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Friday, December 23, 2016

Baby Boomers Increasingly Having Social Security Checks Garnished To Cover Student Loan Payments

According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government is increasingly garnishing Social Security benefits to help cover student loans payments owed by baby boomers. According the Wall Street Journal, a total of $1.1 billion has been garnished since 2001 with $171 million being collected in 2015 alone.

The government has collected about $1.1 billion from Social Security recipients of all ages to go toward unpaid student loans since 2001, including $171 million last year, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. Most affected recipients in fiscal year 2015—114,000—were age 50 or older and receiving disability benefits, with the typical borrower losing about $140 a month. About 38,000 were above age 64.

The report highlights the sharp growth in baby boomers entering retirement with student debt, most of it borrowed years ago to cover their own educations but some used to pay for their children’s schooling. Overall, about seven million Americans age 50 and older owed about $205 billion in federal student debt last year. About 1 in 3 were in default, raising the likelihood that garnishments will increase as more boomers retire.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too many of these should not have gone to college in the first place...too many of these got a useless degree that didn't allow them to get a job to pay their debts...too many of these didn't learn enough to balance a checkbook - or their life spending choices...like saving for the future!

And we want to send everyone to college?!

Anonymous said...

At the rate we're going my children won't have any social security to collect

Anonymous said...

"And we want to send everyone to college?"

Who is WE?

Do YOU want to send YOUR children to college?

Does YOUR FAMILY want to send its children to college?

Who is the WE in your statement?

I know I don't want to send anyone to college. I already sent my son to college and paid it in full. He has no debt. I was happy to be able to provide the education for him. Others may not be able to do so. Each of us individually must make those choices.

Thank you

Anonymous said...

When tax time comes around there will be more surprises for those owing federally supported loans. Get ready to at least partially "unspend" the money that you diddled away last year,
If you're looking at losing out to taxes, get an adviser, many of whom are free, especially if you fall below the very generous income guidelines. Ask for help to identify resources to make your apparent tax problem into an advantage.

Anonymous said...

Parents, do NOT cosign your children's college loans! There are plenty of other options, including your kid getting his or her face out of the iPhone and tablet screens to get a job and actually save the money for college, and to explore other options for supporting it.

Anonymous said...

1:24 - The collective WE that includes all of the dumbocrat, RINO's and voters that have been making the rules for the last eight years!

Anonymous said...

311
In that case, I would not identify myself with the agenda of the Dumbocrats, Rinos, or the other voters.
I would say THOSE PEOPLE want to send illiterates to college.
I would not say WE want to send those people to college.

Stop identifying with the elites.

Point at them and speak out about them. But don't identify yourself with them.
Or for that matter, don't identify yourself with the US government.

Anonymous said...

Honor your obligations.