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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Feds Are Garnishing Social Security Benefits From Retirees Who Can't Pay Back Student Loans

While most attention in the ongoing student debt crisis narrative has focused on new graduates, it turns out the federal government has been quietly targeting a different group of debtors: retirees.

The Treasury Department has been withholding as much as 15 percent of Social Security benefits from "a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans," Smart Money's Annamaria Andriotis reports:

"From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees' Social Security checks on those grounds. That's nearly double the pace of the department's enforcement in 2011; it's up from around 60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000...

The amount that the government withholds varies widely, though it runs up to 15%. Assuming the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker of $1,234, that could mean a monthly haircut of almost $190."

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

if theyre drawing social security, i believe theyve had plenty of time to back back the loans. quit being deadbeats!

dont like it, dont take loans.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they should have attached their wages for the last forty years.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I just went to high school.

Anonymous said...

I see nothing wrong with this. They have an obligation and wasn't responsible on their own, all because they are retired doesn't mean they are forgiven of these obligations.

lmclain said...

Its their "fair share". NOW, start going after the people who have been on welfare for GENERATIONS. Get THEIR "fair share", too, and I'll be on board with it. Of course, he (obama) would lose 80% of his voting base if he did THAT, so be prepared to give more of what YOU earn so he (obama) can give to those who have never EARNED anything.

Anonymous said...

lets get this straight mommy and daddy are either so rich I don't need student loans or mommy and daddy are such deadbeats the government will pay for my education for free. everyone else can suck it up and pay the banks even though the taxpayer has already bailed them out to the tune of billions! Am I seeing this correctly?

Anonymous said...

If you take out a student loan to go to college you should pay it back. Like any other loan you sign for (mortgage,car,etc) it has to be paid. So I have no problem with the gov't taking it out of their SS. I only hope over the years the interest has been added and they also put liens on their property. That is what is wrong with this country today, no one is responsible for their own actions and obligations.