This website has previously provided advice on a number of subjects related to student loans. Indeed, prior articles have discussed repayment strategies, ways to save money, refinancing tips, and a number of other topics related to student debt. All of these prior articles have been directed to student debt borrowers. However, this website has not yet included advice for parents of student loan borrowers, even though parents are typically interested in issues related to student debt.
Numerous parents have reached out to me by email and over the phone since I founded Student Debt Diaries almost a year ago. This took me by surprise, since I originally expected that the vast majority of individuals who reach out to me would be student debt borrowers themselves. I personally did not receive guidance from my parents about student loans during my student debt repayment saga. My parents were unable to assist me financially, and they mostly left me on my own when it came to figuring out how to manage my student loans.
In any case, around a third of all the emails I receive each week are from readers seeking advice for parents of student loan borrowers. And it makes sense that parents would email me looking for suggestions about student debt. Some parents cosigned the student loans of their children, so they have a vested interest in ensuring that their kids’ student debt is properly managed. However, even if parents are not personally liable for any student debt, they still want to obtain good advice about student loans in order to ensure that their children are financially secure.
Parents reach out to me with questions on a variety of topics. Some parents ask about strategies that their children can use in order to most efficiently pay off their student loans. As this website has already detailed, there are a number of different ways a borrower can pay off their student debt, and many parents seek advice that might be helpful to their children. However, parents also oftentimes ask me for advice that is applicable to themselves. For instance, many parents ask me how I would resolve personal tension that may arise because of student loans. Other parents ask me about their liabilities as a student loan cosigner. Still other parents email me for tips on setting up a college fund for their children.
When we think about the student loan crisis in this country, we usually only think of the millennial student debt borrowers themselves. Before I founded Student Debt Diaries, I also did not think much about the variety of people who are affected by student loans. However, student debt affects many more people than simply student debt borrowers. Indeed, student debt can have a massive impact on parents of people who borrow student loans.
Many of the parents who contact me convey how they have made a number of sacrifices in order to assist their children who have student loans. Numerous parents raid retirement funds, mortgage homes, and make other financial sacrifices in order to help children who have student debt. In addition, many other parents make sacrifices over a long timeframe in order to ensure that their children have enough money to attend college.
Furthermore, many parents (and other family members) cosign the student loans of their children, and this makes parents liable for repaying student loans if their children are unwilling or unable to repay student debt themselves. As a result, advice for parents of student loan borrowers should be included in any resources that discuss ways to tackle student debt.
Over the next few months, this website will publish articles that contain advice for parents of student loan borrowers. Many of the articles will be based on conversations I have had with parents who seek out advice about student debt. Future articles will discuss ways to alleviate issues that may arise after cosigning student loans, and how to avoid problems before you even agree to cosign a child’s student debt. This website will also discuss how parents can persuade children to refinance their student loans, since this step can dramatically improve the student debt situations of many borrowers. In addition, future articles will also discuss some of the ways that parents can save money so that children can minimize the amount of debt they need to borrow to finance their degrees.
This website will also discuss some of the personal issues that can arise between parents and their children because of student debt. Many parents agree to pay the student loans of their children so long as their children pay them back once they are financially able to do so. However, multiple parents have related that once their children are established in their careers, they refuse to pay back their parents despite previously agreeing to do so. This issue and other tensions are extremely difficult to deal with, and future articles will discuss some ways to resolve personal troubles that may arise because of student debt.
As you may be able to tell, I am not a parent myself, and of course I have never personally had issues involving the student debt of a child. However, I have communicated with dozens of parents after founding Student Debt Diaries, and this background has provided me with much useful information. These experiences will inform me as this website provides advice for parents of student loan borrowers in future articles.