January 17, 2017

Number of older Americans with unpaid student debt leaps in past ten years

Press Herald - The number of older Americans taking on student debt on behalf of their children and grandchildren has quadrupled in the past decade, with consumers 60 and older 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, the report said. Nearly 40 percent of federal student loan borrowers 65 and older are in default, the highest rate for any age group, the data shows.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some of us are still paying, or not paying, for outstanding and default education loans of our own which have nothing to do with our children. In my case, since I did not, within 9 months begin paying on my loans they were put into default and then my University refused to provide a transcript to any and all potential employers. Since I was never able to provide a transcript for employment, I could not pay on my loan, it now sits at almost 5 times what I borrowed in 1980's. Eventhough I paid for most of my education out of my own pocket, at one point I decided it was a good idea to borrow money for my education, big mistake! Since then I have asked to negotiate a cash payout which only invited scam collectors to my door, luckily I knew that and did not pay a scammer, but I never was able to get rid of the loans through an equitable agreement with The US Department of Education. I know I made some bad decisions along the way but so did the Department of Education. I am glad I received the education, I would rather have it than not, albeit I have not really used the degree, a BS, to advance myself in the way I might have liked.