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Re: Starting late to be an Engineer...
Anthony,
If you can get subsidized loans, you should use them to the fullest. Here's why: Let's say you're making $15 per hour now. When you graduate as an engineer you can expect to make around $25 per hour. Therefore, by taking student loans you only have to work 60% as much to pay for college.
On top of that, you'll finish college sooner which means you'll have more income to start investing or saving with. Once you add in compounding interest on investments and savings plans, you'll make thousands more over your lifetime if you take the loans. The interest on the loans is going to be much less than the amount you should make in a 401(k). If it was allowed, you should take loans just to dump more money into a 401(k) - you would come out ahead. By taking the student loans, it's like taking a portion of the loan money and putting toward your 401(k) plan that you'll have as an engineer.
I urge you to sit down and figure it out. You'll most likely find that you should be taking the loans - it isn't even close.
I have experience in this - I came from a low-income family with divorced parents. When I graduated from U-M I had $38,000 worth of loans to pay. It was worth every penny. BTW - I paid them all off in under 5 years with money left over to do many nice things.
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An ounce of perception is worth a pound of obscure.
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