Millions of older Americans' ability to save for retirement may be threatened by unpaid student loan debt, according to new research.

Key Points

  • Older workers who are still carrying student loan debt may have a harder time saving toward retirement.
  • The bottom 50% of older earners owe the highest average student loan debts, research finds.

For most Americans, living well in retirement depends on how much they can save in their working years.

But for millions of older individuals, unpaid student loan debts may put that goal out of reach, according to new research from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research.

The research evaluated more than 2.2 million people over age 55 with outstanding student loans, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finance.