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Have you ever visited a pawn shop to peruse discounted items or even get a small personal loan? Though most people associate lending with banks, pawn shops have actually been providing secured loans to people for centuries. 
While some in the Occupy Wall Street movement have moved on to Occupy Homes, others are occupying a more nebulous form of the economy–student loan debt.
Student loan debt might be the defining issue of a generation, with debt at record highs and job prospects for college grads at record lows. While some in the Occupy Student Loans movement are urging people to stop paying student loans back, others have cautioned against this.

Lending money to family and friends is a very delicate situation. On one hand you want to help out your loved one, but on the other you don’t want to sacrifice your finances. Happily, there are a couple of solutions that can make this awkward situation less stressful. 

The Occupy Wall Street movement has no clearly defined purpose, though the protest against Wall Street does find some unity on the issue of student loan debt. With two-thirds of all college graduates holding some kind of debt from student loans in an increasingly bleak job market for grads, many are demanding some form of student loan debt relief–but does the Obama student loan plan provide it? 
A new report has revealed that college grads from the class of 2010 received more than their diplomas– they also faced a record average of $25,250 in student loan debt. This student loan average was about 5 percent more than the debt accumulated by the class of 2009, and is said to be the result of increased college tuition and a weak economy.
College Students Forced to Obtain a Student Loan 
The number of colleges and universities charged $50,000 or more in tuition and fees for a single year increased this year. According to College Board data analyzed by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the number of schools charging this amount in the 2011-2012 school year jumped to 123 from the previous year. 
When Monique Harps makes the last payment on her student loan debt, she plans to celebrate with a cake–and perhaps a trip to Brazil. After all, she’s about to have a whole lot more spending money; after four years of hard work, she’s less than a year away from putting her $105,000 in debt to rest. 

Some new entrepreneurs are calling out America’s established lenders, saying the big banks are shying away from their duties in serving an ever greater class of American consumers. 

Now more than ever, students interested in pursuing higher education have plenty to think about. Is it always the right choice to push for a bachelor’s degree, even if you can’t really afford the student loans? Is college the right choice at all? For those who have been contemplating taking a shorter route, it’s good to consider acquiring their associate’s. 

The U.S. economy has seen a number of bubbles expand and pop over the past decade. Two big ones that we’ll never forget are the Dotcom bubble burst in 2000 and the housing bubble burst in 2007. Unfortunately, these occurrences are not particularly uncommon, simply because the nation’s financial system often overvalues the worth of a product or service. So are your student loans worth more than the education you’re receiving as well? 



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