As you may have seen from some of my previous posts, I'm in way too deep with student loan debt. Someone please advise that has knowledge on this issue. I'm really thinking about my family's future.

I don't work because they'll garnish my wages.

I don't get claimed on my husband's taxes afraid of tax offset and therefore getting a lower refund because they might take it (except I will check into the "Injured Spouse Form" that someone mentioned to me when we file taxes next time).

I don't answer the phone when they call.

I could never have my name on a mortgage if/when we have one in the future because they could put a lien against it.

I don't have anything in my name that they could sue me for because I don't have the money, but if I did - they could place a lien against it.

I can never have any decent amount of money in a checking or savings account because they could take it.

In other words, I am having to try to be invisible to them, but yet I know they will try everything to get this money.

I'm aware that I couldn't qualify for student loans now (not that I'm going back to school anyway and wouldn't dare get one anyway now).

I'm aware that it could affect many things in life such as not qualifying for FHA or VA loan (and if I did, they would put a lien against the mortgage anyway).

Someone mentioned things like FEMA if ever needed, that I could be turned down for because of this.

I've been thinking about this and am really worried! What about things when I'm older (or God forbid something happened to my husband) such as Social Security, etc.? Could they take this?

I know with normal collection accounts that they can't take social security and/or disability benefits, but since SL's have so many different rules (no SOL, etc.), this might be an exception since it's Gov't operated. Does anyone know?

I'm just overwhelmed and getting sick to my stomach thinking about all of this! I think about our future and all. What about things like Life Insurance benefits -- can they take it?

Social security benefits can be garnished up to 15%, the same as wages.

Right now, with your husband not taking you as a dependant, he may be paying higher taxes and loosing out on some tax credits. If you work, they can only take 15% of your disposable wages. However you are loosing more than wages by not working, like building up your own social security bank, health and medical benefits and possibly educational reimbursement.

So in the long run you can see how much this loan will really cost you and your family. Have you talked seriously about this with your husband?? Does he understand how worried you are?? By getting all these loans consolidated, you can easily get these monkeys off your back. Depending on your family income, the payments can be very affordable!!

I know that SL default can be extremely scary. When the CAs started contacting me, I owed nearly $100,000, when penalties and fees were added in. It sounds like you're taking the first step -- realizing that you need to do something about them. The short answer is, yes, you're going to need to deal with these, but it will turn out fine. I'm not absolutely positive about Social Security, but I think that they can attach those (and that includes SS disability, not just retirement). You know what you have to do -- you can't remain "invisible" forever and do you want to, anyway?

First, they're not going to make you pay the entire amount in a lump sum (well, they'll probably ASK, but they're not really expecting you to write them a check or anything!). You can work out payment plans. Look into rehabbing your loan -- I've seen people on this board get rehab payments of as little as $50/month. You can also consolidate after rehab and you get all of the regular options for repaying that are available to everyone else (standard, graduated, extended, and income contingent) and the deferment/forbearance options. You probably also know that you can even consolidate right now using the income contingent option, which might work just as well for you, anyway. They'll look at your financial status and, with children and you not working, I would think your payments could be made manageable. Anyway, if you work out payment arrangements, they won't garnish if you're making regular payments, so you could get a job to afford them without having to worry about being garnished (I'd gotten the impression that the only reason you weren't working was to avoid garnishment and not just because you wanted to be a SAHM, but I could be wrong).

Honestly, you're going to have to pay these back. You're right -- they're not going to go away and you have to start dealing with them. Believe me, I know that sick to your stomach feeling all too well, but it worked out okay for me and the others here in the end. Also, if, God forbid, anything were to happen to your husband, you need to be able to work and establish credit on your own. I hope this helps.

Good luck!!!

Wow, it's really sad that you're trying to hide out like this. Hiding your head in the sand won't fix the problem, and ziggy is right - if you ever HAVE to work, you'll be in a world of hurt.

How much do you actually owe on SLs? I haven't seen an exact amount, just that you have said before it's "alot". A lot to you might not be so much to another person. Tell us what you owe, and maybe we can help you come up with a solution.

Ahhh ... after further reading, I see that you have loans totalling somewhere between $37-43k.

You really need to contact your lenders and try to get this worked out. You can't hide out forever, and avoiding it is way worse than trying to fix the problem in this instance.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. It is a very difficult thing to deal with -- and some of us have had to deal with over $100k. You should think about getting a job, so you can start making payments. But have a plan in place first. You need to be ready to start making payments immediately, or they will start garnishing you and that's a bigger pain than voluntary rehab. It's possible that what you make in payments will be offset by the extra taxes your husband is paying right now. There really is a solution to this and we'll help you come up with the right steps.

Please also remember that you can deduct the interest on your SLs.