Money expert Glen James phoned into Gina & Matty this morning to break down what the heck is going on with our HECS debt into simple terms.
In case you missed it, the Federal Government announced over the weekend that they’re allocating $3 billion to wipe past and present student’s Higher Education Loan Program – commonly known as HECS – debt to help ease cost of living pressures.
Speaking to Gina & Matty, James broke down what it means for the average Coastie with a HECS loan, revealing that someone with a $25,000 loan which has been indexed for the past two years could see a saving of over $1,000.
“If you have, say, a $25,000 HELP balance, you’ll get $910 credited back for last year and $210 for this year,” James told Gina & Matty.
“Now I want to make it clear that if last year after June 1, you completely cleared all your HELP debt you will effectively get [that] credited back to you as a tax refund.”
Interesting. Very interesting.
James also revealed he is a little sceptical of this announcement in the lead up to May 14th’s Federal Budget.
“I’m more of a sceptic than I’m an economist. But through these announcements, particularly on the HECS and HELP loans and the paid placements, I actually think they are feel-good announcements that have been strategically said before next Tuesday night,” James explained.
“And maybe it is a bit of a look over here. Because we’re going to cut a whole bunch of stuff.”
You can hear Glen James’ full chat with Gina & Matty – including what paid placement for students could mean for the economy – below, or via the Star Player and of course, wherever you get your fantastic podcasts.
You can list to Glen’s podcast ‘This Is Money’, which is available via Acast here, or wherever you get your podcasts for even more money saving tips.
Listen via the Star 104.5 Player, download it now via the App Store or Google Play and take Star 104.5 wherever you go.
Images: Pixabay / Squirrel Photos
By Bek Lougher
