Anyone not regret borrowing?

Tristan

Well-Known Member
Hi,

Seems the consensus on this forum is DON'T BORROW MONEY FOR FLT TRAINING. I can see good reasons to be cautious with borrowing, especially with the current economic climate and the stories of guys getting into massive debt which they can't service.

Obviously there are many people here who have borrowed money to get where they are now, me being one of them. I wouldn't mind hearing from the people who have an alternative view on borrowing for education and give some advice to guys who are considering it.

If I can give any advice to the guys who are considering loans, make sure you examine exactly how much it will cost you to service the loan. Look at the worse case scenario in terms of potential income, rental rates and loan repayments and see whether you can still make it work.

This isn't a post to encourage people to get into debt, I'm just interested in different perspectives to the 'DON'T EVER BORROW FOR FLT TRAINING' one.
 
Hi,

Seems the consensus on this forum is DON'T BORROW MONEY FOR FLT TRAINING. I can see good reasons to be cautious with borrowing, especially with the current economic climate and the stories of guys getting into massive debt which they can't service.

Obviously there are many people here who have borrowed money to get where they are now, me being one of them. I wouldn't mind hearing from the people who have an alternative view on borrowing for education and give some advice to guys who are considering it.

If I can give any advice to the guys who are considering loans, make sure you examine exactly how much it will cost you to service the loan. Look at the worse case scenario in terms of potential income, rental rates and loan repayments and see whether you can still make it work.

This isn't a post to encourage people to get into debt, I'm just interested in different perspectives to the 'DON'T EVER BORROW FOR FLT TRAINING' one.


Nope,

I don't regret any of it. I'd do it all over again too. Do what your heart says, don't be a bitter and wealthy.
 
I have a 6 figure 10 year loan from Riddle. I have made payments on CFI, first year, and Captain pay.
Do I regret it? I try not to. Nothing I can do about it now. I went there to be an engineer and ended up being a pilot. I made a lot of great friends and I truly enjoyed my college experience. The flying wasn't all that expensive, it was the tuition that was killer.
Who knows if I'd be where I am today if it wasn't for Riddle. I'd probably be at some crappy 135 shop down in FXE sweeping the hanger and flying a 60 for 30k a year.

My 6th grade English teacher used to tell me "If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler". If you accept a loan of any size you need to own up to it and make some sacrifices. I don't stay in luxury apartments, I drive the same paid off pickup truck that I had in school, I have no credit card debt. Honestly a 3.5% loan is a steal and is almost an investment.
 
I was 25 when I started training, I paid my way to PPL and a bit at a local flying school, then got out a loan to finish off my CPL and my MECIR. In the end I borrowed about $40,000 Aussie dollar. I found myself a charter job in a C210 and have been paying it off nicely since. Of course I have been living very frugally to pay of as much as possible. I will pay quite a bit of interest in the end, but I'm prepared to pay for it to advance my career forward.

If I hadn't got the loan, I would still be sweeping hanger floors and washing planes (not that I didn't enjoy it) but I'm much happier in my current position. Having said that, I looked into the loan and made sure I knew exactly what i was getting into, i.e, monthly repayments and potential first year salary and living expenses. In other words, I looked at what I had to do to make the finances work out, and accepted it. Although I did hesitate in getting borrowing the money initially, because I'm someone who is cautious with money and hates debt, but I realized that it was worth the commitment given that it is a long term investment.

P.S I wouldn't have been able to get out a massive loan of say $70000 for those fast track airlines flight schools. I made a compromise to pay may way to a certain point.
 
most days i regret borrowing as much as i did, not the borrowing, because there is no way i could have done it w/o. i regret how i did my schooling, but hindsight is always 20/20, and if i did it again i would do it different, but i would still borrow (just not as much)
 
I don't regret it, but then again I didn't get stupid and take out a huge ass loan that I would never be able to possibly pay back. . .

If you're honest with your financial abilities after completing training, and honest about how much it's going to cost to pay for your training along with how much you'll be making when hired flight instructing, flying freight, or whatever way of making money . . . then sure, take out a loan. . .

Just do it smartly.

I wouldn't say the consensus on this forum is NOT to take out a loan, it's to NOT do it stupid.
 
Nope,

I don't regret any of it. I'd do it all over again too. Do what your heart says, don't be a bitter and wealthy.

Sometimes your brain can give you better advice, though. $100k+ in loans for a job that will take you years to make an average US salary? Oh, and no one is hiring.

There are plenty of people who followed their heart, and purchased homes they couldn't possibly afford. How are they doing these days?
 
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

;) Get em' Murdoughnut.

If you say that aloud. . .that's one creative username. Mur-dough-not. hah!
 
Sometimes your brain can give you better advice, though. $100k+ in loans for a job that will take you years to make an average US salary? Oh, and no one is hiring.

There are plenty of people who followed their heart, and purchased homes they couldn't possibly afford. How are they doing these days?

:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:Wise man once told me the heart can be very deceitful.
 
I don't regret borrowing the $50k for my 4 year degree + flight training, I do regret the credit card debt I racked up in college though. But it's easier to stay out of six figures when you go to a state school and pay as much as you can as you go.
 
I've been about as anti-loans-for-training as you can get, with the possible exception of SteveC.

That being said, I've given more thought to the possibility in recent months simply because my progress has been slower than I would like, and it's been throttled mostly by irregular cashflow.

My situation is different than a lot of folks, though.

Because I'm older and I've been in the workforce for quite a while, I have a steady, good-paying non-flying job that gives me some latitude. There is certain sense in taking out small loans to pay for a couple ratings at a time, because with a small, manageable payment, I could effectively pay a "flat rate" for my flying every month and budget it accordingly.

I still think taking out 50-100K in loans for flight training is financial suicide in the grand scheme of things, but small loans in the 10-15K range, if you have the income to handle them quickly, makes a little more sense.
 
surreal [SIZE=1 said:
If you say that aloud. . .that's one creative username. Mur-dough-not. hah![/SIZE]

Ha! :)

I'm not entirely anti-loan. I mean if you need $10k to finish up, and there's a legitimate reason why you should finish sooner than later, that would seem manageable. $50k for a bachelors degree is probably a good long term investment as well. I just cringe when I hear stories of guys and gals who've pay $60k or more for flight ratings, and have no college degree or marketable skills to fall back on when flying doesn't pan out.

And don't even get me started on handing over tens of thousands of dollars to a company before services are rendered... lest we remember the dozens of Tab Express students whose lives were ruined (as were the lives of many of their cosigners) because of that $90k scam.
 
I took out a crap load to go to a very crappy college to get my B.F.A., that I regret. I should have just gone to a state school and paid 25% as much. But for flying afterwards, I took out a loan for 20K, I'm putting in 5K of my own, and I've got 10K of that 25K still to use and I'm at 130TT with my PPL and INS. I figure with the rest I'll be able to finish up my CSEL and my CFI/I and get a job, or pretty close to it. So that I don't regret. Funny, I got smarter with my money after I found out how important it is. I also right now have no other debt besides school loans. Worst comes to worst I just join the peace corps for 4 years and pay it off. Gotta spend money to make money, just don't spend more than you can make, in poker we call these pot odds.
 
If it hadn't been for student loans I would not be a 23 year old college grad with all my CFIs getting paid to fly airplanes and living beachside in beautiful sunny Florida.
 
I worked in construction since I was 12 years old (didn't get paid till I turned 18) by the time I turned 21, had enough saved to go through flight training and college. Did my private at an FBO, then ALLATP for everything else debt free. (no help from parents or scholarships either) Flight instructed, then got a nice corporate job. I'm 24, still single, living at home (don't really have any living expense, so most of its going to the bank) and my plans are to save enough to buy my first home being debt free.

I don't regret waiting a couple years working first to stay debt free.
 
there is one thing i do have to say i like about having the loan debt, and that is i do have to pay more attention to what i spend and not live like a total fool. because w/o our debt between me and my wife we could both be driving BMW's and have a nice house, but that isn't our style anyway (BMW's anyway, a house would be nice). i guess i could also be saving for retirement, so that does kinda suck
 
Do I regret borrowing? Let's break that down. I believe that's actually two questions you're asking.

Do I regret borrowing money and going into debt?
No.

Do I regret spending that money on flight training rather than going to law school?
Yes. Every day.

I love what I do, but I think I'd be happier doing something else. Unfortunately that ship has long since sailed, been pillaged by pirates and burned to the water line. Now, it's time to move on and pay it off.

-mini
 
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