My HECs debt is larger than my savings, tax bills & getting insurance (Financial Adviser Q&A)

[@joiorca]

I don't regret paying off my HECs debt sooner. I was so fed up with my take home pay reducing everytime I got a pay rise! So I bit the bullet, paused my savings and pumped as much as I could to get the debt paid. Once done, my entire pay could then supercharge my savings and investing without the HECs' ball and chain. I was able to save up for a house deposit so much faster and getting a home loan was much more straightforward.

[@kairos_fluent]

Out of curiosity, may I ask how big your HECS debt was and how long did it take for you to fully pay it off ?

[@redridgegardening]

I'm addicted to the RASK community! Across all the different podcasts Rask offers i listen on a DAILY basis , switching between them all!. Your free information has given me confidence as a low income earner to start investing.

[@01sigh]

@28.08 I agree with Owen here. My parents were refugees in the 70s. Australia took them in at the cost to the countries own prosperity. I would never have been able to afford to attend university with my Dad's income. I took out a HECS debt to pay for my univeristy degree and have paid back everything I owed. I was happy to pay it all back because this country allowed my family to enter the lower middle class. I am extremely greatful to this country.

[@jw-vx8im]

Well done and hope your family is doing well

[@KaizenTri]

I got totally screwed with HECS. I went as a full fee hecs student racking up 100k. The degree didn’t really get me anywhere. I then started a diploma and half way through the education provider closed down and left me with an additional cost which the government wanted to do nothing about assisting with. Growing up we were told that uni was a must but as a teen was completely unaware how wrong that is and the financial position it was going to put me in. Uni isn’t everything and isn’t a personal investment loan that all should take on. Uni is a business simply selling expensive pieces of paper that may or may not make your life better or worse.

[@marcoschena99]

Thanks gents. I agree with your comments on HECS, enables everyone to go to university if they want to increase their income for life. In Payroll we see a lot of uni graduates on starting incomes equivalent to the highest paid people without a further education. Apprentices are great as well, you just get paid less whilst training, but tradies in Australia make good money. From the ATO: The maximum super contribution base is used to determine the maximum limit on any individual employee's earnings base for each quarter of any financial year. Employers do not have to provide the minimum support for the part of earnings above this limit. 2023-24 $62,270 per quarter.

[@mangoman9290]

HECS is the cost of a persons education to give them the skills to be employed in a job that should pay more than comparable untrained jobs. If the individual chooses an education path that has no prospects of employment then more fool them. Pay for your education or dont seek further education and work in an unskilled job, their choice.

[@Coastpsych_fi99]

That’s not how university works in various parts of the world and historically it was free. It’s a policy choice for higher education to require debt.

[@mangoman9290]

​@@Coastpsych_fi99 'Free' means it was paid for by taxpayers, so you have non university educated employees paying taxes which then go to funding universities to churn out people who go on to highly paid jobs. Historically people from wealthy families went to university because they could afford to keep their kids in school and not have them leave after year 10 (or earlier) to earn a living and help feed the family. This means that historically poor people worked and paid taxes which then got paid to universities so that rich people could be educated. Not a place we should go back to.

[@DF-ep3kk]

Really dumb take on HECS. Very disappointing.

[@mangoman9290]

Dont want to pay for your personal development and training? Dont do the course :)

[@KaizenTri]

@@mangoman9290if it was only that simple. It is the biggest financial decision we make as kids, yes kids. During year 11 and 12 most are working towards this not actually seeing the big picture. Kids are sold uni as the pathway to success, it can be but not necessarily. More education needs to be given about it well before committing their life to a pathway that might end up making their situation worse. They need to be fully aware of what they are signing up for