60 and living off of student loans

[aGameOfThrones]

At age 58 and less than a decade away from retirement, Nancie Eichengreen, found herself having to start over from scratch.

It was 2012 and she had been laid off for the second time in 10 years from her job as a legal secretary. She spent a few years collecting unemployment benefits and dipping into her meager 401(k) savings to fill in the gaps.

“It’s kind of scary because I don’t envision a retirement for myself,” Eichengreen told Yahoo Finance. “I’m just going to have to keep working.”

Two years ago, she decided to start over completely, going back to school for a Masters degree in social work at Yeshiva University in New York. Today, Eichengreen now 60, is living off of student loans and says it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to pay off her $200,000 student debt, which includes what she borrowed for her first Masters studies in broadcast management.

“I don’t think social workers make much money so I’ll probably be dead before I pay that off,” she said.

Her situation is unfortunate but not unique. Thirty-four percent of workers have nothing set aside for retirement, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration. A study by the National Institute on Retirement Security found 40 percent of workers 55-65 years old do not own assets in a retirement account.

And as a result of the recession, more and more workers over the age of 50 are ill-prepared for retirement and are doing whatever they can to get by. Eichengreen, who was unemployed for over a year, chose social work as a way to counsel and encourage her peers. She is one of 2.2 million Americans over the age of 60 still saddled with $43 billion of student loan debt.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/-i-m-never-going-to-be-able-to-retire--134736593.html

 

[Carson]

Maybe some bankers will just swell up and explode.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Meh, retirement's overrated anyway. It's just a nice name for 20-40 years of unemployment. I wouldn't retire unless I had an injury that prevented me from working at all.

 

[Henry Rogue]

Two years ago, she decided to start over completely, going back to school for a Masters degree in social work at Yeshiva University in New York. Today, Eichengreen now 60, is living off of student loans and says it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to pay off her $200,000 student debt, which includes what she borrowed for her first Masters studies in broadcast management.

Why would you go two hundred thousand dollars in debt if you knew you couldn't pay it off? Does the job produce enough income to sustain and make payments?

 

[oyarde]

Meh, retirement's overrated anyway. It's just a nice name for 20-40 years of unemployment. I wouldn't retire unless I had an injury that prevented me from working at all.

Yeah , but just keeping on working is not the same as owing student loans.She is in deep shit .

 

[Origanalist]

going back to school for a Masters degree in social work

Are you ^&*(%$# kidding me?

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Yeah , but just keeping on working is not the same as owing student loans.She is in deep shit .

True, uncle oyarde.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Are you ^&*(%$# kidding me?

Yes, kitty, people really do get worthless degrees like that and pay out the ass for the privelige.

 

[Origanalist]

Yes, kitty, people really do get worthless degrees like that and pay out the ass for the privelige.

No sonny, she isn't going to pay that back.

 

[Carson]

going back to school for a Masters degree in social work

Are you ^&*(%$# kidding me?

If it was a stock it would be a stock you could retire on.

Won't be long they will be the only ones working.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

No sonny, she isn't going to pay that back.

Most likely. Which means she'll be a debt slave for life. Murica, fuck yeah.

ETA: I'm always amused when you call me "sonny", grandpapa.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

[


QUOTE=Origanalist;5427667]Are you ^&*(%$# kidding me?

If it was a stock it would be a stock you could retire on.[/QUOTE]
Da fuq? Last time I checked average incomes, social work doesn't pay all that well.

 

[Origanalist]

Most likely. Which means she'll be a debt slave for life. Murica, fuck yeah.

Yep, and throw the rest in the kitty.

 

[RonPaulMall]

Why would you go two hundred thousand dollars in debt if you knew you couldn't pay it off? Does the job produce enough income to sustain and make payments?

If you couldn't possibly pay it off, why would you care? She can defer, defer, then sign up for the income based repayment plan and pay 15% of her discretionary income until she dies. The question is not why would she do it, the question is why the lender would do it. They'll be lucky to get back 10% of that 200 grand before she croaks. This is just an example of a college flat out robbing the government blind.

 

[RJB]

In a true freemarket society, the bankers would go broke giving these unreturnable loans.

But since they lobbied congress, YOU, the tax payer pays them. They get multimillion dollar bonuses for their lobbying and are considered the poor mistreated hero.

And the irresponsible eternally indebted student with the absolutely worthless degree and years of government school brainwashing is the villain.

Seriously, the Magna Charta should be MANDATORY READING in High School! We wouldn't be in this mess with truly educated people.

 

[Philhelm]

Why would you go two hundred thousand dollars in debt if you knew you couldn't pay it off? Does the job produce enough income to sustain and make payments?

Knowing that she'll never repay the loan essentially means that she ended up with "free" money. There's no mystery there. The real question is why would anyone in their right mind lend the money to her?

 

[I<3Liberty]

Social work isn't that difficult. There are no difficult math or science classes and a lot of the material overlaps (I know someone that just became a social worker.) You could get a Bachelor's degree in 2-3 years (depending on whether you take coursework over the summer) at a community college or less expensive college and graduate debt free. I know a social worker that is making like $35,000 a year which isn't bad considering she truly loves her job and isn't in debt.

 

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Wouldn't all the free government goods these days make most of us social workers?

 

[tod evans]

Yes, kitty, people really do get worthless degrees like that and pay out the ass for the privelige.

Actually you and I pay out the ass for her privilege....

 

[frodus24]

We discussed these types of situations last week at our financial aid conference. College financial aid administrators encourage this shit!!! Remember...everyone is ENTITLED to whatever they want in this country/sarcasm! The lender is the federal government. The taxpayer gets fucked!