Bold leap into retirement

MallyGirl

same here. Knowing that my daughter will never pay her loan off before the cut-off (long course) means that it would just be a wasted contribution to the government. We will help with a house instead

Vespaboy

I am not convinced about the uni loan is a tax thing and that is fine etc

For me if you can pay I think it is a great thing to do. The loan interest is not low and racks up quickly ( like a credit card) so you either need to work on the basis That you pay for tuition fees plus living expenses so that there is no loan at all or they rack up the debt and take their chances. I don’t think part paying works 

It is certainly the case that a lender will look at student loans when they assess affordability, it doesn’t affect the ability to get loan, but it does affect how much they can borrow due to affordability criteria? Also do you really want your child to pay extra tax for 35 years? They will have enough debt with a mortgage these days 

Sorry to derail your thread

Pat38493

Interesting side question - if you emigrate abroad and don't use the UK tax system anymore, how does it work for your student finance - are there reciprocal agreements in place with all countries so you still have to pay it back?

captain_jep

Pat38493 said:

Interesting side question - if you emigrate abroad and don't use the UK tax system anymore, how does it work for your student finance - are there reciprocal agreements in place with all countries so you still have to pay it back?

In theory you can only be pursued for the debt in the UK or if working abroad for a UK company. However don’t think about coming back - you will be pursued for the outstanding debt and possibly face penalties. 

The debt term is now 40 years. So I just don’t think it would be worth it (unless you have false identity papers!)

Nebulous2

Pat38493 said:

Interesting side question - if you emigrate abroad and don't use the UK tax system anymore, how does it work for your student finance - are there reciprocal agreements in place with all countries so you still have to pay it back?

I don't know about the English system, but the Scottish one is a bit of a nightmare. They insist on sending stuff by post, presumably to make sure you are where you've said you are, and they look for a lot of information about earnings. 

You need to set up a direct debit to pay it, after they've finally told you how much they want. 

Ciprico

I feel getting enough cash for a house deposit will be extremely tough for today's kids, so mine have full student loans but I put £4k into a Lisa each year for each of them, in a global tracker....

WYSPECIAL

Pat38493 said:

Interesting side question - if you emigrate abroad and don't use the UK tax system anymore, how does it work for your student finance - are there reciprocal agreements in place with all countries so you still have to pay it back?

Student Loan Company take it over while you are abroad rather than you paying via HMRC.

WYSPECIAL

JonnieF said:

Yes I think if you can pay the tuition fees then you should. Anyway I am planning to…

(I’m not going to derail the thread by going into the whys. But to me it’s a no brainer!)

I did the opposite and increased my pension contributions to maximise what my kids get.

It seems more MSE to me to keep the money in the family than give it to the government.

MallyGirl

JonnieF said:

Pat38493 said:

Interesting side question - if you emigrate abroad and don't use the UK tax system anymore, how does it work for your student finance - are there reciprocal agreements in place with all countries so you still have to pay it back?

In theory you can only be pursued for the debt in the UK or if working abroad for a UK company. However don’t think about coming back - you will be pursued for the outstanding debt and possibly face penalties. 

The debt term is now 40 years. So I just don’t think it would be worth it (unless you have false identity papers!)

Thankfully my daughter has a 30 year term - with a 6 year course, even with minimum maintenance loan, she will never pay it off before it being wiped. Definitely a tax for her. 

LHW99

WYSPECIAL said:

JonnieF said:

Yes I think if you can pay the tuition fees then you should. Anyway I am planning to…

(I’m not going to derail the thread by going into the whys. But to me it’s a no brainer!)

I did the opposite and increased my pension contributions to maximise what my kids get.

It seems more MSE to me to keep the money in the family than give it to the government.

Unfortunately the next government of whatever flavour may regard the IHT status of DC pensions as ripe for removal. That may be regarded as easier than trying to put back the LTA (or abolishing salary sacrifice)