Haunted by Student Debt to the Grave

[Igel]

5. No, it's a horrible article.

It creates outrage but doesn't inform.

1. A recent, similar article was anecdotal, but relevant. The woman involved had her benefits garnished. She'd taken out student loans for a certification program when she was in her mid-50s. It didn't improve her lot in life so she couldn't pay them off. A decade later she retired.

This is different from taking out a student loan when you're 21 and not paying it off by the time you retire at 65.

How stale are the loans? How many date back decades? How many date back less than a decade? How many are fairly recent, but still in default?

Let's not even mention the wisdom of taking out a large loan for a low-paying certification fairly late in life. We don't like stupidity; but foolishness is the American way of life these days.

2. It's the households that owe the debt. How many of the SS recipients (1) contracted for the debt directly, (2) cosigned on student loans in the past and are now on the hook, (3) are heads of household where some dependent owns the debt?

These are three different categories, but all three hit the SS recipient. They also have different solutions. I'd want a breakdown of the percentages before I get my nappies in a knot.

3. The government gives itself perks. It always has. It always will. If the government subsidizes student loans, as it has for decades by making them cheaper through federal guarantees or making the loans themselves, then it's going to be in line for payback. Anything less is, in fact, a moral hazard that the government has no recourse for: I'll take out $60k in loans when I'm 63, screw the government because I'm retiring tomorrow and they can't touch my income.

I could go on. Interest versus principle? Private versus public versus tech/vocational schools? Size of average loan?

Remember: The government is always your friend and to think badly of the government is bad.