Book Title

Its becoming more apparent to me that this is the forum to attempt to launch a book, whether read or words in a forest that fall and no one hears.

Nonetheless writing can take place with pen and paper and be much faster or typing can take place and be a little less faster but more concrete, at least more visible.

Im not sure visibility is the most important factor, but importance is the most important factor. Importance, and relevance.  Where can I as an opinionated and educationally desired individual add any value to educate others through my self education and experience.

Thus, I blog.

Blogging, and talking, and notching about debt is one thing; the question here lies what can I add to the conversation,  especially that I could include in my dream, of a book and of financial freedom, as they, the proverbial they, deem it.  But a debt adverse lifestyle would be ideal. 

One can either divest and throw away future potential or the lucky ones can invest in a future that provides that which they are working for, whether that be fulfillment, happiness, other's happiness,  but not for yesterday and yesterdays problems and financial burdens.  But that is the system banking and financial instruments have allowed.  One where the few with available financial freedoms allow the many with many financial obligations and lack of finances to secure debts so aggregious that their lives are owed to that debt.

I talk in philosophies but they are truths that many live with and any sense of worth outside of our earthly existence is diminished by our earthly existence.  Living contradictions for the life not lived.

Still we must look past finances, even 100k plus finances, and live to fight and educate and evolve another day.  So that future generations are burdened by the things worth burdening over, our reason for existence, our search for knowledge, our search for meaning, our search for other intangibles that finances could never bring.

Again, way too existential.

But when you're 100k plus that's where the mind goes, to philosophical reasoning as to the necessity of the 100k plus.

I hope none of this on anybody and am slowly, very dramatically slowly, to know that no one else will be in this position ever, whether that's just through meaningless words on a meaningless space of the internet, or hopeful action in the world I reside in.

Dear Obama....seriously

Dear Obama,

There is a crisis in America.  Many news articles and popular opinions have polarized on what to do with this crisis but it is most known.  So for me to sit here and elaborate on the student debt crisis would be futile.

I will, for my own sake and worth, make my situation known to you.  I went to college for more than 4 years, 4 and a half.  So my debt, and my failure, have led to the problem of my personal student loan crisis.  I received over 100k in private student loan debt, which is not the most talked about secondary educational means. And while I have in my own situation attempted to blame my father as I was just a signer to the loans, not the distributor and financial advisor, who was him. 

Is that right, or even lawful?  Without the initial education and advising, financial burdens like this should not be made available.  I was going to elaborate but allowing private companies the ability to issue such debt is irresponsible.  The housing industry, which was an obvious bubble, and proved itself to be just that, made light of this unnecessary financial obligations that were placed on consumers that were well under qualified.

If those individuals, who couldn't meet their housing payments with working careers and more than one income reached the point where a large majority of the consumers failed to meet the terms of the loans that were given to them by irresponsible for-profit corporations, how can students with no established income or credit history be given such burdens?

Student loans are a necessity in a society that has allowed its secondary educational system be turned into what the medical industry is now turning into, private corporations.  These student loans should be regulated and allow for consolidation, interest rate reduction, and, most importantly, income based payments, for private and public student debt.  These, however, are only necessary actions after the fact.  Before, education and advising is necessary and up to regulation and an established infrastructure that should be created by the governmental system in which they reside.

And that governmental system is you, the president. The lawmakers, the politicians, the ones whom the corporations have provided lobbyists in order to sway opinion when public opinion is such little real value.  The opinion and circumstance of the consumer has been devolved in an economy based on consumer need versus consumer focus.  And consumer need is really the result of solely a bottom line profit, allowing for rising prices of those consumer needs.

There is no overarching solution, but there are places to start. 

An honest response is the only place to start that I request of you.

Dear Obama....Student Loan Debt Consolidation

ehhmm.....Private Student Loan Debt Consolidation.

On my main source of news, Yahoo, there was just an article on is debt consolidation and if it is a scam.

I'm sure there are many scams out there, in fact, there have now been articles lately of student loan consolidation programs that are now scams.  Obviously it is a good racket to get into with desperate debtors with little to no options.

What are the options....default?  Well, no, except in the most forgone financial position, in which I have not educated myself with.  But I'm assuming its just about as easy to default on student loan debt as it is to get elected to the presidency, to which I'm trying to write to, but revert back to blogging on.

In a letter, in fact, I would want to address that there are very little options for private student loans offenders, in which, who is in fact the offender.  The consumer or the provider of the product that is only available to furnish the acquisition of a paper?  I'm framing myself, and all private student loan consumers, the offenders since this is a financial means to an end that should not be utilized in any circumstance.  As with any financial debt, there should be a  product of collateral such as a house or an item, but this is solely the futures of all cosigners and debtors as this debt is un-expellable. 

I, at this moment, 7 years into my loans, have paid around $70,000 on the 100k that I owe, while that balance has only decreased by around $10,000.  I have not missed a payment, I have not paid less than the minimum amount, which is, in fact, more than would be of a mortgage.  The rate isn't sky high but it is an average of 7 1/2 percent variable, which is subject to sky rocket upon good interest rates.  I don't know if I foresee that, with a poor economic landscape currently in America, but I, personally, was always used to a bad personal economy.  

I have attempted to consolidate this debt, with a consignor, which was unsuccessful as one requirement was that I make the amount of debt that I owe in a year.  And if that were the case, I wouldn't be sitting here wasting my time on what is a dream of a letter but more of a blog, and even more a journal of feelings instead of cold hard facts.

Consolidation should be available for that very fact, that I am a responsible consumer in that I have not expelled or not paid the debt I have, unknowingly, taken.  I say unknowingly as I was a child of 18 who signed papers that I was neither privy, nor cared, to understand what the consequences of the debt entailed.  But I was an ignorant consumer as is what should be prevented in the future, to not allow this ignorance to keep taking place but order mandatory education, provided at the expense of the loan providers.  This should be enacted, and I'm not aware of the history of the proposal or enactment of such laws.  Which is where this blog lacks.  But, experience, it does not.

So, as I should be allowed to consolidate student loans, I must consolidate this banter.