comment: >
  
  I love that term "knowledge requirement inflation". My father got a job right out of high school (this was the mid 1950s) that payed enough to buy a home, raise a family and have a pension when he retired (all on a single income). To get the job he vacated when he retired you needed a degree and to be bilingual.
context: When the rich write the rules the rich get what they want. >
  
  There's going to have to come a time when the people start to fight back >
  
  Not when about 30% of the population blame immigrants/transgenders/blacks/woke liberals for their problems >
  
  That is where the right are brilliant. Turn all the non-wealthy people against each other. Make them believe all their issues are caused by each other. Instead of banding together to fight against the rich they fight amongst each other. The GOP have white lower class people voting against their own interest’s and to lower the taxes of the wealthy. All to ‘own the libs’ and to allow for racism and sexism. >
  
  This has been a tactic by the upper class since at least the colonial era if not longer. >
  
  Since Roman times, at least. >
  
  Probably earlier but when Jesus was invented, the Romans found a great distraction.
  Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's 
  Keep paying the govt their money and keep paying the church their money. >
  
  Just put an income cap on 529 plans like we do with Roth IRAs >
  
  This doesn’t seem that bad. One of the problems with 529s is what happens to the extra money? This feels like a proper solution:
  
  $35,000 lifetime cap on rollovers. 
  IRA must be in the beneficiary’s name, not the account holder. >
  
  Not to mention that there is still a max rollover per year of $6,500 to a Roth IRA And the account has to be open for 15 years. This really isn’t bad at all. It will just make it easier to save money in a 529 for college because you know there is a way to get it out if you have extra left over. 
  Rich people gaining the ability to get $6,500 rolled out of a 529 into a Roth IRA (maxing out at $35k lifetime) really doesn’t help them at all. This helps normal people way more than any rich person could abuse it to help themselves.
  But sure 95% of people don’t read the article and 99% don’t understand it even if they did >
  
  Reddit, particularly this sub, runs on outrage and lack of understanding of the tax code.
  People should be opening 529 plans the day junior is born and contribute right away.  If they save like $100 a month and junior gets state school scholarships college will be free for the kid.  People are just mad their parents didn’t. >
  
  I'm not mad that my Mom rarely had an extra $100 a month, let alone for each of her three children.  I do start think about when people act like it should be automatic, with the implication being that they didn't because...idk.  Maybe you think they're dumb, or fuck 'em for being poor.
  Your fucking attitude is the problem. >
  
  Yeah, “I’m not angry” and goes straight to using expletives when talking about my “attitude.”
  There’s a reason I donate to financial stability centers; to ensure that this information is out there.  It’s a little insulting to everyone to imply they’re so helpless as to not have the knowledge to open a college savings account.  Walk into any Chase or PNC and they’ll steer you in the right direction.  
  It seems the only people angry about what I’m saying are the ones who didn’t benefit from it.  Yet there are multiple people in this comments section commenting how dad was an immigrant and saved what he could in a 529 and it helped immensely. 
  Guess what? That’s just how it is.  Use the tools to your advantage for your kids.  That’s how this country works. >
  
  See, this is what I mean.  It was never a knowledge problem.  It was a means problem.  And all you have to say to people it doesn't help is, "Bro, just invest your monies. It's not rocket science.  Sorry about your parents, lol."  Seriously. >
  
  Article is blocked by the paywall. Fucking rich people. >
  
  If you’re not willing to pay for your news, then you should be asking who is paying for it. It’s $1 a week for an NYT subscription. >
  
  Ew who would want to get an their news from NYT. So how many of these center-right corpo news sites do I have to pay for? And it's my fault if I can't afford to fund Journalism writ large? >
  
  You don’t have to give anything to any of them. But don’t expect to access the content, right? You don’t want to read it anyway. But I firmly believe that you should support the journalists that you do trust. That shouldn’t be controversial. Taking whatever free takes or opinions that agree with our biases makes this sub a de facto left-leaning analogue to r/conservative. >
  
  
  But I firmly believe that you should support the journalists that you do trust. 
  
  That's liberal free-market bullshit. Paying NYT $1 isn't going to change who they're beholden to or make them better represent me or reality. Very few people can afford to realistically "fund" journalism in the impactful way you're suggesting, which is why they're virtually all untrustworthy, pro-corporate, conservative hogwash. 
  And that's what you want. Talk about confirming your own biases; this is a monoculture.
  And then, ignoring that almost none of us can push NYT around, what about the people who can't afford to read the news in this gated paradise? You really think poor people should be forced into an uninformed ghetto? That is undemocratic and locks them into poverty. 
  News should be free just like education should be free. News is education. It's utterly inconsistent to support one and not the other. This is a public good, and we all suffer (including the good itself) for having it locked away. >
  
  Breaking news! Rich people have more money than poor people!
  Seriously though the advantages of being wealthy are never going to go away. Pretending like we can somehow stop rich people from using their wealth to get a leg up on the rest of us is a waste of time.
  The only way forward is for tuition for state universities to be 100% taxpayer funded. It would be the single best investment the US has ever made.
  Forgive the debt. Fund state university tuition. >
  
  
  Pretending like we can somehow stop rich people from using their wealth to get a leg up on the rest of us is a waste of time.
  
  It's only a "waste of time" because people like you think their wealth is "natural" and can't fathom a world where they're not wealthy. >
  
  I said that money brings power that poor people don't have. Nothing will ever change that fact. Thinking otherwise is living in a fantasy land.
  However I never said anything about not trying to level the playing field. I honestly have no idea how you came to that conclusion from my comment. >
  
  
  I said that money brings power that poor people don't have. Nothing will ever change that fact. Thinking otherwise is living in a fantasy land.
  
  "It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism." >
  
  So your solution to our immediate student loan debt crisis is to end capitalism...
  Good luck with that. >
  
  So your solution to "our immediate student loan debt crisis" is to pretend like we're going to magically level the playing field after hundreds of years of not doing so? I'm the crazy person though?
  
  @ Politicsboringagain I can't respond to you in the comment tree because the child blocked me, so any post that stems from one of his posts, I'm blocked from responding to, too.
  
  We haven't had a student loan debt crisis for hundreds of years.
  Also there are rich people in every type of ecominic system thsr ever existed.
  
  Do you think the student loan debt crisis is the first form of debt servitude in American history?
  There's only rich people in every economic system that has ever existed because we haven't tried anything else.
  And I can't respond to you on your post nor any post where the child has a post stemming from. >
  
  I never said anything about magic, or anything about you being crazy, or used the word pretend. You keep using ridiculous hyperbole to try to frame me as unreasonable and mean when I'm just trying to have a discussion with you.
  The crazy thing is I agree with you that capitalism is a scourge on the planet and should be stopped. That isn't any kind of actual solution here though. If capitalism were to go away it would take a very very long time. People need help right now.
  In the future I suggest you stop it with the snarkiness and overall shitty attitude. All it does is piss people off even if they agree with you. You're being standoffish for absolutely no reason as if you want someone to take out your misguided aggression on. I'm not it kid. Quit trying so hard to be a victim in this conversation.
  Edit: Merry Christmas! >
  
  To take a cleareyed view of who is getting what from the federal government in the realm of higher education, it helps to take a snapshot of how things work at this moment. >
  
  How things work at this moment? But they don’t 😨 >
  
  Keep’em stupid if you can’t keep’em locked up right? >
  
  1) The Fed government should not guarantee loans that colleges make
  2) Undo the law that prevents people from declaring bankruptcy (student debt can NEVER be discharged)
  This puts risk back in the system, forcing colleges to be competitive and undo the excessive flood of totally BS degrees that are out there >
  
  So, poor people's options are... what we have today or having a bankruptcy on their record.
  Sounds fun.
  
  This puts risk back in the system
  
  There was never "risk" in the system. Do you know American history at all?
  Why do you right-wingers keep beating the drum of this mystical past?
  
  totally BS degrees that are out there
  
  What's a "BS degree" exactly? >
  
  I have a bachelors of science. I was also too poor to go to college so went the community college route for gen ed and an AA then transferred to state school for my BS. >
  
  He's saying bullshit not Bachelors of Science. >
  
  Protip, posts are threaded, I responded to your post, not the person you responded to. >
  
  Why would you bring up "Bachelors of Science" and "BS" then? Why wouldn't you just say Bachelors to not be so confusing in all of this? Your post sounds like it's also talking about my last sentence, not just the poor people part.
  And you also make it seem like community college and then transferring to a state school is somehow affordable, when it's anything but. Maybe 25 years ago when you went to school, but not recently and not today. >
  
  And the GOP keeps saying stop sending money to Ukraine and give it to Americans.
  But not the 40 million Americans with student loan debt. >
  
  
  And the GOP keeps saying stop sending money to Ukraine and give it to Americans.
  
  That's bipartisan because it's in our national interest for countries to not go around invading other countries. >
  
  Growing up & starting adult life with no money, I took a clear-eyed view at contrast between penniless war refugees and America's generational poverty. Refugees took worse jobs than anyone but didn't spend it. Our own working class went into debt maintaining quality of life.
  After 10 or so years of scrimping, refugee families slowly invested in tools and skills to raise their income. Slowly climbing up, by time their kids started adult life their family income was middle class or higher. I doggedly followed war refugee's role model and got the same result. Went from impoverished student & homeless street laborer to upper-middle class professional in 13 years.
  Observe different groups around you and copy those who get consistent best results. >
  
  "complain or use the tools provided to you, choice is yours" >
  
  I got a 60k scholarship from SUNY Buffalo for “academic achievement” I have no idea how the hell that happened. My working theory is that they need kids from the south to fill their quotas maybe. >
  
  
  graduate school (hello, half-a-million-dollar New York University dental school)
  
  what the shit >
  
  529s?
  If we want to talk about the rich getting subsidies to college we should be looking at the athletics programs.
  Rich white kids get scholarships in volleyball, tennis, track and field, etc. And these sports all lose money for their universities. 
  Poor white and black kids who are athletic can get lucky and get an athletic scholarship for football. The football program will bring in big money to the university. These students are typically given special treatment or they get a degree in something worthless. No real education, but the university needs them to keep the money flowing. >
  
  529 amounts are counted against the owner in calculating financial assistance.  If you don’t save in a 529, you have less assets considered in the calculation. 
  Plus many families earning under 100 K get a free ride at increasingly more colleges - while a family earning 200 k has to pay. A 529 account helps the family that has to pay be able to pay.
  This article is a weird ass take - the NYT is increasingly coming out with more and more stretched arguments. 
  The very rich - say a 750k annual income - would barely be affected if 529s were cut, but those who do end up paying full amounts (like a double income professional couple) and who aren’t very rich would be disadvantaged 
  It’s like screaming for income tax increases when the very rich don’t even earn ordinary W2 income and so don’t care.
  It’s really presenting a fake target to attack while the actual very rich carry on regardless >
  
  The wealthy sure get a lot of free shit. >
  
  Trump got a 5 million dollar refund from his IRS, and the grift continues... >
  
  Sorry but this headline is a little ridiculous. It's like saying that 401k plans are only for the rich because only "rich" people have enough money to save in them.
  You need exactly $1 to open a 529 plan and you have 18 years to save for your kids college. The 529 plan is a tax-advantaged long term investment plan accessible to anyone. This isn't some perk only available to the wealthy.
  Source: I was not wealthy 19 years ago when I started saving for my kids college education and am paying for it now. >
  
  $1300 a year per kid split across mom/dad and grandmas and grandpas would pay most kids up for a state school assuming normal stock returns…
  I don’t understand the outrage here.  $1300 a year is a lot, but split across 6 people is $217 per person… $20 per month to send your kid to college and people still don’t do it. >
  
  Assuming you have 2 parents and 4 grandparents per child is a pretty big assumption. Even for state schools $24,000 is on the extremely low end for a 4 year degree and doesn't include room, board, books, laptop, fees, travel. People are rationing insulin and food but you think they have spare money just laying around? >
  
  Statistically, the median American household can stomach what I outlined.
  In my state, Wisconsin, the most expensive in-state school is $10,720 per YEAR.  Inflation adjusted $1300 a year saved roughly nets to 60k assuming normal stock returns (which they would be over 18 years)... My state froze tuition.  That leaves about 20k for food, laptops and books.  And doesn't factor scholarships.  You can take a woe is me approach or use the system as intended.  Your choice. >
  
  Tuition and fees; go to a school close to home and commute.  This isn’t rocket science.  Tuition and fees is the relevant number.
  It’s not naive. It’s reality.  No grandparents?  save what you can.  $11000 in tuition can likely be covered by grants, scholarships and a summer job.  It won’t be glamorous but the worlds not fair.
  What is unfair is a couple getting $40,000 in loan forgiveness because they got huge federal loans to go to Oberlin. >
  
  Again you're assuming everyone has a stable home with a room to stay in and a car to commute. 
  You're $20 a month plan falls apart without 6 people to support it. You can't just save your way through poverty without a ton of luck. It is absolutely naive to assume you can. 
  There aren't enough grants and scholarships for everyone. That's the problem. A summer job for 3 months at full time is not enough to pay for a year of rent, bills and tuition. What world are you living in that it is? 
  How can you be like "boo hoo, the world's not fair, suck it up, but this made up scenario that doesn't exist would be unfair so poor people should suffer." Like if the world isn't fair maybe we should try to make it more fair. >
  
  Naive seems to be your favorite word so let me address it.
  It is naive, and honestly misinformed to believe laws should be tailored to the absolute bottom of the barrel.  No, not everyone is able to take advantage of everything; but the MEDIAN individual is.  
  Society needs a hierarchy to exist.  That’s the way it’s always been and always will be. >
  
  This is dumb; anyone can save in a 529.  If you contribute $300 a year, grandma and grandpas contribute $500 a year from each side (starting from birth) you’d have around 60k for college assuming normal stock returns…. Instate tuition is $10,720 for my state’s flagship school…. You’d be totally paid up.
  Not saying the current system is totally fair but cmon.  $1300 a year isn’t that much if you split across family members. >
  
  You're talking about families richer than mine. I send mom $100/month to help with her living expenses. Then I gave my siblings and mom $500 each so they could pay bills and buy Xmas presents for their kids. I'm not rich myself either. I broke $40k last year for the first time and I'm 59. >
  
  With all due respect, you make well below median. 
  My described plan is aimed at 60k households. >
  
  I only commented because you said "anyone". I think it's common for people well off to assume everyone is doing as well as themselves. >
  
  60k is not well off.  It is the median. >
  
  I include you in those more well off than myself. >
  
  Why is the answer to student loan debt to just change the terms of students having to take on ridiculous amounts of debt and not, idk, make state colleges free?  It’s always cheaper to just fund this shit and take out the middleman, like with healthcare, but god forbid we set up a system where the rich can’t leech off the poor. >
  
  When my daughter was in college she used tell how the rich kids who got aid just blew it or put it in the bank. We have socialism in Murica folks but it is only for the wealthy. >
  
  The rich kids didn’t get aid this is  bullshit. >
  
  I’ve worked for two different “small” business owners during the pandemic. Both in manufacturing deemed essential where we never once shut down, and both got ppp loans. Like…. People have seen the money absolutely not go for its intended purposes. First hand…. And chumps will still defend it over the student loan forgiveness. >
  
  
  People have seen the money absolutely not go for its intended purposes. First hand…. And chumps will still defend it over the student loan forgiveness.
  
  Have you reported the fraud? >
  
  Why is it that education is so expensive when knowledge is so cheap? >
  
  Definitely a ton of knowledge requirement inflation for jobs too: with some obvious exceptions including medical, trades, etc so much stuff people are forced to earn degrees and plunge themselves into debt for can just be learned on the job