Student Loan Interest Rates

Poolie

Masonmnia - The rate will be published in April for March 2010 inflation numbers. So looking at the March numbers which is really for Feb is no good.

The last figures were higher because people spent for christmas and also made the purchased before vat went back up to 17.5%.

So based on people have done the major purchases i think you will find Feb 2010 (released in march) will be nearer 1.5 - 1.9%

Stubert

You could always get the student loan and put it in a high savings interest account or an ISA.

You also have to apply every year. Therefore you could not take it in your first year but apply in subsequent years if you need it.

surfcat

Poolie wrote: »

Masonmnia - The rate will be published in April for March 2010 inflation numbers. So looking at the March numbers which is really for Feb is no good.

The last figures were higher because people spent for christmas and also made the purchased before vat went back up to 17.5%.

So based on people have done the major purchases i think you will find Feb 2010 (released in march) will be nearer 1.5 - 1.9%

...but vat has gone up by more than 16% and fuel costs are much more than a year ago...

melancholly

surfcat wrote: »

...but vat has gone up by more than 16% and fuel costs are much more than a year ago...

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=19
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/source/prices/prices.aspx

VAT has gone 'up by 16%', but in reality, it is a 2.5% increase on the cost of goods! goods have not gone up by 16%! (shows how differently you can present things depending on what calculation you do!)

fuel costs were actually higher 18 months ago than they are now, but went down in Oct 08.

i largely agree with Poolie - RPI won't end up much above 2% as a maximum.

Poolie

Let us also remember that Bank of England really described December inflation figures as a bit of a spike and things should return to normal January and Februray. March is always a bit higher as people start to have money (generally) after paying off Christmas. The one thing that could hurt this year is the cost of domestic fuel as people have had to spend a lot more keeping warm this year than previous years.

Estimates for Inflation
January 2010 (released Feb) - 2.1
Februray 2010 (reelased Mar) - 1.8
March 2010 (released April) - 1.4/1.5

choc_mouse

My brother did a course which had NHS funding but he applied for the student loan anyway and kept his money in a high interest savings account. He paid it all off after he graduated so he has zero debts - lucky him. Given that the interest rates for borrowing are even better than a few years ago, it's worth having the money on the side, just in case. Student loans are pretty safe too and you only pay when you can.

Masomnia

Poolie wrote: »

Masonmnia - The rate will be published in April for March 2010 inflation numbers. So looking at the March numbers which is really for Feb is no good.

The last figures were higher because people spent for christmas and also made the purchased before vat went back up to 17.5%.

So based on people have done the major purchases i think you will find Feb 2010 (released in march) will be nearer 1.5 - 1.9%

Sorry yes, I meant March's figures as published in April.

Don't forget that the figures published are year on year, ie. it's the percentage change between last March and this March. So it's comparing March last year with 15% VAT with March this year with VAT at 17.5%, so that's a 2.5% increase on many things before you even factor in anything else like rising fuel prices.

I think your predictions are a bit optimistic, but of course we can't know for sure.