Ohioans with student loan debt face a decision

Americans were originally scheduled to begin repaying their student loans today after nearly two years of paused payments and 0% interest rates.

• Instead, borrowers are still lingering in repayment purgatory.

Why it matters: 43 million Americans have student debt. Totaling $1.75 trillion nationwide, it's only surpassed by mortgages.

• The average student loan balance in Ohio stood at $34,923 as of last fall, per the Cincinnati Business Courier.
• Millennials are especially impacted, with many delaying milestones like buying homes or having children.

Catch up quick: President Biden announced in December that payments wouldn't resume until May 1, extending the 2020 pause a fifth time amid the onset of the Omicron variant surge.

• This was despite originally labeling the previous moratorium as the "final extension."

So what now?

💭 Our take: Sure, this is a good time to pay off high-interest debt that isn't paused, like private student loans or credit cards.

• But if student loans are your major, looming financial burden, it's easy to feel torn between two uncertain options.

🤔 Do you chip away at them while interest rates are paused to make a big dent and risk spending money you could have saved or invested?

• Or do you build your savings and cling to the hope of student loan forgiveness, such as the $10,000 that Biden proposed on the campaign trail?

📬 We're curious: What's your take? Email [email protected] and let us know if you're stressed too.