How Seniors can Avoid Paying Student Loans... Legally!

It's not only college seniors who worry about student loans. Hundreds of thousands of American seniors also have to be worry about the debt they incurred from their studies, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. In this video, Attorney Eric Olsen, Executive Director of the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm, explains why financially challenged seniors may never have to pay back student loan debts.

Time Stamps
0:00 Introduction to Attorney Eric Olsen and the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm
1:17 The growing problem of seniors and student loans
2:09 Seniors can have their Social Security offset (taken) to pay student loan debt
2:54 Income-driven repayment plans can help stop seniors having their Social Security taken to pay student loan debt
4:31 How to rehabilitate a defaulted student loan
7:19 How private student loan debt differs from public student loan debt
8:41 How the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm can help seniors with student loan debt
10:23 How permanently disabled people can get their student loans discharged
11:00 There’s no statute of limitations in student loans
11:20 Younger people can also get on income-driven repayment plans
11:51 How to contact the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm
12:43 Vast majority of poor seniors don’t know how to avoid paying student loans back

People feel obligated to pay their debts, but seniors should not have to choose between paying off old student loans and buying necessities, such as food and medicine. But many poor seniors can't afford to pay their student loans, and could have their Social Security garnished to pay their debts.

In 2019, seniors owed close to $300 billion in student loan debt, with many of them in default. That means the federal government could take up to 15 percent out of their monthly Social Security benefits, which could prove catastrophic for poor seniors on a fixed income.

Attorney Eric Olsen is the founder and Executive Director of the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm, which helps seniors, disabled persons, and veterans who are struggling with debt. In this video, the lawyer explains why financially challenged seniors may never have to pay back their student loan debts. He explains how those who are in default can rehabilitate their loans with low payments.

Although seniors can have up to 15 percent of their Social Security offset (taken) to pay back their student loan debt, Olsen describes how many vulnerable seniors can avoid paying that steep price if only they knew how. He details how following an income-driven repayment plan can help protect seniors from having their Social Security benefits taken to pay student loan debt.

Olsen also differentiates between private student loan debt and public student loan debt, and explains how private student loan debt is similar to consumer debt like a credit card balance. He goes into detail on how poor seniors' bank accounts are protected from debt collectors.

Knowledge is power, and Olsen's lessons can educate a senior as to their rights when it comes to student loan debt. However, the entire process is complicated, and Olsen underscores that seniors may need some help to navigate through the issues involved. He explains how the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm can help seniors make the right moves so they can avoid playing back their student loan debt legally, and how seniors can get legal help at little or no cost.

Jeff Hoyt is SeniorLiving.org’s Editor-in-Chief.

To learn why seniors don't have to worry about old debts, see    • Why Seniors Shouldn't Worry about Old...  

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To learn when Seniors should consider Bankruptcy, watch    • Seniors and Bankruptcy  

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To contact the HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm, call 1-855-435-7787 or visit helpsishere.org.

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