Blog disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Florida Prepaid College Board, through my role as a Believer Blogger. All thoughts are my own.

Welcome to the third installment of the Believer Blogger tour sponsored by Florida Prepaid College.

If you’ve been following this series (post #1, post #2) then you know I partnered up with Florida Prepaid College to spread awareness about the program and its open enrollment season.

Right now, you can enroll in the program to start saving for your child’s education. Click here to get started – it only takes 15 minutes!. You can also get $25 off the application fee by using my code – Amanda1718!

I touched upon why I was so excited to partner up with them, but I didn’t really go into detail. That changes today.

I graduated 100% debt free thanks to Florida Prepaid (and so did my brother!)

Did you know that paying down debt is one of the top financial New Year’s Resolutions people make every January? And now with student loan debt standing at $1.3 trillion, you can bet a lot of people are making resolutions to pay down their loans.
In my experience, it’s better to find ways to avoid taking out loans in the first place. That way you don’t need to make such a resolution later.

Enter Florida Prepaid College.

My parents were able to put two kids through college thanks to Florida Prepaid. They opened the accounts when we were born, saved money as the years went on and ended up using the money to pay for our education.

I graduated in 2010 before student loans were blowing up in the news like they are now, but it didn’t take long before I started realizing how I was ahead of the game simply because my education didn’t leave me in debt.

Fast forward to 2018, and stories about student loan debt are inescapable. Throughout my career I’ve also had to write hundreds of articles about student loans and have interviewed at least another hundred individuals about how student loans are affecting the everyday lives of Americans.

The bottom line is student loans are no joke, so if you have the ability to avoid taking them on please take advantage of it! The same goes for your kids – if you can help them avoid student debt, do it. For those in Florida, that means enrolling in programs like Florida Prepaid.

(Florida residents, click here to enroll in Florida Prepaid. Use code Amanda1718 to get $25 off the application fee)

The State of Student Loan Debt in America

Here are the latest statistics about student loan debt in the U.S.

• Student loans are now the second highest form of debt just behind mortgages. (Forbes, 2017)
• Student loan debt stands at $1.3 trillion (Student Loan Hero)
• Average student loan payment each month is $351(Student Loan hero)
• Nearly 1.4 million undergraduates borrowed private loans in 2011-2012 (Student Loan Hero)
• Student loan balances have jumped 150 percent in the last decade (CNBC, 2017)Average student loan debt is $38,000 (Debt.org)

As a financial blogger, I find this insane. Why are people tens of thousands of dollars in debt over a degree?

I also know first-hand how being shackled to that kind of debt can negatively impact you for decades. In the last few years, I’ve had a lot of conversations with borrowers who still have outstanding debt, I’ve interviewed student loan attorneys, and I’ve interviewed borrowers who have paid massive amounts of student loan debt. I also have a client which is a non-profit that helps borrowers get their finances together after college.

Here are the most common negative effects I’ve learned about from these people:

• If you’re tied down by debt, you can’t really invest money and build wealth.
• Many graduates have been forced to move back home because of their outstanding debt.
• Depending on the person, debt can have severe negative impacts on their mental health.
• It takes you longer to reach financial goals like buying a house.
• It affects your personal life because you have less money to enjoy.
• Debt ties down your money so it’s hard to invest, start a business, save money, etc.

In other words, having student loan debt sucks.

I practice immense gratitude each day for the fact that I am not one of these statistics thanks to my parents and Florida Prepaid College. Had it not been for this, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do all of the following:

• Start a business from scratch.
• Invest money in index funds and my business.
• Save enough money to move into the apartment of my dreams.

While I’ve had to deal with financial stress just like everyone else, student loan debt was never a factor.

Floridians: Your kids can avoid student loans.

If you’re in Florida and have kids, you can help them avoid taking on student loans for their education. If you have student loans yourself, you likely don’t want your kids to experience the turmoil you have. Right now, it doesn’t seem like the cost of education will be decreasing any time soon, so parents need to be proactive.

Floridians have the unique opportunity to enroll their children in a Florida Prepaid College plan. This is a college savings plan that allows you to save money over time and can later be used to pay for tuition and fees. All plan prices are also based on today’s tuition, so it won’t change later when your child goes to school

How to sign up for Florida Prepaid:

Applying for Florida Prepaid is very easy and only takes 15 minutes!

• Visit the website by clicking here.
• Choose which plan you want
• Fill out the application
• Make sure to use my promo code to get $25 off the application fee! Code is Amanda1718

From there, you automatically save money each month into the account. It’s that easy! And this small action will save your child lots of headaches later on.

If I was able to graduate debt-free thanks to Florida Prepaid then your kids can too.