Posted on 01/17/2017 8:37:01 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The number of older Americans taking on student debt on behalf of their children and grandchildren has quadrupled in the past decade, with consumers over 60 now holding $66.7 billion in student loan debt, according to a new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The skyrocketing cost of college has placed a particular burden on older Americans, many of whom are struggling to pay back growing debts in their retirement years, according to the report. Nearly 40 percent of federal student loan borrowers over age 65 are in default, the highest rate for any age group, the data show.
“Student loan debt is clearly an intergenerational problem, and what we’re seeing is that this is unfortunately putting older consumers’ retirement at risk,” said Seth Frotman, assistant director of the Office for Students at the CFPB. “Older Americans are struggling under the weight of student loan debt.”
Americans owe nearly $1.4 trillion in outstanding student loans. A slow job market recovery, growing income inequality and stagnant wages have made it difficult for younger Americans to be economically independent, and now there are signs that those financial struggles are dragging down their parents and grandparents as well.
“A large portion of older student loan borrowers struggle to afford basic needs,” the report said, adding that older borrowers were increasingly likely to have skipped necessary doctors’ appointments and prescription medications because they couldn’t afford them.
A growing number of borrowers over age 65 also said their Social Security benefits — often the only source of regular retirement income for older Americans — had been seized because of unpaid student loans, according to the report. Those with student loan debt also had less money saved for retirement than their counterparts without student debt did.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I know someone whose SS check is being garnished because of her 40 something’s student loan.
AUTODIDACT POLYMATH ..... FREE except for painful sudden stop lessons learned.
Will those young people turn around and take care of their elders in the future when they have good jobs - we all must be wise in how much debt we take on.
Funding SJW’s by skipping doctor’s appointments.
Funding SJW’s by skipping doctor’s appointments.
Stop with the interest and let people pay the principal.
In the late 1970's the in-state tuition per semester that I paid was $500.00/semester. That same school now charges $5,000/semester. It is out of hand. Minimum wage war $2.65/hr in 1978. Now it is $7.25. Something is way wrong.
What? Don’t follow. People are scheduled to pay both principal and interest. They can pay additional principal if they so desire.
Wizened Americans supporting their progeny in learning how to hate their country, wear cool hipster garb, occasionally show up for class, do yoga with their “partner” and “backpack” somewhere trendy. Money well spent, suckers!
Yeah, they’re defaulting on that... so make them pay the principal.
Don’t look at me, I hate how the FSL jacked up tuition rates mid-undergrad.
I went to Rutgers but didn’t stay on campus in the mid 80s. Less than a $ 1,000.00 a semester. I painted a couple of apartments on weekwnds in August and December (big moving months) and paid cash duting registration. Did the same in law school although that was a heavier lift. The last year of law school I had a bit of a rough go and my knucklehead budy told me to just borrow the last semester. Can’t remember a damn thing from that semester except to never go in debt and pay cash or don’t buy it. Served me well.
They should have told their snowflakes to get scholarships or go into plumbing or some such, I guess.
This. Will. Not. End. Well.
PING!
So many people today do not know how to manage money.
1. NEVER cosign on any loan, ever. It’s a recipe for disaster. There’s always another way.
2. NEVER, ever pay off someone’s maxed-out credit cards for them. I’ve done this three times and EVERY SINGLE TIME the person immediately charged them back up to where they were before I helped them out. I will say the people I did this for paid me back over a very lengthy time, but looking back, I did not help them. They would have been far better off if they’d had to figure it out for themselves.
I’ve had two friends who, when I suggested, to get a better handle on their finances, they quit using credit cards and only use cash replied, “But if I have cash I just spend it.” Well, duh. I don’t know what they think they’re spending when they’re using their credit cards.
These people who let their parents and grandparents take out loans for their college and then leave them saddled and in need because of those loans..... I don’t know how they live with themselves. I’d be working three jobs and doing everything in my power to pay them back.
Got that right. I’d still be living in a room in my friend’s house and shoveling most of my money to Mom if she did that for me.
The cost of college education is unnecessarily high especially when it concerns the universities that rape the minds of the enrollees.
The $Billions in university endowments to buy down the interest.
I do debtor-creditor, bankruptcy and tax law, and I always advise my clients to never, ever cosign anyone else’s student loan, even that of your spouse. Student loan debt is worse than any other debt, even taxes. Tax debt can sometimes be discharged in bankruptcy and eventually expires in any case. Student loan debt is nondischargeable and it will follow you to the grave. Any accrued interest is typically compounded yearly, so if you can’t make the full interest payments, your balance grows. If you must borrow to pay for a family member’s schooling, get a bank loan.
How does that happen? Cosigned loans?......
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