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The growing loan balances among this group are “without a doubt” a shock to the retirement planning of these older Americans, said Julie B. Miller, a researcher at the MIT AgeLab. As part of

a national study conducted by the MIT AgeLab and sponsored by TIAA, Miller and colleagues have conducted focus groups with 100 individuals, including 29 who are 50 and still have student

loan debt, either for themselves or others. She is heading a project on how college debt affects family dynamics, long-term financial planning and retirement for adults ages 25 to 75.

"There was a lot of anger,” especially among individuals nearing retirement age who've carried their college debt for many years, some for 30 or more, Miller said. Some adults in

her focus group took out loans “in small amounts” decades ago and “life took twists and turns.” Others borrowed to finance their educations after their children were older because “college

was on my bucket list,” Miller said. Adults over 50 with college debt from paying for their loved ones’ education had an even wider mix of emotions, Miller said. One woman in Miller's

focus groups accumulated debt from both her own college experience and that of her son. She also took on $20,000 in credit card debt to pay her son's tuition. Miller said the

woman's outlook was that “retirement, the ‘R word,’ is not a word that I use." In another example, Miller described a man in his early 60s who had taken out $300,000 in loans for

all four of his children and still owed around $200,000. He told Miller that he and his wife made financial sacrifices when they were younger because they wanted to be active parents, which

meant working less or holding positions that offered more flexibility but less pay. Now he's “literally paying the price because he needs to be working longer so that he can be repaying

these loans,” Miller said. Younger students who borrow can generally look forward to the higher incomes that typically come with a college education, in most cases justifying the initial

debt. “Historically, people tended to incur debt at younger ages — to pay for their college education and buy homes — and then paid the debt off during their working years,” the AARP report

says. “This enabled them to enter retirement debt-free and gave them a better chance of obtaining and retaining financial security as they aged.” But borrowing for loved ones “doesn't

increase your earnings potential. You're not getting any extra ability to pay for it,” said Douglas Webber, an economics professor who studies higher-education issues at Temple

University in Philadelphia.