Business

Dear John: Lessons on student loans

Dear John: I have another question about college-loan forgiveness.

My daughter has about $15,000 in loans through Nelnet. She graduated from West Virginia University as an art teacher.

She is currently seeking employment with the South Korean Public School system to teach English.

Does loan forgiveness apply in her situation, even though she [would be] teaching outside the US?

If so, what should she do to get the ball rolling? She is making small payments now.

I appreciate any more information you can give on this subject. M.S.

Dear M.S.: I doubt she’s eligible for any loan forgiveness or delay. Those programs are intended to encourage teachers to go to less-desirable parts of this country where schools are hard to staff.

It seems like she is doing what she should be doing, paying off as much of the loan as she can. And, luckily, $15,000 doesn’t seem like nearly as large a loan as many young people are stuck with.

But I’d like to add something that is going to anger a lot of people: Help your kids pick a college, then advise them on a field of study. I still can’t figure out why parents say: “Where would you like to go to school? Oh, it’s $40,000 a year? No problem — you’ll get loans.”

Would you take the same approach to any other purchase? “Mary, what kind of car would you like? Oh, a Mercedes? I think that’s a great choice. We’ll worry about paying for it later.’’ No, you wouldn’t.

Good luck with your daughter’s loan.

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Dear John: I’m curious — what is your take on ObamaCare? This [law] states that 82 items are to be implemented. Half are delayed or pushed back for one full year.

An example of this would be monies transferring from Medicare to ObamaCare — pushed back one full year. As you and I know, that causes uncertainty.

Another example: Business owners who have 50 or more employees being forced to provide health care — also pushed back.

I’m a financial adviser with 18 years of experience; the majority of my clients are small-business owners.

I [recently] attended a Fox News party, and one [journalist] asked why businesses aren’t putting their cash to work. [I think that] with 41 items being delayed or pushed back, it leaves small business in a very difficult position of knowing the future.

What do you think? S.S.

Dear S.S.: I think the whole thing is one big mess. But did anyone expect any better?

On the most basic, humane level I believe everyone is entitled to quality health care. The mess has always been in the details.

The very first problem, which I and many others spotted, was that companies are living in a very puzzling economic environment. If you increase the costs of a company — because it now has to supply medical care, or extend coverage until age 26 for children — the bosses of that company are going to react.

So they don’t hire full-time workers, or they reduce expansion efforts, or they take away the free coffee.

And that’s been happening. Cost containment has been the result of ObamaCare. It’s as obvious as potholes in New York City.

But nobody would have expected all the computer problems in rolling out ObamaCare. Damn, could they have gotten it any more screwed up?!

So parts of the plan have been delayed, people are hearing bad things about the sign-up process, and corporate uncertainty will continue. And that’s going to keep economic expansion down.

The only real answer is a do-over, which should occur when the economy is better.

Of course, that’s easy for me to say, because I’m healthy and insured. If I were sick and out of work, I might see more urgency.

I think the computer glitches are the least problematic for ObamaCare. The bigger issue is, can Americans afford this plan right now? And if not, does anyone have the guts to put it mercifully out of its misery?

Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.