55 yrs 75K in student loans, not working?
Written by admin on March 2, 2009 – 7:57 am -As a result of the past twelve years of drama and trauma in my life – a life time of panic disorder and depression I also have chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes, and sleep apnea.
It’s an effort to just get out of bed many days and there is no way I can hold down a job let alone one at some discount store’s pace. The idea of having to go to school to get a license to teach in this state and having to be somewhere every day fills me such dread I can scarcely breathe.
My husband makes a living but just enough to pay our bills not the 5 or 6 hundred dollars a month that my student loan holders are asking. I keep filing a forbearance but for I can’t do that forever. He wasn’t even in the picture when I was in school. I will never pay that much money off before I die!! I am scared to death. which is not helping my depression.
I try to paint, do pottery, give lessons and knit to make money but I just can’t seem to sell anything of consequencece. I love my stuff but no one else seems to.
My question is (finally) Is there any kind of program that I can submit to to help me out? I thought college was the best thing for me when I started at the age of 38 graduating seven years later with two bachelors and one masters degree. I love teaching But it has not worked out for me. I am mad at my advisers and my college for not counseling me better. They were ecstatic to take my money and my student loans but offered me no advice of my not making any money with the three degrees. In fact I was talked into going more to get the second bachelors. I lost my two jobs teaching adjunct in community colleges because mine is not a terminal degree.
Please don’t judge me harshly I am a product of my phobias and disorders. I’ve lived this my entire life. I stretched beyond my limits to go to college and work those 12 years that I worked, but I don’t know if I have it in me to pick up again enough to work a daily grind. Yes I can work from home, I can do art when I have the energy and strength, but I am struggling to keep it together with these loans looming over me and getting bigger every year. And at 83 years of age my parents need me at any given moment to do any given thing.
You have two excellent answers above me and I want to state how great they are. Although I do agree with you that getting two bachelors is about as useful as earning two high school diploma it was YOU who choose to do it. No one twisted your arm and forced you to be a tent at college. (Camping out, never to leave).
Education gives you the "Opportunity" to do what you want, it does not give you nor necessarily keep you a job. In the world of work, people with poor attendance, poor attitude, poor heath, or who simply don't fit in can find themselves on the curb quickly with a degree or not.
I also agree, unless your health has changed dramatically recently if you were well enough to go to school, you are well enough to work. Doctors can prescribe medications and therapy to help with anxiety, LOOSING WEIGHT will help with the sleep apnea, fatigue and diabetes. You need to get out, get active and even if it's just volunteering and not getting paid, its better than sitting at home. You are also a bit old to be blaming your parents on you not getting a job either.
Applying for Disability discharge as NotAnyoneYouKnow is an option for you, but she didn't state how hard it is to get. You and your doctor have to prove your disease will soon cause you to die. Anxiety disorders do not fall into this category.
"Not working out" for you is not an option . You MUST get a job to pay off your debts or you will risk the relationship with your husband, your family and yourself. Many people with Mental Health problems work EVERY DAY. They do it because they want to or they have to. You have been given a gift of education and opportunity and apparently a very tolerant husband. don't blow it.
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to “55 yrs 75K in student loans, not working?”
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By Belinda28 on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
You have a few options but all of them include working:
-become a grade school or HS teacher in a low income area. After 5 years the federal gov’t will forgive 100% of your loans
-get a job and pay the loans
-ask your husband to pay the loans.
-get a job and get into counceling for your issues and pay your loans
You were well enough to go to school, you should be well enough to work. You are looking for an easy way out and there isn’t one.
You are blaming everyone but you. I was 22 when I started school. I was a bit naive about things – not realizing until I was furthing in that the schools JOB is to get students to give them money, that I actually have to pay back the student loans, that I am not going to make the income everyone ‘promised’ etc….
But I figured it out w/ in 2 or 3 years. You were 38 when you went back to school….and you are blaming others for your failure?
If you were strong enough to go to school you are strong enough to work.
Stop blaming others and live up to your responsibility.
I guess you could just never pay them since you never plan on working. Just make sure the house is not in your name, although I am not sure if they could seize your house.
Maybe you can do jail time instead of paying your loans, since you are not working or doing anything anyway.
References :
I owe $60k for one BSBA and one MBA
By NotAnyoneYouKnow on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
I have some information for you, but just reading it is not going to resolve your problems. If this info is going to be of any benefit to you, you’re going to have to go to bat for yourself and work through a lot of red tape and paperwork. I can only offer the information to get you started – it’s up to you whether you can take the lead and get the necessary work done.
The Department of Education offers loan cancellation to borrowers who suffer from a Total and Permanent Disability (TPD). As I said, this is a long and involved process, because the lenders and the government are naturally suspicious of any attempts to qualify for loan cancellation – you will have to jump through many hoops to get there.
You begin the process by completing a Loan Discharge Application. You complete part of the form, and your doctor must complete the rest. Your doctor must certify that you have a disabling condition that will last indefinitely and prevent you from working and earning money in any capacity. Therein lies “the rub” for you – if you are capable of working in any capacity and/or if you are only suffering from a “partial” disability, then you are not eligible for loan discharge.
The process takes as long as a year, and the determination of the Department of Education is not appealable.
Start with the webpage that I’ve linked to below – the information is provided by the Ombudsman’s office at the Department of Education. You’ll find a lot of helpful advice there.
I wish you the best of luck.
References :
http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov/resources/faqs/tpdfaq.html
By Found-1 on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
You have two excellent answers above me and I want to state how great they are. Although I do agree with you that getting two bachelors is about as useful as earning two high school diploma it was YOU who choose to do it. No one twisted your arm and forced you to be a tent at college. (Camping out, never to leave).
Education gives you the "Opportunity" to do what you want, it does not give you nor necessarily keep you a job. In the world of work, people with poor attendance, poor attitude, poor heath, or who simply don't fit in can find themselves on the curb quickly with a degree or not.
I also agree, unless your health has changed dramatically recently if you were well enough to go to school, you are well enough to work. Doctors can prescribe medications and therapy to help with anxiety, LOOSING WEIGHT will help with the sleep apnea, fatigue and diabetes. You need to get out, get active and even if it's just volunteering and not getting paid, its better than sitting at home. You are also a bit old to be blaming your parents on you not getting a job either.
Applying for Disability discharge as NotAnyoneYouKnow is an option for you, but she didn't state how hard it is to get. You and your doctor have to prove your disease will soon cause you to die. Anxiety disorders do not fall into this category.
"Not working out" for you is not an option . You MUST get a job to pay off your debts or you will risk the relationship with your husband, your family and yourself. Many people with Mental Health problems work EVERY DAY. They do it because they want to or they have to. You have been given a gift of education and opportunity and apparently a very tolerant husband. don't blow it.
References :
By Patriot on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
“….a life time of panic disorder and depression I also have chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes, and sleep apnea. ”
What are you doing about sleep apnea? Do you realize how destructive sleep apnea can be to your mental and physical health? Do you realize that untreated sleep apnea can cause panic disorder, chronic fatigue, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes?
It is rare for someone to cure sleep apnea by exercise and weight loss. I predict you will continue to fail and live a miserable life, unless you get to a sleep doctor and start treating your sleep apnea. You cannot treat your other health problems without first getting your sleep apnea under control. Get as quickly as you can a consultation with a sleep doctor working in an accredited sleep lab.
Best of luck.