Student Loan Debt Harms Retirement, Says AARP

The high level of student loan debt is threatening the retirement savings of Americans, reports BenefitsPro . Lori Trawinski, director of banking and finance at the AARP Public Policy Institute, says "we consider it a looming threat," adding that "the idea that you could have student loan debt of your own that lasts 20 or 30 years, and then pick up some for your child that could last another 20 or 30 years—you're looking at a lifetime of carrying student loan debt in some form. Depending on one's income level, that that can really hamper the ability to have financial security in retirement." Student debt is growing so fast that a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau analysis of New York Federal Reserve data finds that the number of American borrowers over age 60 has ballooned from 2005's 700,000 to 2.8 million in 2015. Lenders often garnish Social Security checks to get back payments for student loans — something that AARP opposes. In fact, Government Accountability Office figures indicate that in the 2015 fiscal year the government garnished the Social Security benefits of almost 114,000 student loan borrowers over 50 years old, reducing their benefits, on average, by more than $140 per month.