Student Loans - Enough is Enough!

What day will be your last payment for your Student Loan Debt? If you thought like I used to, your answer would be - Never!

I am not sure if you will relate to this, but I was clueless when it came to understanding my Student Loan Debt and how to tackle it with the personal financial situation I was in. It does seem, that MOST people are just like I used to be. You may not relate to my specific story, but hopefully this shines light and wakes you up to the reality of your indebtedness.

According to an article on Wall Street Journal,

" Most students with loan balances exceeding $50,000 in 2010 had failed to pay down any debt four years later."

A few years ago, I didn't understand how that could even be possible. My Financial Literacy skills were little to non-existent at the time. But, the more I studied on what leadership expert, Orrin Woodward, calls, "The Playing Field" of Personal Finances, the more things started to become clear.

There was a time I got off the phone with a Student Loan company and their advice was to defer the loans. I had no clue of how much that decision cost me financially, and if you are currently deferred, you probably don't either. Hopefully this article will wake you up to the realization.

After deferment, they locked me in a "Special Deal" to "help me out."

A few years later and tens of thousands in payments, I received a brutal awakening to my decision. My balance was higher than when I took out the loans!

Some of you can't shake the thought of this being true. But the reality is MOST people have locked themselves into a similar deal without even realizing it.

Here is a snapshot of what I locked myself into at that point in my life - courtesy of Financial Fitness Services Debt Roll Down Calculator (estimated #'s):

$14M of interest on a $125,000 loan and I was on pace to pay them off when I turn 108 years old - if I even lived that long!

Due to my lack of Financial Literacy, I had no clue that I signed up for those numbers. Now, I know what you might be thinking,

"They gave you this option with the HOPE of you finding a way to pay more money later."

But, lets dig into that idea.

According to  a 2017 GOBankingRates survey, more than half of Americans (57 percent) have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts.

While that's an improvement from last year, when  69 percent of Americans reported having less than $1,000 in savings, a higher percentage have no savings at all: 39 percent, up from 34 percent in 2016.

So lets get this right....

Most people aren't paying down their Student Loan Debt and most people aren't putting money into savings.

We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet we lack Financial Defense.

So where is our money going?

The best explanation for what is going on in our world can be seen in this graphic created by Orrin Woodward:

The average American pays 1/3 of their income to Taxes and another 1/3 of their income to service their Debt. That means, you have 1/3 of your income to fight against Inflation while trying to survive, raise a family, experience the world, and save for a rainy day.

It is just like Orrin Woodward says,

"It is as if the Financial System is tilted against the individual."

Unfortunately...

Our society is being educated Financially by the same group that owns the Financial System that is tilted against the individual.

One of my mentors once told me, "The best information you put into your mind up until today, gave you the results you have."

For me, it was time to take in new information from a different source. Maybe it is for you as well.

Since that decision to understand Financial Literacy - The Offense, Defense, and Playing Field of Personal Finances...

I tripled my income, eliminated $118,000 of debt, and my wife became job-optional at 31 to spend time pursuing her passions and raising our daughter.

We were able to cut my 83 year strategy down to less than a handful - something I thought I would never be able to say.

Today, I am on a mission to inspire millions around the world to address their own personal Financial Literacy gap.

What can you do to Reduce Debt while Increasing your Savings?

#1: Educate yourself outside of what the Banking World teaches

When I started taking advice from people who eliminated their debt while increasing their savings, I began eliminating my debt while increasing my savings. I began understanding the Playing Field of Finances - the rules of the game.

I will never forget when I first read Principle #4 in the Financial Fitness Program, "Stop getting financial advice from broke people; get it only from those whose finances you want to emulate."

Have you ever wondered, "Where did I get that advice from? And where did they get it from?"

Suggested Tool: Financial Fitness Program

#2: Know your Scoreboard

Until you know where you are, you will never be able to get to where you want to go. Imagine if you were in NY City driving around looking for your hotel. You plug your destination into the GPS in and it doesn't know where you are located. How could it give you any direction?

I was clueless what my financial scoreboard was each month - other than spending everything that I made. If you asked me where it all went, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I needed a way to see my scoreboard.

Suggested Tool: Financial Fitness Services

#3: Know your Game Plan

It is amusing when you sit down with someone and you witness their reaction when they realize where all their money has been going each month. The look on their face is absolutely priceless. When I saw my scoreboard, it was a draw dropping experience for me.

After you know where you are at and have determined where you want to go, you can then layout a game plan. The Debt Roll Down Calculator in the Financial Fitness Services allowed me to map out a game plan that I could execute on with my personal financial situation.

Suggested Tool: Financial Fitness Services

So, what day will be your last payment for your Student Loan Debt? Can you imagine what that day is going to feel like? Where will you go - Who would you take - Who wouldn't you take?