While there are too many deceptive and shady practices in the student loan industry, many graduates who are burdened with certain levels of debt need to get over their predicament. I read a story where a guy graduated with some $35,000 in student loan debt and because he began missing payments and couldn’t find a job, over the course of five years that number skyrocketed threefold. Look, in that situation the “problem” likely is the fact that the guy isn’t willing to put himself in a position to be able to afford his payments. Doing some quick math shows that this guy was probably required to pay some $230 per month in order to make his payment.

Come on. Anyone can make $230 per month by working at a gas station or at a retail shop. I don’t want to hear about this guy complaining that he is a victim. I’ll listen to his story about how his life was torn apart and how he’s been stunted from advancing as quickly as previous generations of college graduates (trust me…I know), but don’t act like you’re a victim when – after five years – you couldn’t position yourself to pay $230 per month.

Quite a while ago I wrote an entry called “Personal Clarification on Student Loan Debt” where I stated quite clearly that I am no victim. One of the major problems that I see brewing out of the student loan debt dialogue is this victimized stance that so many people take. Hey – I signed the paperwork to get these loans and while I didn’t fully understand how much the loans would effect me post-graduation, I wasn’t taken advantage of by anyone in the student loan industry. Sure, I think that the “system” which decides who gets free rides and who has to pay is fundamentally flawed. I’m glad that it has been changing (too slowly) over the past six years since I graduated, but don’t paint me as a victim.

On a similar note, I’m not playing the old “fish story” game here either. In other words, I’m not suggesting that the guy whose story I read about only graduated with $35,000 in student loan debt and since I graduated $118,000, then I’m more deserving of pity. First, I don’t want pity (though money would be nice). Second, I’m not interested in promoting a race to the bottom between various student loan borrowers. I have a ton of student loan debt and though I’ve been diligently paying it, I’m still going to be on the hook for a while. That doesn’t mean that I deserve pity, though!

I sincerely hope that an honest national dialogue opens up about how to address the gigantic student loan debt burden that will continue to stunt our economy for the foreseeable future. Once policymakers realize that personal social advancement and personal wealth accumulation are not possible when America’s 20 and 30-somethings are saddled with unmanageable debt, then we might see some positive action. My fear, though, is that no one will realize this until it’s too late (imagine an economy that is poised to succeed but can’t figure out why drastically reduced home prices aren’t selling units and consumer spending is continuing to constrict). Here’s hoping that some forward-looking policymaker or legislator sees this problem early-on and begins addressing it as soon as possible!

All this financial stress comes at a time when most Americans have the thinnest savings cushion to fall back on. They have been loading up on debt in recent years, drawing on the equity in their homes, in particular. The percentage of their disposable income that goes toward debt payments is at 14.3%, near the all-time high.

Good grief! More than 14% of the average American’s disposable income is going towards debt payments. Ugh – what a disaster. Let’s do some math…

Assuming that the average American family $120,000 per year in a two-income household, that means that take home pay after taxes would be something like $90,000 (possibly less). Now, if we believe CNN’s statistic above, then almost $13,000 of that take home income is directed towards debt payments annually. Gross!

Sure, I pay a bucket load of student loan debt, but that’s to be expected from someone who only stopped going to school two years ago. Imagine the typical American family with 2 or 3 kids who not only has to pay this much towards consumer and housing debt, but also has to put food on the table and clothes on the kids!

It’s rough out there. Now more than ever people should be socking money away into a savings account (after paying off as much consumer debt – credit card debt – as possible).