Student Loan Debt: A Monster Crises

As crises go, the cost of education in America is monster of Leviathan proportion that has been swelling in size and ferocity and is threatening to undermine the great American dream. Yet, no one is chanting in the streets about it and it rarely makes headlines.

A statistic came to the attention of our staff here at ABC CollegePlanning recently that made our jaws drop. According to a new federal estimate, America’s outstanding student loan debt is over $1trillion in May. That is TRILLION… with a capital “T”!

I know, It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around how much that is. OK, let’s start with a $100 bill. You’ve seen one, I’m sure. 

 

If you had a packet of one hundred $100 bills, it would be about ½ inch thick. That’s $10,000.

A million dollars is merely 100 packets like the one you see above. It would fit nicely in a briefcase. What about 100 million? Here’s what 100 million would look like. Get out the forklift.

$100,000,000

 Here’s what a Billion would look like..

$1,000,000,000

 

We can’t show you a trillion dollars because we don’t have enough space. It’s a million million. It’s a thousand billion. It’s a one followed by 12 zeroes.($1,000,000,000,000)

 

But to put it in human terms, the Washington Post recently reported that there is a significant number of people in their 60’s and 70’s who are still struggling with student loan debt. For the first time in history, the amount of college loan debt has surpassed the amount of credit card debt in America. 

 

Loving parents are paying for their children’s college at the expense of their own retirement security. Students are guaranteeing a lifetime of payments with student loans. College costs are rising at a faster rate than medical care or fuel.That’s the problem.

Our Solution:

ABC College Planning cannot guarantee that our families will evade the monster of student loans. However, we pride ourselves in helping families of college bound students minimize the amount of student loans they need in order to achieve the college degree of their choice. Through detailed evaluation of the student's aptitudes, testing, essay writing as well as a thorough review of the finances we can show parents what they need to do to get their student to college without losing their retirement. Every family has a different situation, a different set of student aptitudes, and different goals. We don't provide a one-size fits all prescription. Instead, we focus on individualized solutions for each family. 

Families can minimize the impact of the student loan monster by simply taking the time early in a student's middle school or high school years to sit with a professional college planner. For new clients, we offer a Free Analysis of your college planning situation. Simply request it at our website. www.abcCollegePlanning.com

What steps are you taking to avoid the student loan monster?