I just sent $5000 to my US bank account. The wire transfer will process within 24 hours, and right after that, I'll send the same $5000 to my Navient account (Navient manages my scholastic debt). Next month, I'll have only $1200 to send in order to zero out my debt, and that, my friends, will be that. Twenty years of agony, finally behind me. Now that I'm old and gray, it's about time I celebrated something good happening in my life, yes? Not that my life has been miserable up to now—I've obviously enjoyed my long walks, my time with friends and family, and many other things—but this financial burden has pressed upon me like an invisible weight for so long, now, that I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself when I'm finally free of scholastic debt. Actually, that's not completely true: I've still got a few thousand dollars' worth of credit-card debt that'll need to be paid down, but that debt barely registers in my consciousness because I know it can be paid off quickly and easily. My credit rating ought to be pretty close to 850 (a perfect score) by the time both the scholastic and credit-card debts get paid off. I'm in the mid-700s right now, which is roughly a "B" or "B+" grade according to the credit-reporting service I consult. All that is about to change for the much, much better.
Monday, November 16, 2020
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6 comments:
It is done.
Freedom from debt is a great feeling, congrats! So are you going to start banking/investing that money now? Fifteen years or so until retirement!
John,
Yeah, I guess I'll start saving like crazy, then I'll see what investment options are out there. Still deciding whether I'll go back to the States after I save enough money, but I'm currently leaning toward staying in Korea. America has spent the last four years revealing how nutty it truly is, and for now at least, I prefer the Korean brand of nuttiness.
I totally understand that. I can't imagine living in the USA under current circumstances. I'll take the inconvenience of the third world over that insanity any day!
I'm a lifer here. Too much invested to leave. Can't imagine living anywhere else!
Daniel,
Korea definitely does sink its claws into you. I've seen so many people get disgusted and leave Korea with a "fuck this country" on their lips, only to slink back eventually. My suspicion, when it comes to the issue of work, is that, the longer you spend in Korea, the more Korea-specific your skill set becomes, which makes you increasingly ill-suited for work outside of Korea. Like water assuming the shape of its container, you end up assuming the shape of Korea. Very few people who live here long-term can escape that condition. I know a small handful who've left for good, never to return, but even among those folks, there are some who return to Korea because of an overwhelming desire to at least visit the place. They just can't stay away.
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