By Craig Erwin, Ph.D.
The U.S. has plenty of crises. A pandemic has made life difficult and dangerous. Medical expenses also terrorize us, as the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. But what really scares me is that tens of millions of Americans at or near retirement age have no savings and the amount of debt many seniors carry keeps jumping. It is not uncommon for Americans to retire with substantial mortgage debt, credit card debt, auto loan debt, and even student loan debt, all of which make retirement far more challenging; especially if one has no savings. To make matters worse, most retirees live on a fixed income, which makes it nearly impossible to pay down a mortgage or any kind of debt.
The Federal Reserve Bank says that between 1999 and 2019 the total debt burden rose 471% for those in their 60’s and 543% for those over 70. As a result, seniors between the ages of 56 and 74 average $96,984 in debt and seniors 75 and older average $40,925 in debt. Although it would be challenging for a young person with a good job to manage that much debt; for retirees on a fixed income, it might be nearly impossible.
When I attended the University of Minnesota in the late 70s and early 80’s, government educational assistance was common and college costs were much lower. It was common for college graduates to have little or no debt. Today it is rare for college students to graduate debt-free and it is almost a rite of passage to pile up debt of five figures. Now it is even common for graduates to have debt of six figures.
It takes 21 plus years for the average American to pay off the student loan debt they rack up earning their Bachelor’s degree. And making student loan payments forces many to delay the purchase of a home. This hurts because buying homes tends to be the primary way that most Americans accumulate wealth. And the longer a home purchase is delayed, the greater the likelihood that the owner will still have substantial mortgage debt when she reaches retirement age. Thus, as more students graduate with substantial debt, more will also reach retirement age with a large mortgage.
There are no easy answers to the debt crisis facing both young people and seniors. Total student loan debt is currently between 1.5 and 2 trillion dollars. There are a variety of proposals being floated in Congress to forgive a substantial portion of this debt. A portion of the debt owed by seniors could be forgiven as well, although serious proposals on erasing senior debt have yet to be made.
The best way to address both student and senior debt is to better educate would-be borrowers in an effort to reduce the amount of debt they accumulate. Schools like my university may also be part of the solution. Since attending my university, a public liberal arts university, costs a fraction of what a private university costs, it’s quite possible for students to graduate debt-free. It would be quite difficult for students at my school to accumulate debt of six figures because costs are modest.
High schools could also do a much better job of improving student financial literacy. They could provide mandatory financial literacy courses and counsel students and parents to better analyze the costs of various higher education alternatives and the merits and shortcomings of various universities’ programs and financial aid offerings. High schools, colleges, and universities have a moral obligation to provide students with as much information as possible on the true cost of attending various colleges and universities.
For seniors, the local, state, and federal government must offer much better and more accessible financial literacy courses and ubiquitous public service announcements. Seniors must be taught the potentially severe consequences of borrowing money, and living and retiring with unsustainable amounts of debt.
Of course, some people will do stupid things no matter how hard governments and schools try to stop them. But, we must better educate people and provide better warnings. This is bound to benefit some individuals.
Some of my relatives have six figures of student loan debt. They are not stupid people, but, as college students, they were naive. If they had more clearly understood the alternatives, and the potential consequences of their actions, they might have made better decisions. But they weren’t armed with the information or tools to do so.
Click on the this link for more information on the pros and cons of home ownership and the risks of mortgage loan debt. https://womenretire.com/dont-bet-everything-on-your-house/
Click on the following link to learn how to avoid common financial problems. https://womenretire.com/some-people-will-always-have-more-money-than-sense/
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images.
Maybe you could space it out better?
Keep on working, great job!
Outstanding quest there. What occurred after?
Take care!
I all the time used to study paragraph in news papers but now
as I am a user of web thus from now I am using
net for articles, thanks to web.
Simply wish to say your article is as astonishing.
The clarity in your post is just great and i could assume you are an expert on this
subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
I absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be
just what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content for you personally?
I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects
you write concerning here. Again, awesome site!
Hey I am so delighted I found your webpage, I really found you by accident,
while I was researching on Yahoo for something else, Anyhow
I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a incredible post and a all round
exciting blog (I also love the theme/design),
I don’t have time to browse it all at the moment
but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more,
Please do keep up the superb job.
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so
I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing.
Do you have any points for newbie blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.
I love what you guys are usually up too. This sort of clever work and coverage!
Keep up the amazing works guys I’ve added you guys to blogroll.
where can i buy cialis tadalafil 20mg cheap original cialis
cialis legal purchase cialis pills typical cialis prescription strength
generic cialis cipla buy tadalafil cialis and dapoxetine canada
cialis generic timeline cialis mit dapoxetine cialis black wirkung
cialis eu generic tadalafil 20mg india buy cialis with paypal payment
cialis trial coupon buy tadalafil cialis paypal canada
viagra from canada sildenafil citrate tablets 100 mg how much is viagra
viagra online usa pfizer viagra 100mg price viagra amazon
100mg viagra viagra pills cheap viagra online
stromectol for humans for sale ivermectin for ducks side effects of ivermectin
ivermectin 3 mg tabs stromectol for sale stromectol tablets for humans
ivermectin chicken wormer stromectol for humans for sale stromectol for humans for sale
buy clomid clomid for sale canada where to buy cheap clomid online
sildenafil 100 mg viagra tablets for men viagra where to buy
price for viagra viagra where to buy sildenafil
clomid tablets for sale buy clomid 50mg online clomid tablets
online purchase of tadalafil in india where to buy liquid cialis price of cialis 20 mg
stromectol for humans for sale stromectol price usa stromectol pills for humans
india pharmacies online india pharmacy without dr prescriptions india pharmacies shipping to usa
india pharmacies online pharmacy from india meds online without doctor prescription
stromectol 3 mg tablets price buy stromectol online stromectol 3 mg tablets price
pharmacy without dr prescriptions aarp approved canadian online pharmacies prescription drugs without doctor approval
I have been surfing on-line greater than three hours as of late,
but I never found any fascinating article like yours.
It’s pretty value sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made good
content as you did, the web might be a lot more useful than ever before.
treatment for ed impotence pills buy ed pills online
ivermectin horse wormer tractor supply stromectol side effects agri-mectin ivermectin
purchase propecia generic propecia propecia hair loss
anti fungal pills without prescription canadian drug prices canadian online drugstore
non prescription erection pills impotence pills ed meds
heartguard ivermectin ivermectin for demodex in humans cost of ivermectin lotion
That is a really good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere.Brief but very accurate info… Appreciate your sharing thisone. A must read article!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website
yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and
would like to find out where u got this from. thank you
ed meds buy ed pills the best ed pills
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this
board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out
a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you helped me.
ivermectin medscape ivermectin for alpacas who ivermectin
viagra without a prescription erectile dysfunction medication drug prices comparison
viagra without a doctor prescription best ed medications ed medications
non prescription erection pills ed for men mens erection pills
natural pills for ed treating ed cheap medications online
cialis no perscrtion best price on cialis 20mg over night cialis
cialispills online cialis usa prescription how much does cialis cost with insurance
no prescription prednisone canadian pharmacy prednisone in uk prednisone 2 mg daily
[url=http://cheapdrugs.store/#]non prescription ed pills[/url]
Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your
stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent. I really like what you have acquired here,
certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it.
You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it wise.
I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is really a
wonderful web site.
My family all the time say that I am killing my time here
at web, except I know I am getting experience daily
by reading such pleasant articles or reviews.
It’s the best time to make some plans for the future
and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I
wish to suggest you some interesting things or advice.
Perhaps you could write next articles referring to
this article. I desire to read more things about it!
Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d
figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a
blog post or vice-versa? My website covers a lot of the same
subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you might be interested feel free to send me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog
by the way!
My partner and I stumbled over here from a different website and thought I may as well
check things out. I like what I see so now i
am following you. Look forward to looking at your web page again.
Nice blog here! Also your web site loads up very fast!
What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate
link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as fast as
yours lol
I do trust all of the concepts you’ve introduced on your post.
They’re really convincing and can certainly work.
Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for newbies. May just
you please extend them a little from subsequent time?
Thanks for the post.
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this fantastic blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this site with
my Facebook group. Talk soon!
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to more added agreeable from you!
However, how could we communicate?
Generally I don’t learn article on blogs, but I would like
to say that this write-up very forced me to check out and do so!
Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, very nice
article.
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for is
I think this is one of the most important information for me.
And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on some general things, The website style is great, the articles is really great :
D. Good job, cheers
Great post, Mr. Erwin. I have a daughter in her first year at an expensive, private university in Washington DC. Sadly, even though I did the best I could to educate her about the serious financial impacts of her decision, she adamantly refused to take my advice. Since I could only afford to pay for a state school in Connecticut (UConn), she borrowed the rest of the money herself, against my advice. She will be borrowing over $200,000! I went as far as preparing a detailed, 25-year return on investment (ROI) analysis and showed her that the ROI of UConn would be over 40% whereas the ROI of a private school in DC would be less than 8% (she would be better off investing the money in the stock market and get a much higher return). I even showed her how she would have a negative cumulative cash flow until year 16 if she goes with the expensive, private school (significantly impacting her ability to save money for retirement, et al). It would’ve cost her nothing to go to UConn (an excellent university, by the way, and a great bang for the buck), and she would’ve been in excellent financial shape. Unfortunately, her decision will cost her dearly in the years to come.