George Kamel - “What’s Your Student Loan Payment?”

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

“What’s Your Student Loan Payment?” Now that student loan payments are back in full swing, it got me thinking: “Are borrowers really prepared for repayment?” In this episode, I take this question to the streets to see what the people really think. Links:  Watch the Ramsey Student Loan livestream to learn how we got here and how to get out. Check out my other video on student loan repayment here. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/george and get on your way to being your best self.  Preorder George Kamel’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke, and get more than $100 in FREE bonus items.  EveryDollar budget deal: I love a good deal, and when you sign up using this link, I’ll hook you up with a 14-day free trial and $15 off your first year of the premium version of EveryDollar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that student loan payments are officially back, it got me thinking, are borrowers really prepared for these payments? I mean, we're talking 44 million Americans who started sending several hundred dollars back to Uncle Sam every month when the payment pause ended on October 1st. Not to mention, for the last three years, this has been the last thing on their minds. I mean, these days, people have been thinking about their student loans, about as much as they've been thinking about Vine, aka precisely 0.016 of the time, and that's mostly because of Chicken Girl. Hope you're doing well, Chicken Girl. you're probably a grown woman by now. From my perspective, this is going to cause some major problems for people's finances.

But like any good scientist, I'm taking this hypothesis to the lab. And my laboratory happens to be in the streets. I want to see what the people really think and let the data decide. And in preparation for this big experiment, here are the official scholastic steps to the scientific method that we'll be using today. Number one, ask the question and gather information. Number two, form a hypothesis. Number three, click the like button for this video.

Number four, subscribe to the channel. Five, share the results of your experiment, this video, with all of your friends. Now, that's what I call science. Let's talk student loans. Do you have them? I do. I do. I do.

I do. I got a decent scholarship, but it's a lot of student loans. Do you know how much student loans you've taken out so far? I don't know the exact number, but it is a decent amount. Like are we talking? 10,000, 40,000, 100,000? Probably somewhere around the 10,000 range. So far.

Yeah, so far. And we're just one year rent? Yeah, just one year in. So that could be 4x by the time you graduate. Oh, for sure, for sure. If we keep this up. I'm on a scholarship. A full ride?

Yes. How smart are you? Very smart. Was this all academic? Yes. This is incredible. Now, with the payments coming back, does it add any worry? A little bit.

What's the plan to pay this off? To pay them. To just make the payment. You seem so chill. I've been out of school since 2009, so. So you're making payments now for 14 years. Yeah, sure. Will, except for the last.

last three? Well, uh-huh. So what have you done with that payment that was freed up during the pause for the last three years? Just put in a savings, some investments, things like that. Oh, wow. That's very responsible. I try. Have you been paying them down?

No. I have been ignoring it because of the student debt relief. So three years now, it's been paused and it's coming back with a vengeance. Are you ready? No. I can't say I am. So what did you do with what would have been a student loan payment for the last three years? I mean, that's thousands and thousands of dollars.

Well, I moved to San Francisco. which has increased rent. So I did that. I travel more because of it. Are you worried about it? Are you kind of just like, eh, I'll figure it out? I'm a little bit like I'll figure it out,

but it's definitely going to make a slight impact on my financials at the moment. Like, I'll have to budget a little bit more than I do right now. I'm not looking forward to it, but it is what it is. I won't be getting like a new car anytime soon or buying a house anytime soon.

Definitely not in San Francisco, that's for sure. How does it feel to have no debt when it comes to student loans? It feels great. What is one word or phrase you would use to describe how you feel about your student loan payments coming back? Bumbed. Bomed. Huge bummed. Way to kill the vibe, student loans.

Golly. Good golly. I have less faith. So it is a little worrying. I'm not excited about it, but, I mean, it is what it is at the moment. It's pretty bad. It's hard for a lot of people. Do you have any friends that are dealing with that? Yes. What do they feel about?

Do they talk about it? No, it's not really conversation. No, it's not really talked about. You guess they just ignore it. No, it's just not like. fun to talk about. It's not like trivia night conversation. Like, let's just hang.

Let's not talk about our money problems. What do you feel about this whole student loan forgiveness and the payments coming back? Well, I think they should have to come back. I mean, you're the one that went to school and chose to take them out. You took them out. You took them out. You took them out of other types of debt. Like you took out a car loan.

No one's like, I want my car debt. Can that be forgiven? I mean, I took it out, so I have to pay it. There's an idea. You choose to go to school. You have to pay it. I think if you're doing something like medicine or like teaching, like public servants, I don't think should have to pay student loans.

I think they should be kind of supported. Yeah. They're going to help the public. But things like business and stuff, I think that should be more. Like you're taking on a risk, buddy. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's cool. What are you doing here?

I am here teaching a hair class. What could you do with this? Not much. It's perfection? It's perfect. You don't need to change a thing. That's so nice. I only had to pay her five bucks.

That was frightening. People are going to think we're celebs if we keep this up. Seriously. The paparazzi were everywhere. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Hey, guys. It's George. You knew that. Sometimes this time of year can get a little rough.

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And that's okay. A lot of people get down this time of year, but adding something positive to your routine can help counteract some of those feelings. Therapy can be a bright spot in all of the stress and change, something to look forward to to, make you feel grounded, and to give you tools to manage those feelings. So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. BetterHelp is flexible because it's online so it can fit your schedule.

Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and you can switch therapists at any time for no extra charge. So find your bright spot this season with our friends at BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash George today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash George. Right, let's get back to it. I'm glad I went to the streets. I learned a lot. I learned mostly that people haven't learned what they need to learn.

Pretty eye-opening stuff there. And the facts are, most people have gotten used to not having their student loan payments coming out of their bank account every month. Heck, some of your recent grads have never even had to make a single payment before now. Add on inflation and car payments and mortgages and other debts you maybe didn't have three years ago. And now things might be feeling pretty tight. So if this is you, it's time to stop ignoring your student loans and deal with this-ish head-on. Check in time is now.

checkout time is never. Yes, it's gonna suck, sure. But if you have a plan, it won't be as bad as you think. And you're gonna be okay if you're hanging with me, I promise. But don't wait to get on top of this. The sooner you make a plan, the less anxious you're gonna feel. I mean, look at these comments on my last student loan video from people who paid off their student loan debt.

Took advantage of the pause and paid off $58,000 of student loans in 12 months. My wife and I just finished paying off $140,000 of our occupational therapy master's degree, thanks to your guidance. Didn't pay a single interest payment either. Y'all can do it. Cheers. Cheers to you guys. Way to go. That's incredible. Hi, George. My student loan balance was 176,000 back in October of 2021. My balance today is just under 69,000. Update. I am gazelle intense. Yeah, you are. That's incredible. You just cleared six figures like that. Zach S said nothing felt better than getting the

letter in the mail confirming all my payments have been received, and I owe them nothing more. You're sleeping good that night, Zach. Way to go, man. He's probably sleeping like a baby right now. I'm so glad I took advantage of the 0% interest during the freeze and paid off the remaining 22,900 I owed on my student loans. These people have no regrets. They're super happy to have their student loans out of their life.

Forever. This can be you. You can be the next comment saying, I paid off my student loans. I did it. I didn't need to help from anybody. And if you're having a hard time getting started with this, here's some good news.

We've got a resource to help you put a plan together and it's from our recent live stream all about the student loan crisis. Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruz, Jade Warsha, they walk you through how we got here and more importantly, how you can get out of it. It is super tactical, super practical, and you can check it out for free right here on YouTube. I'll drop a link for you below to go check that out.

It will be one hour well spent. Plus, I've got another video all about getting rid of your student loans. I'll link that below as well. That's it for today. Make sure to share this video with all of your college buddies. There's a good chance some of them could use some hope right now. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.