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Retirees With Student Debt Could Lose Some Social Security Benefits

Retirees With Student Debt Could Lose Some Social Security Benefits

As many as 452,000 Social Security recipients who’ve defaulted on federal student loans could be at risk of losing some of their benefits to garnishment by the Department of Education.

That’s according to a new Issue Spotlight published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Why it matters: This year, collections are set to resume and almost six million student loan borrowers with loans in default will again be subject to the DOE’s forced collection of their tax refunds, wages and Social Security benefits.

The big picture: Between 2001 and 2019, the number of Social Security beneficiaries experiencing reduced benefits due to forced collection increased from 6,200 to 192,300.

  • The total amount of Social Security benefits the DOE collected between 2001 and 2019 increased from $16.2 million to $429.7 million.

Published by

Darryl Hicks

Darryl Hicks is Vice President of Communications for the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. In this capacity, Hicks writes for NRMLA's publications, manages the association's web sites and social media accounts, assists committees and the Board of Directors, and manages the Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional designation. Prior to joining NRMLA in 1999, Hicks spent three years in the Washington, D.C. bureau for National Mortgage News.