Student Loan Debt Threatens Retirement Security of Many Older Americans
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)–the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress–recently released a report showing that a growing number of older Americans are saddled by student loan debt. Indeed, the rate of increase in older borrowers and the amount of their debt has rapidly surpassed that of younger student-loan borrowers. Further, borrowers age 50 and older have much higher rates of default on federal student loans than younger borrowers, loans that generally cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Worse, under…