30% Of Millennials Would Sell An Organ To Get Rid Of Student Loans

[Ichingcarpenter]

How far would you go to erase your student loans? If someone offered you $30,000 for your spleen, would you make that trade?

If you’re thinking, “absolutely, sign me up,” you’re not alone: a new survey asked indebted adults this and other would-you-rather questions and found that a not-insignificant portion would forego their physical and psychological well being in exchange for their student debt balance wiped clean.

For a month this summer, personal finance site MyBankTracker asked 200 of its users – median age, 32; average student debt balance, $34,500 — a series of questions to assess just far they’d go to get rid of their student loans. The rules of the game: yes or no answers only, and assume the activity in question will pay off your entire outstanding debt load.

The questions at hand: Would you be willing to turn your life into a reality TV show? Would you sell an organ? What about selling half of your possessions — would you do that? Would you ingest a drug that has not been approved by the FDA? And would you sign up for active duty?

Perhaps because we live in the age of the Kardashians or perhaps because it was the option presenting the least amount of bodily discomfort, 55% of respondents said they’d gladly exchange their debt for ever-present paparazzi. Forty-three percent of respondents said they’d purge half of their earthly possessions in return of a purging of all of their debt, and 38% said they’d partake in a questionable health study — that is, serve as a guinea pig for a drug that has not received FDA approval — if it meant getting out of the red. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they’d sign up for active duty, and a hefty 30% said they’d sell an organ if it meant getting rid of their debt. (Because who needs that spleen after all?)


http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2015/09/09/desperate-and-in-debt-30-of-millennials-would-sell-an-organ-to-get-rid-of-student-loans/

[jberryhill]

1. Which organ?

Potluck or dealer's choice?

[Jester Messiah]

2. And does it have to be mine, or...?

Because I know a guy...

[PersonNumber503602]

35. That was my thought too.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. You don't think this is real jerry?

and you mock this?

[jberryhill]

5. Given that one can't sell one's organs...

...then it is a hypothetical proposition in the first place.

I was thinking that one might value some organs more than others. I would, for example, let my appendix go pretty cheap. I have other organs you could not pry from my clenched grip.

Also, my name is not "Jerry".

[KT2000]

7. not so quick

as I state down thread, free marketers having been calling for organ sales for years. All they need is an entree that would make it acceptable.
Also - you better believe that organ sales are already happening in the black market.
This is not pie in the sky -it is the future.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. It will come here, one way or another.

Already people are flying off to hospitals in India for inexpensive treatment, and selling organs in India is common.esp. kidneys.
Nothing to stop an American organ seller from flying to another country to sell an organ, assuming the price would work out.

Now that we have privatized for profit jails, I expect the push to allow inmates to sell organs, and/or donate organs upon death.
in fact, a rule requiring all inmates to be organ donors upon death could open doors to a lot of possibilities.

People like Cheney, OTOH, can just buy the artificial forever organs.

[tblue37]

25. Heck--i gave up my gall bladder in April, but I didn't get one red cent for it! nt

[jberryhill]

29. That's galling!

[Dems to Win]

4. Hurts my heart that young people today don't have the same opportunities I did nt

[GummyBearz]

9. It hurts us too...

I have it better than most thanks to dad serving and being partially disabled in vietnam (what thing to have to go through, just so your kids dont end up debt slaves to a bank).

My wife has quite the student loan debt to pay off though. $500 every month, for the next decade. We barely escaped the permanent renter/landlord situation after 8 years of saving up. No kids though... may have to wait another 8 years for that

[Dems to Win]

12. Hope the Warren wing of the party becomes strong enough to pass debt forgiveness

Hugs and best wishes to you and your wife

[GummyBearz]

18. I would settle for just being able to refinance student loan debt

The interest rate is like 6%, and current rates are close to 3%... we could save a ton of money if we could just refinance, and the poor banks would get their money too.

[KT2000]

6. that is exacrtly what free marketers want

Free marketers have been writing about the need for organ sales for a while now. They do not like that the wealthy are in the same line as the poor so they propose organ sales. One went so far as to state that it would create a healthier population because people would be anxious to be selected for an organ sale.

Surgeons are the big money makers for hospitals - transplants are huge money makers - hospitals would be happy!
Impoverished people would get money.
The wealthy would get their organs before others.

A free marketers dream come true.

[tblue37]

27. "Vice" did an episode about an impoverished village where pretty much everyone has had to sell a k

kidney to pay off "microloans" that they'dd been lured into.

[KT2000]

40. if interested, there is a book

Ethics in Organ Transplantation: Perspectives and Challenges edited by Nirmala Rao Khadpekar
This book details the market for transplants especially in Third World countries. It is quite eye-opening and also sickening. As it is now, people are being exploited for the wealthy.

[tblue37]

41. I am very interested. Thanks for the tip!

To survive the poor have always been forced to surrender what no one should have to surrender--but it is often called "selling" when it is really indefensible, unconscionable exploitation of the have not by those who have way too much.

[marble falls]

8. Sound like a business model to me. Medical students would do the surgery! "Kidz Partz R Uz"

[Omaha Steve]

10. Yep

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. My brother had to mortage his house he lived in for 20 years

to get his daughter through law school and then work 3 more years into his seventies to help pay off her debt.

And the kicker is..........

He went to the same law school and was able to work 2 summers and pay off his student loan debt in two years when he attended the same school.

The Economist reported in June 2014 that U.S. student loan debt exceeded $1.2 trillion, with over 7 million debtors in default.

[Snobblevitch]

30. A lawyer had to do that?

What kind of law did he practice? Most lawyers I know, at least not the young ones, have a big portfolio.

[kcr]

13. This is why it's so important to maintain social safety nets

This is also why I don't buy the more individualistic, Libertarian outlook that seems to be especially popular right now. When people are desperate, they are vulnerable to exploitation. It is not okay to exploit people when they are vulnerable, even if it may seem as though they give full consent. This Uber-fication of everything does not bode well and I hope we see a backlash against that trend soon.

[taught_me_patience]

15. Absurd fear of debt plagues many millenials

I just don't understand it. I've met so many paying $1,000/mo on student debt because they are ammortizing over 10 years. Idiots. Simply extending the ammortization over 25 years would dramatically lower the payment ($300/mo) so it is more manageable. They don't realize that, for the vast majority of them, income will rise dramatically over ten years and inflation will chip away at the monthly payment when it's ammortized over such a long period of time. Such high debt repayments are hampering their ability to build wealth.

[kcr]

17. When did you meet these students?

The debt problem is due to how much and how fast tuition is rising. Not because they just don't know how to manage their money. Many people cannot understand simply because they don't realize just how much more expensive college is just from even a few years ago. If you haven't talked to a college student lately, then you don't get it.

[GummyBearz]

19. Great lesson on how debt in a typical market situation works. The problem is,

this isn't a typical market situation. You talk about inflation as if its a given. Look at the price of oil today and what it was a year ago. In a healthy economy, energy demand goes up. Oil prices are a simple indicator about the possibility that deflation is looming. The federal reserve being too scared to raise rates for 8+ years is another indicator.

What happens when typical ~3% inflation becomes deflation? Wages don't go up, they go down the tubes along with your hypothesis.

Millenials have seen this shit before.... .com boom, .com bust, housing boom, housing bust, oil boom, oil bust... the only consistent thing is the 1% have gotten richer, and the middle class has gotten shafted. Can you blame them for not wanting to be under the thumb of a banker? Best to pay that shit off fast and take care of your own. No one else will.

[PowerToThePeople]

16. I would rather default.

Credit only plays into their hands anyway. Not having those bonds is freeing.

[smirkymonkey]

20. I'm thinking of defaulting. I just can't do this anymore. I am 50 years old, have hardly

anything for retirement. The loan payment is killing me and it's barely touching the interest that accrues every month. It will never get paid off and it's like I am just throwing money away every month and have just enough left over to pay the basics. I am well educated and I make a decent living, but it's just crushing me. I'm not a millennial but I would sell an organ or two if it would get this monkey off my back.

[taught_me_patience]

21. Can you stretch your ammortization to 25 years?

You could significantly lower the monthly payment by doing that. What is your balance, rate, and ammortization schedule?

[smirkymonkey]

22. Did it. Interest rate is 6.75%, but it's compounded.

I only borrowed 50k, It is now up to 137k due to the fact that I was out of work for some years and then when I was back at work I could not pay the minimum payment. I offered to pay what I could, but they said no, I would have to go into forebearance. I was just so stressed out by the whole thing so I did it, but I had no idea it could get so out of control. Part of it is my fault because for years I was just too broke to deal with it so I just avoided facing it. I had never been in default. Now I am amazed at how they can be charging me almost a 3 time what I actually borrowed just in interest. It just seems like such a scam and there is no way out.

Even f-ing corporations can get bailed out. But desperate students? No, we are screwed for life.

[Snobblevitch]

31. How do you default on a student loan?

If the loan is a federal loan, and most of them are, defaulting is not an option.

[PersonNumber503602]

36. You don't pay them and they go into default status.

[Snobblevitch]

38. That s not how federal student loans work.

They never go into default. If the student dies, they go after the parents. There is no way out.

The problem is not student loans. The problem is BIG EDUCATION. There is no reason that tuition has so far raced ahead of inflation. I do not understand why this is not more of a political issue. Sure, there has been talk about forgiving student loan debt, but student loan debt is not the problem.

[PersonNumber503602]

39. Might be a different definition of default being used then.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/default/get-out

[Snobblevitch]

42. My point is that with a federally guaranteed student loan,

the only way the debt EVER goes away is when it is paid off. Not even bankruptcy can erase the debt.

[PersonNumber503602]

44. Yeah, that's true. But is that what default usual means?

[Snobblevitch]

46. Not always I guess.

Being in default of a student loan just makes things worse and worse. Interest adds up quickly. It is. Etter to keep in contact and form a plan.

I was never delinquent with my student loans and paid them off in just a few years.

What amazes me are people who take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans for a liberal arts degree and then can't find a high paying job.

[tammywammy]

43. That's incorrect

Death Discharge
If you, the borrower, die, then your federal student loans will be discharged. If you are a parent PLUS loan borrower, then the loan may be discharged if you die, or if the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan dies.

The loan will be discharged if a family member or other representative provides a certified copy of the death certificate to the school (for a Federal Perkins Loan) or to the loan servicer (for a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan). For more information, contact your loan servicer.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation#death-discharge

[DirkGently]

23. There's no need for people in a "wealthy country"

to go into life-crushing debt to get an education in order to get a job in order to pay off the debt.

Or to go into bankruptcy over medical bill.

Only in America.

[DiverDave]

24. I'd do it

borrowed 12k in 02, made payments, got into 'difficulties' my total now? 26k.
I'd knock over a bank to get it taken care of. (not really mike).
I was offered an 8k payoff, but that's like 80k to me right now...
I just hope they dont hound my kids after I'm gone.

[BlueJazz]

26. If I were in that situation, I would have a sandwich with Miracle Whip..that's torture enough.

[tblue37]

28. Your kids don't have any liability--but if you have anything to pass down to them, they won't get it

because your estate would be liable for your debts.

[BlueJazz]

47. No Children, Not married. (as of now)

On Edit: Don't take my post (original) as not caring. I do and have help 2 people get through college.

[Snobblevitch]

32. Spleen???

Who would pay $30,000 for a spleen, even if it were legal. Spleens are like gallbladders, you can live fine without it.

[retrowire]

33. count me in! n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

34. I don't know about selling an organ but

I got a piano I can let go cheap.

[Tsiyu]

37. 'Murrica: the laughing stock of the whole free world

I hope the millennials get us Bernie. He's been on the front page of reddit every day.

He is our Obi-Wan Kenobi.

[hfojvt]

45. i have never had student loan debt

But I had sorta heard about somebody selling a kidney for large sums.

Presumably a person can live fairly normal with just one kidney.

And with a mere $150,000 I could quit my stinking job, which would certainly improve my quality of life.