Are you drowning in a pool of student debt and unsure of how you can get yourself out? Well, some people have started leaving the United States altogether to avoid their student loans. And can you blame them? With 45 million Americans holding over $1.6 trillion in student loans, a lot of people can feel like they'll never be able to repay it. They average over $30,000 in debt and interest piles up every month. But, is fleeing the country the right way to handle your student loan debt?
What happens if you leave the United States to avoid student loans?
The loans won't magically disappear if you leave the country. In fact, they'll continue to get worse. Your interest will still accumulate on your unpaid balance and you'll accumulate fees over time. This will make it even harder to pay back your loans if you plan on coming back to the United States. If you have any cosigners on your loans, they may have to shoulder the burden for you. If you can't be reached, debt collectors will start calling anyone else that signed on the loan.
On top of this, your credit score will take a large hit. Missed payments and defaults piling up will continue to hurt your credit, making it impossible to get affordable loans and credit cards in the future.
Can the Department of Education garnish my wages outside the United States?
If you've left the country and are not working for a company in the US, then the department of education has no jurisdiction. This means that they can't garnish your wages. However, they can take away up to 15% of your social security benefits if you ever plan on coming back to the United States. And this would be on top of the accumulated and other fees from avoiding your student loan payments.
What else can I do about my student loans?
If student debt is weighing you down and you feel like you can't breathe because of it, try a Defynance income share agreement (ISA). With this debt free solution, you can get rid of your student loans entirely. With an ISA, you only pay a small percent of your income over a set period of time and your done. Your payments will fluctuate with income, so if you ever are making under $25,000 a year for any reason, your payments are paused. If this sounds like it could be useful to you sign up here.
