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PAY IT BACK OR FORWARD

You found a meaningful job that you mostly enjoy as a project manager for the philanthropic arm of a large enterprise software company. You are using much of the knowledge that you acquired in your master’s program and are working on some challenging and interesting projects. Even though the balance between work and being a single mother feels taxing at times, you have a strong community of friends supporting you.

While Lily is in daycare and preschool, you barely make ends meet. But even though your rent payment almost gives you ulcers each month, and your family members don’t receive gifts from you for several years, you manage to survive this chapter. The day that Lily starts kindergarten and your day-care expenses finally come to an end, you feel as though you just received a 25 percent raise. You finally feel like you can breathe again.

This newfound “raise” has a clear destination: the student loans that you have been mostly kicking down the road over the past five years. Even though one in four American adults are paying off student loans with an average of $37,000 borrowed, and 60 percent of borrowers expect to pay off their loans in their forties, you feel a self-conscious weight on your shoulders.¹ You are in your thirties now and feel like you should be saving for Lily’s education and your retirement, rather than endlessly paying down your debt.

Apparently, many of your new coworker friends don’t have this same issue. As you become closer to them, you start getting invited to charity galas, auctions, and luncheons—each with a minimum suggested donation. This seems to be a significant part of the social life of this new crowd you find yourself in, and you’re not sure you can keep up.

Everyone appears to have a cause that they are passionate about, which they volunteer for and donate money to. You admire their generosity and passion, and long to do the same. You just wonder how you can afford to be a single mother with hefty student loans, while still giving back to your community. You know that 25 percent of American adults volunteer their time and about half donate money averaging about $2,500 a year.²

One day, as you are driving Lily to school, she asks you why the man on the side of the road is holding a sign that says, “need help.” Your first emotion is pride that she read the sign, followed quickly by guilt and despair about the social inequalities that surround you and doubt over how to explain these to your innocent daughter. You want to lead by example and inspire her to make the world a better place as she grows up.

Part of you wants to invest your small amount of extra money into paying off your student debt and saving for your and Lily’s futures. The burden of loans weighs heavy on you and your safety net is weak at best.

At the same time, you want to give back to your community, as there are many people worse off than you are. You would love to invest your spare money and time into causes that help others. You want to inspire Lily with generosity—and getting to take part in the celebrations of giving that your peers invite you to wouldn’t be a bad side effect either.

If you decide to pay back your student loans faster so that you can save for your future, go to Chapter 50.

If you decide to keep paying the minimum on your loans so that you can pay your good fortune forward and start a charitable giving plan, go to Chapter 57.