was stupid and i overspent. with this, it's got this strange rationalization to it that somehow it's ok. it's not ok. it's still stupid. you overspent. >> the other thing is you can't declare bankruptcy with student loans like you can with say, for example, gambling or even credit card debt, correct? >> right. almost everything is bankruptable except i.r.s. debt and student loan debt. federally insured student loan debt. of course, congress passed that because they didn't want to pick up the bill when everybody filed bankruptcy on this stuff which is wise. the problem is it just corners people and they feel so overwhelmed and trapped that they have this tendency to kind of go into denial and push it off to the side emotionally and keep their student loan around like they think it's a pet. >> all right. so let's answer some e-mails, hope to help some people. jim from pennsylvania, my student loans have a very low interest rate and i feel they're helping me build my credit. what should be my plan for paying them off? au >> jim is an example of what we're talking about, somehow this is an ok thing to keep