Reply #16: One really key factor is that college degrees are now the bare minimum qualification for most jobs [View All]

and getting one puts you thousands and thousands of dollars into debt (especially after you pay the interest).

And because the college degree requirement is so universal, an education you spent $40k or more on might only end up paying $30k a year. So you spend years making very little money, and saving nothing because you are still paying for the debt racked up while "earning the right" to have a low paying job.

And now that you got your student loans payed off, you still have to have a place to live, and you need to have transportation to and from your low-paying job (most people don't live in big cities with widely availible public transit).

So you never really get ahead, you start in debt and you end that way.