Quote:
Originally Posted by octothorp
No such thing as good debt. There's such a thing as necessary debt, which should be based on a serious valuation of goals and the amount of risk you're willing to assume to reach those goals. It's a valuation that should include far more than a simple financial bottom line. For someone who values higher levels of education, student loans are going to be a necessary debt; for someone who values home ownership, a mortgage is likely going to be a necessary debt. I can't say one is a good debt and the other bad, any more than I can say one is a good set of values while the other is bad.
Consumer (credit card) debt is almost always unnecessary debt, because it is the simple accumulation of debt without contributing to satisfying any goals in one's life.
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I would describe "good debt" pretty much the same way you describe "necessary debt", but I have talked to a few different mortgage brokers about debt and it seems that the finance companies seem to distinguish between good and bad debt as well when deciding on whether they are going to give you that mortgage or not, and the interest rate it will be at. I know there are other factors involved as well, but there seems to be a difference to me.
So with what I've been told on the subject I would say that if you carry some debt it would be better to have "good debt" as opposed to "bad debt".