Letter to the editor - what do you think?

[velvetpage]

There's an article in today's Spectator about how Canadian parents are not saving enough for their children's post-secondary education. This is my response. What do you think?





If parents of young children are falling behind in saving for their post-secondary education, it may be because they are still trying to pay off their own university debt.

At the moment in Canada, an entire generation of young people are mortgaging their futures to pay for their education. They are coming out with loans in the tens of thousands of dollars, and many are not able to pay them all before they start having kids.

What are the solutions for these young families? Well, they could delay having kids, which raises the spectre of further medical woes when they do start their families. They could delay other big expenditures, like cars and houses – not always possible or practical. Or, they can do what they’re doing, and attempt to make a reasonable life for themselves and their families while paying down that debt.

I save fifty dollars a month towards my toddler’s university education. I pay five hundred dollars a month on my student loan.

So if my daughter doesn’t have enough for her education in sixteen years, who will be to blame? Me, for not saving enough? Or the people who made my university education so expensive that I was still paying for it most of a decade after incurring it?

Comments

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

Nice, susinct (sp?) and to the point.

I'm so happy I have managed to keep my debts down to $10'000... which I did through full time work, part time school and no life. I'm not sure it was a healthy balance, but at least I don't have the specter of student loans coming back to haunt me. *shivers greatfully*

Ugh! $500 a month to student loans!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Actually, I consolidated the various other debts we'd incurred, and the student loan, into one big line of credit during the last maternity leave. The student loan represents about 40% of that, and we're paying more than a thousand dollars a month on the whole thing, so $500 was a good estimate.

[lousy-timing.livejournal.com]

I think it's a very good letter. I rather look forward to hearing if it's been published.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'll be sure to let you know - along with the rest of the world, of course. :) I'm just so incredibly bad at keeping anything to myself. ;)