To pay or not to pay?

General
#1

TDLR: Does it help anyone here if I decide not to pay my debt even though I can?

Hi folks!

I’m relatively new to the debt collective, and I have about 7k left of federal student loans to pay off (unless something changes, they have zero interest). I’m in a fortunate/privileged situation; I can pay them off if I want/need to without it being a crippling burden on me.

Since I’m new to this/the concept of organizing around debt, I’d love to know from folks who have been in this fight: is it helpful to the cause if people like myself refuse to pay our debt even though we can? Or, since I’m not currently a part of a more specific debt strike, would I be risking delinquency fees etc. without actually advancing any campaigns?

There may not be a clearcut right/wrong answer, but I’d love to hear folks’ thoughts!

1 Like
#2

You will get late fees. Your balance will start to grow with capitalized interest EDIT - saw that somehow they are 0% interest - but for anyone else reading this look at how much you pay in interest.

Your credit will be affected. It will become harder to buy a house, a car, etc. and the interest rate you’d have to pay on those things, your credit card, and in many states your car insurance will be higher than if you didn’t have a delinquency and things in collection.

If you never pay when you retire or get social security disability they will take 15% of your social security. If you are in collection the IRS will keep any income tax refunds until the debt is paid off.

Not paying your student debt will not be making a statement that the politicians will recognize. You will just join the large number of students who are delinquent and then suffer the consequences of delinquency…