How Not to Ruin Your Retirement Paying For Your Children's College Education

Parents and grandparents are increasingly taking out loans, typically Parent PLUS Loans, to pay for their children's or grandchildren's college education. And it's causing some problems according to new research sponsored by TIAA and conducted by the MIT AgeLab.

Consider:

Among parents and grandparents taking out loans for children and grandchildren, only 67% say they regularly save for retirement, compared to 87% of individual borrowers and 83% of those who borrowed for a spouse.

Nearly one-quarter of all borrowers (23%) report that student loans have led to conflict within their families.

Borrowers took on this debt for children or grandchildren primarily out of a desire to help (74%), with just under half feeling it was the best option (47%) and one-third feeling obligated to do so (34%). One in four said it was both a desire to help and a feeling of obligation (24%).

What's more, the survey found that just less than a third of borrowers with loans for a dependent report that their family knew "nothing" or "very little" about their student loans.

Find out what parents and grandparents need to know about Parent PLUS loans in the video above.

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