! You just have to recall the pre-election pledges of the Lib Dems to realise that things can change very quickly, especially today's world.0
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It isn't difficult to imagine the following:-
"The decision to write off student loans after 30 years has been reviewed and payments will be extended for a further (say) 5 years. This takes into account the current economic climate and the very significant cost of this (say) £20 billion asset to the Crown,” Mr son-of-Cameron said.
“While the impact on individual borrowers is likely to be minimal, the effect of maintaining the current repayments is expected to lower the overall costs of the scheme to the Crown and is the right decision for the times,” Mr son-of-cameon said.
"Student loan repayments will be reviewed again for the 2045-46 tax year."0 -
I would have thought not increasing the threshold would be the most likely outcome as above. We shall see in April 2017, the first anniversary of graduates repaying, when the repayment threshold should increase with inflation.... for example, from New Zealand last year
http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/hon-peter-dunne-student-loan-repayment-threshold/
As for the terms and conditions, in the student finance guide under Number 3 Yours Responsibilities it states-
'When you take out a loan, you will sign a
declaration which will be a contract. This states
that you have read and understood the Terms
and Conditions. You must agree to repay your
loan in line with the regulations that apply at the
time the repayments are due and as they are
amended. The regulations may be replaced by
later regulations' mmmmm.Total weight lost 6.5/73lbs starting yet again. Afds August 10/15. /8 Sept.0 -
arsenalbarnie wrote: »As for the terms and conditions, in the student finance guide under Number 3 Yours Responsibilities it states-
'When you take out a loan, you will sign a
declaration which will be a contract. This states
that you have read and understood the Terms
and Conditions. You must agree to repay your
loan in line with the regulations that apply at the
time the repayments are due and as they are
amended. The regulations may be replaced by
later regulations' mmmmm.
Makes me "shiver with fear"...._pale_0 -
Going back to the guide. It opens like this£9,000-a-year tuition fees sent chills down many parents' spines. Some are desperate to build uni funds to protect kids from huge debts on graduation. This laudable aim could be throwing away over £20,000. Many students won't need repay anything close to their tuition fees price, if so paying upfront is a waste.
Well, yes....but only if the government keep to the T & Cs of which (apparently) there is no guarantee...0 -
Going back to the guide. It opens like this
Well, yes....but only if the government keep to the T & Cs of which (apparently) there is no guarantee...
But as already said, there are no guarentees in life, so stop thinking like that. Taxes could be hiked 10% tomorrow, yet theres no thread about that is there? Smoking could become illegal, yet theres no thread about that is there? etc.etc.#
Go by what we know NOW, not what may, or may not happen in the future.
The fact that the government hasn't backdated the loans to those that never paid for university education, and the fact they have changed 1 thing (which is good....) retrospectively in the loans, I can say that the chances of them changing in 30 years pretty small. I am talking lottery odds.0 -
But as already said, there are no guarentees in life, so stop thinking like that.
Of course there are guarantees in life. What a peculiar thing to say? If I take out a mortgage or a loan I know the T & Cs - there is a guarantee. Why won't the government give students such a guarantee?Taxes could be hiked 10% tomorrow, yet theres no thread about that is there?
Taxes almost certainly will be hiked tomorrow and if you could, wouldn't you try to avoid the hike?Go by what we know NOW, not what may, or may not happen in the future.
If I did that I'd never make any money. I'd always be behind the curve.The fact that the government hasn't backdated the loans to those that never paid for university education,
Who'd vote for that?and the fact they have changed 1 thing (which is good....) retrospectively in the loans,
What was that please?I can say that the chances of them changing in 30 years pretty small. I am talking lottery odds.
The government haven't written off any tuition fees yet, as I understand it. Who is to say they ever will?0 -
Of course there are guarantees in life. What a peculiar thing to say? If I take out a mortgage or a loan I know the T & Cs - there is a guarantee.
I think that, in the great scheme of things, that's a comparatively minor thing.
At work, your conditions of employment can be changed unilaterally, you can train for a career that the government suddenly says no longer exists, you can be told that you now need a degree to practise what was once a non graduate profession and many more.
I really don't think that life comes with many guarantees.0
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