<p>As a holder of Parent PLUS loans, I absolutely cringed at the usurious 7.9% interest rate, but I took 'em, and I’ll eventually pay 'em. The profit of 49 cents on the dollar does not surprise me–I figured it was around that much.</p>
<p>Whether this administration WANTS to do anything about it is completely different than whether they SHOULD–this is almost irrespective of political parties, because the GOP was in power when I took my first PLUS loan out.</p>
<p>It’s all about votes that translate to the pocketbook, and the reality that we Americans, rightly or wrongly, will follow something/anything that will help our standard of living, and dull the feeling that we’re getting scroogied on a regular basis.</p>
<p>For Parent PLUS loan owners, this would help the pain a little:</p>
<p>1) cut the 7.9% in half–even at four percent they’re still making money hand over fist.</p>
<p>2) allow consolidation/refinancing for existing loans at the new rate.</p>
<p>3) allow retirement money specifically earmarked to pay off PLUS loans to be taxed at a flat 10% or even 15%, rather than as ordinary income in the year withdrawn. Oh, and for those of us under 59-and-a-half, lose the 10% penalty as well.</p>
<p>That’s my wish list. The stupid tax code is already 15,000 pages. Why not make it 15,002? :)</p>