Key Points
- Older workers who are still carrying student loan debt may have a harder time saving toward retirement.
- The bottom 50% of older earners owe the highest average student loan debts, research finds.
For most Americans, living well in retirement depends on how much they can save in their working years.
But for millions of older individuals, unpaid student loan debts may put that goal out of reach, according to new research from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research.
The research evaluated more than 2.2 million people over age 55 with outstanding student loans, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finance.
A lot of my peers have a lot of student loan debt. I'm on the older end of the millenial generation and I just kindof totally lucked out. Got a high score on my ACT which qualified me for a full ride at a decent university. I got a couple of other grants on top of that. Got my BS in a good field where I'm still working today. And never had a cent of student debt.
I definitely get that that's not a typical experience for folks my age or younger, no matter the field. Whenever the topic of how oppressive everyone's student loans are comes up around the water cooler, I kindof just stand awkwardly.
I don't come from money or anything. I'm white, which is an advantage in a fucked up way. Living in the midwest. And I didn't go to any of the nationally well-known colleges like Harvard or MIT or anything. But I got a solid degree and graduated magna cum laude.
I got an associates degree from a community college and worked part time to pay it off while I was attending. Got a job before I even graduated and no debt. I don't feel like I did anything exceptional or amazing to avoid the student-debt trap.