Student loan default is climbing. The recommended solution involves opening bank accounts for signup bonuses.
This crosses a threshold. We've moved past budgeting tips. We've moved past side hustles. The financial media now tells you to chase promotional offers like you're clipping coupons in 2003. Earn sixty dollars from Chase. Apply for another credit card. Call your cable company and beg.
The person drowning in loan debt doesn't need a savings account bonus. They need their principal to stop compounding. But compounding interest isn't a listicle. You can't summarize it in three actionable tips. So instead we get this.
Maximizing credit card rewards to pay down loans is the financial equivalent of selling your blood plasma to make rent. It works in the sense that you'll have money afterward. It doesn't work in the sense that you're still f*cked next month.
Negotiating down your monthly bills sounds reasonable until you remember that telecom companies employ people whose only job is to say no to you. They will say no. You will stay on hold. Your loan balance will grow while you wait for a supervisor.
The article doesn't mention interest rates. It doesn't mention income-driven repayment plans. It doesn't mention refinancing. Those require understanding how debt works. Much easier to tell people to earn rewards points.
This is where we are. Default rates climb and the advice is to optimize your spending like you're running a cash-back arbitrage scheme. The gap between the problem and the solution has never been wider, but at least you'll have airline miles when they garnish your wages.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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