No debt ever?

[Albert]

I've noticed that a lot of posters here have had a lot of debt in the past. I was wondering if there is anyone else here like me who has lived on this planet 30+ years and has never borrowed any money from anyone. Credit cards being paid in full or some small amount from a friend when you forgot your valet at home doesn't count.

[Nothlit]

I have never had any bank-financed debt, but I did borrow a small amount of money from my parents when I bought my first car. Paid them back over the course of a year or two.

[GuitarStv]

I've got a mortgage.  Other than that, never had any debt.

[NewStachian]

That's awesome that you've never had any debt. I've had a little bit of debt, but I think of it all as "good".

I went to a military academy for college which was cool because i didn't have to take out student loans and they offered a 30k 1% loan as a "career starter loan" which i took and invested in the market. Many of my friends bought brand new cars despite me trying to convince them otherwise.

I have been using credit cards since high school and wondered how the companies made money after giving me a 2 month interest free loan and cash back (1-2 months if you consider when the statement posts and then when it's due). I was lucky enough to have parents who are incredibly financially savvy and taught me that credit cards were to always be paid off each month and to not use them if you couldn't do that.

Now I have a mortgage. It's a big one, but I knew that going into it and my wife and I know it's where we want to be. At 3.75%, my goal is to pay it off as slowly as I can to capitalize on my investment compounding. We're also renting out our basement to a good friend of ours. I'm very aggressive with how much I invest on a monthly basis, so I still consider this "good" debt.

[soccerluvof4]

Once out of the mistakes of my teens and maybe early 20's I never have had debt. I started several business's and owned numerous homes and toys but if i couldn't afford it I didn't buy it.  I was always afraid of financial failure growing up in tough times.  Having said that I was conservative enough that when i took big hits i didn't have to go running to the bank. And i took some major hits. Now i live in what i call protectionism mode which is why i have sought out this sight so going forward i don't take stupid risks and keep building wealth without working unless i want to and eliminating mistakes. I have a wife and 4 kids so its not all about me and I need if anything to learn to lose a little of the fear.

[Shor]

Well.. I haven't been on this planet for 30+ years... yet =(
I have a loan on my car at 1.9% It could have been paid off today, but investment opportunity > interest deficit
I've never carried a credit card statement past a month but....
My first financial screwup was when I overdrafted x3 in one day on my debit card (joint checking Mom + Me). It was my parents' money + my naive stupidity.

I've also just ordered some new credit cards... gulp..

[Poorman]

Besides mortgages, I've never had debt that required interest payments.  I've taken advantage of 0% APR deals on credit cards and for a car loan, but I always had the cash to pay for the items I was purchasing if the 0% financing wasn't being offered.  Life is much simpler when you avoid consumer debt altogether.  I can't ever remember being stressed about money, even when by society's standards, I was living below the poverty line during and after college for a few years.

[Albert]

OP, are you a renter?

I was just thinking about some mustachian people that I know that are all renters.  I am thinking of some different families, not related or knowing each other, and they all appear very mustachian on their lifestyle choices.  All of them are renters, too.  They have a simpler life in not having to worry about any home maintenance and have more control over their spending.  They all happen to be from other countries. 

I have had debt.  The only consumer debt was my van (and now DH's vehicle, but that was not my choice).

Yes, the reason being ridiculously high property prices here and the fact that one never fully pays of his/her mortgage here. In another country I probably would have bought something already, still might do it even here and then of course I would need a mortgage. Plus I prefer apartments over houses (minimal maintenance) at least until I have no kids.

As for a general lack of debts I was a bit lucky of course as I come from a well off family and my education was for free. That and of course not living above my means when I started to be on my own.

[oldladystache]

I've had several mortgages but that's all. And I now have a paid for house and I don't intend to ever have another mortgage.

I only bought cars I could pay cash for. In the early years that meant driving beaters.

[Workinghard]

Never ever. Not unless you count missing a credit card payment. I called the company and they waived the interest/late fee since I always pay in full. I can't imagine having a mortgage or car payment. I can't stand the thought of interest payments.

[Cinder]

I never had any debt until I married my DW(not including the mortgage, 15 year at 4.5%, then refinanced it to 2.85).  Then I magically had 30k of student loans.  They are down to 4k now, will be paid off soon!

[MrsPete]

We had a mortgage on our first house, and we financed our first couple cars.  Unless you come from a wealthy family that gives you a great start in life, or unless you live with your parents for years 'til you can accumulate a good nest egg, it's tough to avoid those first big items.  I wouldn't say they're "good debt" -- no debt is actually good -- but I'd say that for most of us, they're unavoidable. 

Yes, some people say don't buy a house -- ever.  I'd disagree.  I've been living mortgage-free for almost a decade now, and my living expenses are significantly lower because I pay neither mortgage nor rent.  My taxes and maintenance are low, and I can stay here for the rest of my life.  Thus, the mortgage was a "good spend". 

As for other debt, no I've never really had any. 

I chose an inexpensive college, and I worked my tail off while I was in school.  This is harder today, but not impossible. 

My husband and I normally pay our credit card bill in full every month, but ONCE we chose to divide a large purchase up and didn't pay the whole bill for two months.  It was an odd combination of circumstances, a calculated decision, and it made sense -- given the same set of circumstances, I'd do it again.  VERY short term.  Still, it was nervewracking to see the interest build in those two months -- stressful even -- and I would never want to live with that over my head constantly. 

[galliver]

Not 30+ yet, but my only major debt has been $25k to parents ($20k left) for 4 years of engineering school (full-tuition scholarship+summer & part time work covered the rest, state school would have been more expensive!) No car, no mortgage, pay off credit cards every month...

Oh, except the one time when my (sizable) travel reimbursement was late over the holidays and I didn't want to break into my savings, so I left a small balance on a CC. $7 interest, but it was a calculated choice for psychological reasons. I could have paid it off, which matters slightly more to me... Reimbursement went straight into savings, as did tax return! Yay savings.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Wow, this is an interesting thread.  I believe that my grandparents (coming of age during the Great Depression) had no debt.  My parents were physically adverse of debt, but did their best to balance a mortgage and buying a cool car once.  And yet, the world kept moving forward, offering more and more tempting rewards (technology) for taking on debt...  And now we are in a nirvana, my income has caught up and surpassed what is required to have these 'cutting edge technologies'.  I have carried mortgage debt, but anything else (including the current mortgage debt) is a leverage of thinking I will get better returns from equities than debt.  I bought a mattress on 0% while having 3x the balance in my bank account.  So, the world has changed, I would recommend to youngsters to get 0% loans that are Mustachian, take the free loan, because it is structured to the mainstream and can be arbitraged.  It is the sweetest benefit of being disciplined, getting ahead on something that causes everyone else to fall behind...

[ashley]

I've never had debt either. Not sure if I will ever buy a house, but it's really the only debt I would consider (willingly, of course). For now, I'm pretty happy renting. I like the flexibility and not having to worry about maintenance. It's pretty nice to just call the property manager when something breaks.

[StetsTerhune]

Another Debt-free for life here.

Of course I had a lot of luck in there, no student loans for college  because of family, got a reasonable job quickly enough after college and have rented ever since. Just haven't felt sure enough that I would stay anywhere long enough for buying housing to make sense.

And now I've reached the point where I could easily buy any house that fits my (very modest) needs for cash, which is what I'm planning to do after retirement. I'm certainly not opposed though, and will run the numbers to see if getting a mortgage makes sense vs. paying cash whenever I end up buying a house.

[BlueMR2]

Not totally.  I did have a mortgage for about 9 months.  I ended up buying a house about a year earlier than planned and had to cover the gap until I was able to withdraw the money without penalty (mortgage was cheaper than the penalty would have been).

[Villanelle]

Just mortgages.  Actually, that's not true.  Husband and I financed a car at .9% once, since we knew we could do far better with the money elsewhere, but I hated having that debt so much that we just paid it off after 3 or 4 months. 

Interestingly, my parents' answer would be nearly identical.  Mortgages and a brief car loan, taken out strategically, but paid off after a very short time because having debt just bothered them. 

[2527]

Can I ask what military academy you went to?  I went to USAFA and never heard of the career started loan concept.

That's awesome that you've never had any debt. I've had a little bit of debt, but I think of it all as "good".

I went to a military academy for college which was cool because i didn't have to take out student loans and they offered a 30k 1% loan as a "career starter loan" which i took and invested in the market. Many of my friends bought brand new cars despite me trying to convince them otherwise.

I have been using credit cards since high school and wondered how the companies made money after giving me a 2 month interest free loan and cash back (1-2 months if you consider when the statement posts and then when it's due). I was lucky enough to have parents who are incredibly financially savvy and taught me that credit cards were to always be paid off each month and to not use them if you couldn't do that.

Now I have a mortgage. It's a big one, but I knew that going into it and my wife and I know it's where we want to be. At 3.75%, my goal is to pay it off as slowly as I can to capitalize on my investment compounding. We're also renting out our basement to a good friend of ours. I'm very aggressive with how much I invest on a monthly basis, so I still consider this "good" debt.

[2527]

The only money I ever borrowed was a mortgage, but it is a small fraction of my net worth, and I do it because I think it is better to keep the money invested in the stock market and pay a low tax deductible interest rate. 

[Villanelle]

Can I ask what military academy you went to?  I went to USAFA and never heard of the career started loan concept.

That's awesome that you've never had any debt. I've had a little bit of debt, but I think of it all as "good".

I went to a military academy for college which was cool because i didn't have to take out student loans and they offered a 30k 1% loan as a "career starter loan" which i took and invested in the market. Many of my friends bought brand new cars despite me trying to convince them otherwise.

I have been using credit cards since high school and wondered how the companies made money after giving me a 2 month interest free loan and cash back (1-2 months if you consider when the statement posts and then when it's due). I was lucky enough to have parents who are incredibly financially savvy and taught me that credit cards were to always be paid off each month and to not use them if you couldn't do that.

Now I have a mortgage. It's a big one, but I knew that going into it and my wife and I know it's where we want to be. At 3.75%, my goal is to pay it off as slowly as I can to capitalize on my investment compounding. We're also renting out our basement to a good friend of ours. I'm very aggressive with how much I invest on a monthly basis, so I still consider this "good" debt.

My husband went to the Naval Academy and had a starter loan.  We weren't together at the time so I don't know details, but I think it was through USAA, though I could easily be mistaken on that.

[Nords]

Can I ask what military academy you went to?  I went to USAFA and never heard of the career started loan concept.

Both the service academies and ROTC units arrange these loans through military-friendly insurance companies.  One of them in the 1980s was the Armed Forces Mutual Benefit Association (for USNA) and USAA has picked up a lot of the slack for the ROTC units.  I know all the service academies were doing career starter loans in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s, but I suppose that either the Superintendents or the insurance companies could have suspended the deal at various times. 

Spencer at MilitaryMoneyManual.com has a good post for those currently at a service academy:
http://www.militarymoneymanual.com/is-the-usaa-career-starter-loan-pre-commissioning-a-good-deal/

Our daughter (NROTC) looked at the USAA loan from all angles ($30K at 2.99%) but couldn't figure out a way to arbitrage the leverage without taking on more risk than she was comfortable with.

[oldtoyota]

Only for grad school and a house.

[Ian]

I held college debt because the government paid all interest until nine months after I graduated, but after that I paid it off in full. So under the looser rules, I'd qualify as never having debt.

[Leisured]

You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Debt for consumption is bad, of course, but debt for investment is good. If you own your house, that is a form of investment, as it will rise in value. You should borrow all your working life, in order to invest in appreciating assets, which return dividends.

In the late sixties I remember an investor in BHP, a huge, well run Australian resources company, was interviewed on television. In the fifties, he had inherited 30,000 Australian pounds from his father, borrowed 50,000 pounds, and put the lot into BHP. BHP grew strongly and was good to him, as it was to me a few decades later. In the fifties, the average Australian income was about 900 pounds a year.

I certainly do not recommend borrowing more than your initial capital, which is what he did, but he still did the right thing. The value of the loan remained the same, but the stock and dividends kept rising.

I am proud to say I borrowed to build a house, and I borrowed, late in life, to buy shares. All debts repaid, and I am retired.


 

[Kaminoge]

I've only ever had mortgage debt. But I have a lot of it! I consider it good debt though. The rent more than covers the interest (actually the rent covers the principle and interest if I was content to pay off the minimum which I'm not) and the capital gains over the years have allowed me to increase my portfolio substantially.

Apart from 6 weeks (to qualify for a government grant they had going at the time) I've never lived in any of my own properties. I always rent and the properties are investments. In Australia that works well for tax purposes (until you go to sell).

[SnackDog]

Leverage is one of the keys to building wealth. If you are under 30 you should seriously consider borrowing to invest in the stock market as with a 40+ year timeline, you are super safe.

[Workinghard]

I could never borrow money to invest. As a Christian, I don't think borrowing or owing money is biblical. (My opinion, not going to debate it).

As a savings method, I'm not willing to take the risk. What if one, or both of us, became disabled and were unable to work? What if we had to take a pay cut or lost our home in a fire or sink hole?  What if we had a sick child with high medical bills?  Life has too many variables. 

Because we lived debt free, and below our means, I was able to leave the work force for 10 years without a significant impact on our lifestyle. We were able to take care of foster children, homeschool our son, and were available to drive him to college when he started at age 12--saving money with dual enrollment and local CC costs.

Just my perspective......

[CommonCents]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

I also can see times when debt, managed wisely, is good.  And if course, my parents were once effectively paid to take out a loan (USCGA academy graduates were offered a loan rate less than what the bank paid them for keeping the money - sufficient to buy the first car - in the bank).

[Blindsquirrel]

    Wow, that is really impressive on the never borrowing money at all. We had a max debt of
  -$780,000 at one point. Now under 260k.  Good point on getting paid to take a loan. That is priceless.

[MrFancypants]

I wish I had known that inherently from the start.  I went down the "don't touch the hot stove" path to learning about debt.  I had to feel the heat before I realized that it wasn't something I wanted to mess with.  Now my only debt is wrapped up in my house, which I'm working very hard to pay off as quickly as possible.

[Kaminoge]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

Well you shouldn't be too impressed by me. I was simply fortunate enough to be born in Australia. I worked all the way through to cover my living costs but my tuition was peanuts (compared to the US) and the government paid it for me. I had to pay them back but it's done through the tax system so you only have to pay it back when you're earning enough and a little extra simply comes out of your pay each month.

Actually I could never have paid it back (since I have no taxable income in Australia) but I didn't feel that was ethical so I actually made the non-Mustachian move of paying back a debt I didn't have to using money from my mortgage. Financially not the best but I've never regretted doing it.

[beanlady]

Just the mortgage! I opted for a college that gave me a full scholarship instead of the one I was more excited about attending. Best decision I ever made.

[Albert]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

First of all I didn't write it for anyone to be impressed, second all my education was free and parents only covered living costs (I lived with them). In this respect I was lucky not to be born in US, I guess.

[BlueMR2]

Just the mortgage! I opted for a college that gave me a full scholarship instead of the one I was more excited about attending. Best decision I ever made.

I opted for the college I could go to for almost free vs. any of the ones on my list.  Best decision I ever made too.  :-)

[Poorman]

Leverage is one of the keys to building wealth. If you are under 30 you should seriously consider borrowing to invest in the stock market as with a 40+ year timeline, you are super safe.

Without any further context, this is really bad advice.  Should I pay 18% on a credit card for the chance to earn 9% in stocks?

[MrFancypants]

Leverage is one of the keys to building wealth. If you are under 30 you should seriously consider borrowing to invest in the stock market as with a 40+ year timeline, you are super safe.

No, you shouldn't consider doing that, ever, for any reason.

[MrsPete]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

I wouldn't look down on someone because he or she was fortunate enough to be born into a family who was able to pay for a college education. 

[totoro]

I think it is useful to separate good debt from bad debt too.

Good debt:  loans that you can afford to pay off and makes you more than the cost of borrowing - usually investment-related debt

Bad debt:  loans that you cannot afford to pay off and does not make you more than the cost of borrowing - usually consumer debt

I have lots of good debt in the form of mortgages.  I have no bad debt.  We purchase on credit cards for points and pay everything off in full automatically each month.

I had student loans which can be good or bad debt.   There are quite a few people these days who would classify them in the bad debt category. 

No debt ever is somewhat unusual because it usually means that you either had parents who paid some or all of the costs for schooling and/or you have never purchased a home or investment property.

[matchewed]

No debt on this side. I will be taking on some debt in the next couple of years as I go back to school but I'm okay with it and intend it to be for the school only and to maintain my own living expenses through part-time work and the like. Perhaps I'll get lucky and land a job at a school.

[Ottawa]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

First of all I didn't write it for anyone to be impressed, second all my education was free and parents only covered living costs (I lived with them). In this respect I was lucky not to be born in US, I guess.

CommonCents - I went through University (4 years) paying approximately 1/3 myself through summer jobs.  My parents paid tuition, rent and usually textbooks.  As to wealthy family...no.  Rather, my parents were Mustchian and incurred no debt by putting money away early for my schooling.  We have done the same thing for our daughter.  Putting $2500 away per year (starting at birth) is no big deal at all. 

I then went through post grad...on my own - funded by teaching english in Japan for 1.5 years. 

Our daughter will learn fiscal responsibility growing up in our house.  She will work to pay for non-essentials (if choosing to go to tertiary institution), we will pay the essential costs.  I think the key is to instill responsibility (i.e. no silver spoon) while allowing your kids to NOT have ridiculous debt coming out of the education system. 

[galliver]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

First of all I didn't write it for anyone to be impressed, second all my education was free and parents only covered living costs (I lived with them). In this respect I was lucky not to be born in US, I guess.

CommonCents - I went through University (4 years) paying approximately 1/3 myself through summer jobs.  My parents paid tuition, rent and usually textbooks.  As to wealthy family...no.  Rather, my parents were Mustchian and incurred no debt by putting money away early for my schooling.  We have done the same thing for our daughter.  Putting $2500 away per year (starting at birth) is no big deal at all. 

I then went through post grad...on my own - funded by teaching english in Japan for 1.5 years. 

Our daughter will learn fiscal responsibility growing up in our house.  She will work to pay for non-essentials (if choosing to go to tertiary institution), we will pay the essential costs.  I think the key is to instill responsibility (i.e. no silver spoon) while allowing your kids to NOT have ridiculous debt coming out of the education system.

He didn't say "wealthy family," he said "wealthy enough to..." No one can choose the family they are born to, whether it is one with wasteful habits or just an income barely sufficient to provide necessities. It was still good fortune, and not your accomplishment, that your family was able to gift you your higher education, even if it was through their work and frugal living rather than more typical wealth, whatever we define that as. In fact,  you may have been better off, as you learned good habits as well as having your education paid.

Your good fortune is a privilege to be humbly acknowledged, and not to take pride in (except, perhaps, vicarious pride in your parents). My own were in the "indebt themselves instead" camp (temporarily-they paid it off), and for that I am eternally grateful.

[Ottawa]

He didn't say "wealthy family," he said "wealthy enough to..." No one can choose the family they are born to, whether it is one with wasteful habits or just an income barely sufficient to provide necessities. It was still good fortune, and not your accomplishment, that your family was able to gift you your higher education, even if it was through their work and frugal living rather than more typical wealth, whatever we define that as. In fact,  you may have been better off, as you learned good habits as well as having your education paid.  Your good fortune is a privilege to be humbly acknowledged, and not to take pride in (except, perhaps, vicarious pride in your parents). My own were in the "indebt themselves instead" camp (temporarily-they paid it off), and for that I am eternally grateful.

Too many quotes of quotes...for context see post above.. :-)

Sorry, "wealthy enough to"..my mistake.   

No one can choose the family they are born to, whether it is one with wasteful habits or just an income barely sufficient to provide necessities.

I agree.

It was still good fortune, and not your accomplishment, that your family was able to gift you your higher education, even if it was through their work and frugal living rather than more typical wealth, whatever we define that as.

That my parents (who were higher educated) decided to put money towards their children's education, rather than a fancy car or what-not is not "Good Fortune" in my view.  For me, my parents are who they are.  I am me, in large part, because of that.  I think that my accomplishment in this scenario is not squandering the opportunity my parents gave to me.  My accomplishment is not taking education for granted (or the paying for it).  As I said, I worked hard to pay as much as I could.  Naturally I am grateful to be born in a 1st world country, to have sensible parents that instilled a salt-of-the-earth view and that saw education as an important aspect to raising kids. 

I and my wife think the same way. 
That is whey we are passing this along to our kid.

In fact,  you may have been better off, as you learned good habits as well as having your education paid.

Absolutely! I am proud of my parents and glad that I learned from them - rather than, say, rebelled.

Your good fortune is a privilege to be humbly acknowledged, and not to take pride in (except, perhaps, vicarious pride in your parents).

I humbly acknowledge my awesome parents.  I humbly reject the notion of good fortune. 

[totoro]

As someone who paid for their higher education themselves through a combination of work, loans and scholarships I am also not very impressed by a lack of student loan debt where a parent has paid, directly or indirectly through a free place to stay, or where the education was free.  You are fortunate to be in this position, but it really says nothing about you.

I would never encourage someone footing their own bill for higher education to be blasé about loans.  They really are only good debt if they help you far more than they put you behind ie. you can pay them off fairly quickly when you graduate.  I'd go further and say students in Canada should actively work their butts off before, during and after school to minimize loans as much as possible through a combination of work, scholarships and cheap living.   

There are quite a few grads in Canada starting out with significant student loan debt and no corresponding high paying job with which to pay them off.  I know couples who delayed having children or buying a house because of this.

[totoro]

I humbly acknowledge my awesome parents.  I humbly reject the notion of good fortune.

Then, with all due respect, you are deluded.

[totoro]

For me, my parents are who they are.  I am me, in large part, because of that.  I think that my accomplishment in this scenario is not squandering the opportunity my parents gave to me.  My accomplishment is not taking education for granted (or the paying for it). 

I agree that you learned many good things from your parents, but you have zero experience with a lack of such support. 

You present not squandering an opportunity as your major accomplishment.  I'm not sure if you realize how entitled this sounds?  I mean, your choices were between not wasting your parents money and wasting your parents money.  That is not really a hardship now is it?  That is a great good fortune and opportunity not available to lots of people.   

Good for you for finishing your school and paying 1/3, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't applaud the lack of student loans as your own accomplishment when your parents paid tuition, rent and usually textbooks.

[Albert]

I started this thread out of curiosity and just to see if there are more people here like me and not in order to impress anyone, show any perceived superiority or seek validation from anyone. Having never been in debt and/or never having to struggle with money for better or worse imparts a different attitude towards it. That's why I was curious to see if there are also some mustachians coming from that direction.

Fortunate? Of course, but so what? All or almost all of you are fortunate too by any reasonable global standards.

[CommonCents]

I am impressed by those who put themselves through school and this have no student loans.  I am less impressed at the fortune of being born into a family wealthy enough (or simply willing to indebt themselves instead) to pay for schooling.

I wouldn't look down on someone because he or she was fortunate enough to be born into a family who was able to pay for a college education.

I do not look down on them.  My parents in fact paid a portion (albeit less than 50%) of my college expenses and I consider myself fortunate they paid as much as they did.  I paid the rest, with loans, scholarships, and jobs in school/after.

I just found the initial post off-putting, by effectively patting themselves on the back for something somewhat out of their control* - a lack of student loans because their college was paid for by their parents.  It's much easier not to borrow money when someone makes you a gift of money!  Not everyone is lucky enough to have that.  I didn't really know how to best express my frustration with that tone; perhaps I would have done better to address it directly instead of obliquely.  I opted for a response that focused first on the positives of those who worked really hard to get to that point.  Some folks borrow, and some folks figure out work/scholarships/career w/o a college degree etc. instead.  (And not all of us can get cheap, in-state tuition - my dad fought hard to get the school where I was legally supposed to get instate tuition to recognize that, and finally gave up.  I was military child, living in a different state from our "home" state of record and receipt of our taxes, and UNH refused to follow their own rules.)  After that, yes, there are those who borrowed money on credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages and others that lived within their means.  I probably would have found a post - or poll, rather, more interesting, regarding who had debt excluding mortage & SL and who did not.  Perhaps I'll create it at some point.

*I acknowledge student loans are not absolutely necessary for living, like food or water, but argue they virtually are for today's society and most jobs.

[totoro]

I agree we are all fortunate. 

I have no problem with having parents pay for school or experiencing good fortune of any sort.  I have a problem with attributing birth place or parental support as anything more than it is:  good fortune.  If you did not create the opportunity in any way you can't take credit for it. 

 Yes, taking advantage of opportunities is good, but not recognizing the fact that the availability of the opportunity is due to your parents savings or your grandparents decision to emigrate and that this gives you an advantage is kind of entitled.

As for your topic, you will find that it will weed out a lot of people who have no bad debt, only good.  Given that the majority of posters are from North America many will have mortgage debt.  Home ownership rates are 70% in Canada with few all-cash purchases for first time buyers.

[libertarian4321]

I've never had debt, except when financially advantageous to do so - for example, I took out a 0% 3-year loan on my truck (rather than pay cash for it) only because it would have been foolish to not take what essentially amounted to free money.  I also had a mortgage for about 3-years ('96-99) because I knew I could do better investing the money.   But having that debt got to me, so I cracked under the pressure and paid it off.