In the last 8 years while the Bush administration has doubled the debt, I have gotten my drivers license, graduated from university. Gone to Europe 5 times for Vacation and or to spend 6 months on a work visa etc…I have taken trips to New York City, to Vancouver, BC-CA, as well as Hawaii. I love traveling, that is where I spend. However, I digress, I am not in debt and at 24 have just opened my Roth IRA.

My end point is that, and probably due to my young age, I do not see how such things effect me. And of course it is bad for the individual to be in debt, the issue for the country, seems rather trivial.

The reason so many college kids have credit cards, is because those companies spend millions of dollars advertising on campuses. People aged 16-25 are the biggest spenders when it comes to frivolous shopping.

Your last bit is more of a statement than advice. I think it is really easy to say, “teach your kids about finance” but you do not discuss how to teach them. What qualifies them to even teach finance? The fact that so many Americans are in debt, tells me most people are not qualified in this subject.

Same would apply to teaching monetary theory in schools. Easy to say, but how about finding teachers qualified in the subject matter.

With these kind of dollar figures being thrown around, it’s all imaginary, printed money anyway. No matter who is in charge, we are all screwed…

It’s my only (non-mortgage) debt and it is very real. I wish that I had an understanding of how much it would affect my life when I took it out to begin with. I’m relatively lucky, i went to state schools and had great scholarships, but i still finished my masters degree with ~$45,000 in debt – i probably could have lived on less, had i known how much debt that REALLY is.

Everyone always says student loan debt isn’t “bad” debt, but it still stops me from being able to do/have the things i’d like right now (like kids) without taking on some of that “bad” debt (like credit cards or car payment).

So i’m waiting (hoping to have it all paid off in 2 years, though!).

A word on college: Yes, its expensive, but it doesn’t have to be ridiculous. Will the expense of a private college REALLY pay off? For most cases, the answer is no. The other thing is, many kids go to college for the party (especially for the first few years), and live off of student loans and credit cards. Working a job and applying for every scholarship you can find can make a big difference in your student loan balance when you finish.

I am one of those people who graduated with a ton of student debt- I do hope we figure out a way to change things before my own kids get to college age.