Both young adults with burdensome student loan debt and current university students struggling to pay the bills have likely heard of how Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Senator and candidate for the Democratic ticket of the 2020 presidential election, intends to introduce new legislation that would eliminate some portion of the student loan debt plaguing approximately 44 million young adults nationwide.
Warren’s office hasn’t released the official draft of the legislation yet, but the bill is said to aim at providing $50,000 of student debt relief to borrowers making less than $100,000 annually and $25,000 of student debt relief to borrowers making between $100,000 and $250,000 per year. Presidential candidates former VP Joe Biden, and Senator Bernie Sanders, jumped on this subject this past week with announcements of their plans to cancel or elimnate student loan debt.
While many other politicians also support the mass-alleviation of student loan debt in this country, the legislation has also received its fair share of resistance. The bills that have been passed towards the goal of eliminating school debt have been met with criticism of being too lenient on the wealthy (who could potentially have heftier student loan payments) and of being unfair to the millennials who worked several jobs and saved their money to manage their college payments.
Managing Student Debt
However, the proposition of new legislation in favor of the alleviation of student loan debt doesn’t guarantee that any such legislation will be passed. Although the prospect of student loans being cancelled may feel like an exciting prospect for some and an inequitable wrong to others, budgeting and financial planning remain essential skills for managing debt and savings whether or not this legislation goes through. If there’s one important motif to be learned regarding investments, it’s that emotions and finance don’t intermingle well. In the face of massive student loan debt payments, millennials and young adults may want to avoid emotion-driven financial decisions and consider the simple route of budgeting: living below their means and maintaining plans towards their long-term financial goals. With the presidential election looming, it’s unclear whether legislation of this nature is going to be passed or not. As nobody knows the future, it’s always important for young adults to begin setting and working towards their financial goals as quickly as possible.
Budgeting and Financial Strain
Whether you’re a recent college graduate aspiring to pay off your student loans, a young couple anticipating the payment of your child’s education costs, or you’re just looking to secure your retirement funds, conservative budgeting skills can always be a helpful tool. Meeting with a financial professional to determine your financial goals and the most efficient budgeting and investing techniques to achieve those goals can benefit any person at any age, and the sooner you gain control of your financial stability, the sooner you may be able to reap the benefits. You can establish a baseline for how much you ought to be saving towards your next financial goal, including anything from paying off student loans to buying a new vacation home, using our digital tool linked below.