Paying my US Student Loans as an Expat

I’ve been asked before, ‘If you live in Sweden, why are you paying your student loans off?’ Sometimes I wonder if I should just stop paying so I can just enjoy my life. However, there seem to be some attempts at changing the current student loan situation in the U.S. For now, it appears to only change for new borrowers but it seems those in Washington want to bring about drastic change.

I no longer rely on the government to forgive my loans, especially after the whole debacle where only 96 out of 30k people got their loans forgiven through the PSLF program. I am on the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), where my payments are capped at 10% of my discretionary income. This loan is from graduate school and is forgivable in 25 years from when I began making my payments. However, the forgiven balance would be considered taxable income. This means (based on my calculations) I will still have to pay back my balance in one go. Honestly, I cannot see myself willing to do that and would rather pay it off.

Additionally, in order for me to only pay the minimum payment, I have to have good faith in the status quo. However, I do not believe that the laws surrounding student loans will remain the same.

What do you think? Is this something you agree with or are you taking a different route? Comment below!

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