Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Dear Editor,

I just read an article about a recipient of the Federal Student Loan Forgiveness program and its accompanying comments made in reference to the recipient's response & future plans - an interesting read, whether you agree with the program or not.

"Joel Lambdin, 49, received $250K in student-loan forgiveness in January... Lambdin finished grad school in 1998 - but as a professional musician he was hardly making enough money to pay off his student loans & other bills." Lambdin openly states he decided to allow his $250K loan to go into forbearance (i.e. chose to not pay) as "... he grew to realize that the only way he could make a significant dent in his student loans was by switching careers. He didn't want to do that because he loved working in music... Beyond financial goals, Lambdin said the relief was also allowing him the freedom to pursue some of his long-term dreams, including taking a sabbatical to study with his meditation teacher in India. 'It's something I wouldn't have been able to even consider doing if we had to pay off the student loans, but without them, it's something I can really seriously consider doing...'"

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gen-xer-got-250-000-181801554.html

–Aileen Chong-Jeung, Castro Valley