And so a recipient may only receive $750 to live on, total.

I know someone who took a student loan for less than $2,000 in the 1980s, defaulted eventually due to divorce and hardships. The debt ballooned due to interest over the years, and now his social security benefit is capped at $750, the rest going to the ballooned debt.

The other weird aspect is that for purposes of applying for SNAP, the earned benefit must be claimed as income, not the actual benefit received. That drives down the SNAP benefit.

as, say, credit cards.

the old small student loan simply fell off the radar for a couple of decades....no contact from lender, nothing. Forgotten. Then when social security kicked in, the garnishing began with no notice.

This, at least, should be changed by Congress. Among other things..

Some of these loans go out over decades. If the senior dies, is the debt uncollectable?

Much of the problem started when Congress made student debts non-dischargable in bankruptcy court. Congress can fix this.

Typically student loans survive a bankruptcy. However if the bankruptcy judge determines that repaying the student loan would cause an undue hardship. This involves an additional process in the bankruptcy, and it would be recommended to see if an attorney can take the case pro bono because the judge would view it as "they can afford an attorney, they can afford the student loan repayment."

Student loans die upon death, but I'm not sure about student loans taken out by parents... if parents die does the child inherit that debt?

could always win the lottery.

You can't buy a mcmansion or a exotic car, declare bankruptcy and still get to keep it free and clear. but once a degree is earned it can't be taken away.

Seems like too many people would game the system by borrowing the max amount available, declaring bankruptcy after graduating and then take some high dollar job with an investment bank or as a physician.

Maybe the solution is that if you declare bankruptcy and get student loans discharged, every single one of your college credits gets expunged like you never attended.

Some years ago there was a story about a high school graduate who was advised by a counselor to study journalism. She took several loans, did not like that, changed major - a long complicated story - ended up without any degree but with a debt of $140,000.

One can always go go a community college. One can - gasp - live at home while earning a degree.

And, yes, one can sit with parents and see what they can afford, if at all. Being familiar with the parents financial situation should not be a taboo. Will be useful when the parents can no longer take care of themselves some years down the road.

don't realize how depressing and onerous it is to go through, and how hard people try to avoid it.

loan.

These were the days when "hippies" at Haight-Ashbur had no qualms about swiping a fruit from a fruit stand.

Yes, we can complain about unfair policies but, let's be honest, many thought in the 60s and the 70s, perhaps now, that they could take whatever they wanted.

Why would you assume deep debt?

The loan may be the only debt. I know that from the experience of the person I cite. No other debt. No credit and no debt other than the forgotten small student loan now ballooned by interest.

even if you are paying on income based rate, which for many is $0, you can't get auto loans etc. because the amount you should be paying is considered outflow that you can't cover so no loan for you.

in not one bill but in several bills, over years. Those laws are why some seniors are STILL struggling with student loan debt. They couldn't get out from under these loans no matter what -- even if they had to declare bankruptcy, they'd still be stuck with these loans.

I'm 58. I've paid the balance of this loan off probably 4 times since it started becoming due in 1991. But two times in the last 10 years I've stopped paying: in 2009 I was hospitalized with pneumonia, and in 2013 my boss reduced our pay by 50%. Both times, 19% "collection" penalties were imposed. In 2014 my loan balance was $35k (it was originally about $30k back in 1991, and I've been paying on it ever since) and after paying $23k in the last 4 years, the balance has gone down only $1k. It doesn't report on my credit report as a loan I'm paying on, because the federal government declared it due in full in 2014. It's been "in collections" ever since.

I'll be paying this while I'm getting social security.

I've paid over $100k on this loan over the last almost-30 years. It'll never be paid off. Every month I pay a minimum of $500 and less than half goes toward the principal.

because of unemployment and they wouldn't give me a break. The interest just kept piling up and then when I got a job the minimum payment was too much for me to pay. I tried to negotiate but they would never give me a break. I ended up with over 80k in interest on a 50k loan. It just makes me sick to my stomach.

I am paying it off now and have never once defaulted, but I will be in my late 70's/early 80's by the time I pay it off if I ever live that long. That is if I am still employed, which is doubtful once I get older. I sometimes wonder if life is even worth living. I am not going to struggle to pay them off. I would rather be dead.