Courtesy of Shirin Tajani
Shirin Tajani, 46, went back to school in 2011 to get her nursing degree, and she's been practicing in the field ever since.
But despite having multiple degrees, achieving homeownership is out of reach due to the over $315,000 in debt she carries from her student loans and credit card.
Tajani moved from Pakistan to the US when she was 10 years old, and her parents wanted her to have the opportunity to benefit from the higher education system in the US. She received a bachelor's degree in business in 2002 and worked in a corporate job, but after being laid off in 2009, she decided she wanted to become a nurse.
That's where most of her student loans came from, and while she's now earning a six-figure salary, according to documents reviewed by BI, it's not enough to pay off the balance alongside other expenses like rent. She's even picked up a second job outside her full-time nursing career to help make ends meet, meaning that she now works six days a week.
"I was in a situation that I had to pivot and change my career so that I can stay grounded," Tajani told BI. "I just feel like this country has failed us, having to come here, not even being born here, going to school, and then you get tied down to these loans."
Tajani's student loans are currently on forbearance due to legal challenges confronting President Joe Biden's new SAVE income-driven repayment plan. Through that plan, Tajani said she got around $250 monthly payments — significantly lower than the nearly $600 she was paying prior.
For now, she's waiting to see a final court decision on the SAVE plan. She's among millions of Americans struggling with consumer debt. The New York Federal Reserve recently found that Americans now owe a record $1.14 trillion on their credit cards, with balances rising 5.8% from a year ago. Credit card interest rates are also at record highs, making it even harder for consumers to pay off their debt.
When it comes to student loans, Gen Xers and boomers have the highest median balance, per a recent report from the New School's Schwartz Center, preventing many of them from achieving financial goals later in life.
With rising home prices and high interest rates in recent years, coupled with an increase in consumer debt, Tajani said she feels defeated that she cannot progress financially — especially after putting herself on the front lines as a nurse during the pandemic.
"I'm trying to get on a budget, trying to cut back on expenses, and it's been hard. It's been really hard," she said. "We basically retooled ourselves, but then we get punished at the end."
With high interest rates to combat inflation during the pandemic, it's no surprise Americans are struggling with consumer debt while juggling other basic expenses. Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve, told BI that the level of delinquencies on consumer products, like credit cards, is "blowing through normal a little bit."
"The level of delinquencies is a bit uncomfortably high, and that's a warning sign," he said, referring to potential signals of an economic downturn.
Tajani is doing all she can to get out of her debt, but she also has some private student loans along with her federal loans, which makes it difficult to stay on top of all of her balances. That's why the SAVE plan is so important to her — it would give her manageable payments to help her focus on affording her other expenses.
"I have to have my second job to pay my loans because without that, I wouldn't be able to make payments," Tajani said. "So I just feel like seeing all these lawsuits blocking these programs for us is just not fair. And it's sad just to see a lot of us suffer believing that our country would help us out, and they're not doing anything for that."
While the SAVE plan is blocked, the Education Department is working to implement other relief efforts, like its broader version for student-loan forgiveness using the Higher Education Act of 1965. The department plans to begin providing that relief to borrowers in October, but legal threats to that plan are already looming, meaning borrowers will likely face delays getting the relief, if at all.
For now, Tajani remains hopeful relief will go through in some way while recognizing the uncertainty lawsuits and the election could bring.
"Right now, we just wait and see what happens. I'm hopeful they'll do something because I'm sure the government doesn't want people to default, and that could affect a lot of people's livelihoods," she said. "So I'm hopeful something will come about, but I just don't know when that's going to happen."
Are you struggling with consumer debt? How has it impacted your financial decisions? Share your story with this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.
