Help clients plan for student debt

Over the last 30 years, average debt has gone from $2,000 to $27,000.

By Staff, with files from The Associated Press | May 7, 2014 | Last updated on May 7, 2014

1 min read

Graduating from college today is very different from when your clients got their diplomas. This is especially true when it comes to student loan debt.

In 1984, according to some estimates, only half of graduates had debt from college loans, averaging about $2,000. Now, two-thirds of recent bachelor’s degree recipients have outstanding student loans, with an average debt of about $27,000, according to a Pew Research Center report.

Read: How to talk to Gen Y clients

“Back in 1984, I was a fairly recent college grad. I had a $10,000 student loan and payments were $63.50 per month,” says financial planner Judy McNary in Broomfield, Colorado. Rent on her apartment was $600.

“So that loan payment was about 10% of the cost of our housing. Fast forward to 2014, and I have met many recent graduates whose loan payments are anywhere from $900 to $2,000 per month — easily matching or exceeding their housing costs.”

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