Young adults forgo health care as medical debts rise - Jun. 8. A survey found that young adults are skipping needed health care and racking up debt from doctor bills as medical costs rise. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Millions of young adults are forgoing necessary care and treatment because of rising health care costs, a report said Friday. In fact, 41% of young adults between age 19 and 29 failed to get medical care in a recent 12-month period because of cost, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey. Among uninsured adults, the number rose to 60%. They are not filling prescriptions, skipping recommended tests or treatments, avoiding doctor visits and failing to get specialist care they need. "This reflects the high cost of medical care right now and health pl ans that may not cover people very well," said Dr.
Sara Collins, vice president for affordable health insurance at the Commonwealth Fund and chief author of the survey. And doctors are noticing that young adults stop listening to medical advice once they hear the cost of treatment. Dr. The U.S. Gen Z’s Worries: Affording College, Carrying Student Debt. A new survey by TD Ameritrade of Generation Z—those between 13 and 22—found the next generation of investors are, contrary to popular belief, keenly aware of the importance of money, with their top financial concerns evenly split between being able to afford college (39%) and having a large student loan balance (39%). TD Ameritrade's Gen Z survey, released on Wednesday, also found that these youngsters do not necessarily prefer electronic communication to personal connections. Gen Z’s worries over student loan debt are warranted as they've watched their parents struggle to pay back their own student loans—58% of Gen Z parents who were surveyed said they took out their own student loans, and of these, 43% are still paying them back.
When asked what they would do with an extra $500, 55% of Gen Z respondents said they would save it, with another 11% saving it specifically for college. Generation Z worries about paying for college, getting a job. The next generation of young adults gets it: College is going to be expensive. Saving money is important. The job market isn't very promising. Much of Generation Z, or those roughly ages 13 to 22, show a high understanding of those financial and economical truths in a survey out Wednesday on the financial habits and concerns of Gen Z and their parents by TD Ameritrade. Both Gen Z and their parents listed jobs and unemployment first when asked to identify their biggest concerns about the economy, mentioned by roughly a quarter of both groups.
"They are doing a nice job understanding the challenges they may face," says Carrie Braxdale, managing director of investor services at TD Ameritrade, adding, "It was impressive and surprising to see how well aware they are around the importance of money. " Caleb Hawkes, 17, says going to college has always been important to him, but he is worried about paying for it. But not all of Gen Z has Hawkes' same awareness. Study: Student loans went to people who couldn't repay. WASHINGTON – Risky lending caused private student loan debt to balloon in the past decade, leaving many Americans struggling to pay off loans that they can't afford, a government study says.
Private lenders gave out money without considering whether borrowers would repay, then bundled and resold the loans to investors to avoid losing money when students defaulted, according to the study, which is being released today. Those practices are closely associated with subprime mortgage lending, which inflated the housing bubble and helped bring about the 2008 financial crisis. "Subprime-style lending went to college, and now students are paying the price," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose department produced the report with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Duncan said the government must do more to ensure that people who received private loans enjoy the same protections as those who borrow from the federal government. Private student loan debt reaches $150 billion - Jul. 20. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Americans have racked up $150 billion in private student loan debt, with many graduates owing more than they can afford, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While these loans represent a small slice of the total outstanding student loan debt in the country -- which topped $1 trillion in 2011 -- they have caused big financial problems for borrowers, the CFPB and the Department of Education found after analyzing data from nine of the biggest private student lenders on roughly 5 million loans.
Private student loans were aggressively marketed to students before the financial crisis and typically came with fewer protections and higher interest rates than federal loans, the report found. "Too many student loan borrowers were given loans they could not afford and sometimes for more money than they needed," CFPB director Richard Cordray said on a call with reporters. "They are now overwhelmed by debt and regret the decisions they made. " Push for more disclosure on student loans, costs - Jun. 5.
College students would get more detailed information about college loan costs under a proposal from the Obama administration. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration announced a push to have colleges make better disclosures to students about the true cost of loans, as well as graduation and loan default rates at each school. Vice President Joseph Biden, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, were set to meet Tuesday with presidents of 10 colleges that have committed to providing more detailed disclosure information to incoming students at the start of next school year. The Obama administration officials at the meeting will later call on all colleges and universities to make the same disclosures.
The information to be provided by the 10 schools includes how much one year of college will cost, financial aid options to pay this cost, and net costs after grants and scholarships are taken into account. My degree isn't worth the debt! - Shane Dixon (1) Student debt: $72,800 Degrees: Master's in public health from University of South Carolina; Bachelor's in biology from Clemson University In my early years after high school, I wavered between trade school and college, but eventually opted for college and earned a Bachelor's in biology. I quickly found work, but at an abysmal wage of $7.25 per hour, which did not even allow me to live on my own. After an exasperating year at that wage, I decided to go back to school and I graduated in 2004 with a Master's in Public Health, thinking I was on the road to recovery.
During that time, I had been married, had a child, gotten divorced, and ended up raising my son on my own. I took a low paying government job in Southern Florida, and because I couldn't even make the minimum payments on my debt, I took forbearance after forbearance. I have had a good life, but now at age 37, the weariness of carrying this financial burden frustrates me to no end.
By Annalyn Censky NEXT: Saniquah Robinson. Average cost of four-year university up 15% When those college tuition bills come in, be prepared for sticker shock. The average tuition at a four-year public university climbed 15% between 2008 and 2010, fueled by state budget cuts for higher education and increases of 40% and more at universities in states like Georgia, Arizona and California.
The U.S. Department of Education's annual look at college affordability also found significant price increases at the nation's private universities, including at for-profit institutions, where the net price for some schools is now twice as high as Harvard. At Full Sail University, a film and art school in central Florida, the average price of tuition, fees, books, and other expenses totals $43,990, even when grants and scholarships are factored in.
The average net price for an incoming Harvard student: $18,277, according to the department. "As a nation, we need more college graduates in order to stay competitive in the global economy," Duncan said. There were some bright spots in the data. Projected Law School Debt Figures Revised Even Higher - Law Blog. Five proposals to solve $1 trillion college loan crisis. A college degree is supposed to pave the way to a better life. It didn't work out that way for Judith Tuck. Tuck graduated from the University of Arizona in 1996 with a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling and $44,000 in student loans. She had every intention of keeping up with her loan payments, but after a series of low-wage jobs in her field, her debt began to snowball. Tuck, a 73-year-old widow, now owes more than $136,000.
Her wages have been garnished and she faces losing everything, including her home. "The only good thing about student loans is that the day I die my children will not have to pay for them," she says. Outstanding student loans topped $1 trillion last year, exceeding the total amount of credit card debt. There's widespread agreement that student debt is a problem, but there's little consensus on how to solve it.
Bankruptcy reform Rep. Critics have warned that loosening the bankruptcy rules would make private loans more expensive and harder to get. Rep. Fed: Student loans soar 275% over past decade - May. 31. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Student loans have more than tripled over the past decade, according to new data from the Federal Reserve. Student loan debt hit $904 billion in the first quarter of 2012, up from $241 billion a decade ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York quarterly household debt report. That's up 275% since the same period in 2003. Students continued heaping on debt throughout the economic downturn, even as Americans cut back on other forms of credit, such as mortgages and credit cards.
"It remains the only form of consumer debt to substantially increase since the peak of household debt in late 2008," said Donghoon Lee, senior economist at the NY Fed. Since that peak, student loan debt has shot up $293 billion, while other debts fell a combined $1.53 trillion. Americans are also increasingly falling behind on their student loans. And it's likely that the true delinquency rate on student loans is even higher. Borrowing is also up as the cost of college rises.