U.S. retirees seeing their student loan debts soaring

Usually when we discuss student loan debt, we think of millennials with liberal arts degrees and a $25,000 debt. However, we never look at some of the biggest financiers of a college education: older Americans, seniors and retirees.

Ostensibly, older people are bearing the brunt of the $1.2 trillion student debt. Over the past decade, seniors have provided financial assistance to their children and grandchildren so they can go to university or college. This may have been a mistake, especially considering we’re in a retirement crisis nowadays.

According to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, Americans between 65 and 74 are carrying nearly six times as much education debt as they did 25 years ago. Retirees currently maintain on average more than $2,300 worth of education debt, which is up from $400 in 1989.

Mike Ericson, a LIMRA research analyst, told the USA Today that this could leave a “drastic” situation for millions of retirees and pre-retirees. Why? Because they won’t have enough money for savings and spending, something that is a cause for concern for millions of people.

“That’s a type of debt that can hinder people being able to retire on time. And that’s one type of debt you really don’t want to have in retirement.”

Late last year, it was reported that student loan debt levels for seniors 65 and older soared by more than 600 percent in just eight years. Between 2005 and 2013, student loan debt for seniors climbed from $2.8 billion to $28 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Evidently, seniors maintain two sets of student loan debt: first, the student loans they took out for college in their youth. Second, the student loans they took out for their children and grandchildren. Experts say this trend will persist moving forward.

“The median amount of education debt is rising for most age groups,” said Lori Trawinski, director of banking and finance for the AARP Public Policy Institute, in a statement.  “We expect that trend to continue and that people over 50 will carry education debt as they age and the amount of that debt will also likely continue to increase.”