Millennials Delaying Milestones Due To Student Loans

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- 56% of millennials with current or past student loans have delayed major life events because of their debt, compared with 43% of older adults, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) study. Buying a home is the most common event people have delayed due to student debt, trailed closely by saving for retirement and buying a car.

"Student debt is often portrayed strictly as a millennial issue, but the truth is that Americans of all ages have put their lives on hold due to student debt," said Steve Pounds, Bankrate.com analyst. "Delaying major life milestones such as buying a home or saving for retirement doesn't only affect the individual and his or her family; it also has ill effects on the overall economy."

More than half of student loan borrowers say they didn't receive enough information or advice about the financial risks of taking on education loans. 66% of millennials, more than any other age group, have this complaint.

Consumers can use the free debt management calculator at myBankrate.com to develop a payment plan. myBankrate.com also offers several other free resources that help consumers track their credit scores and plan for future financial goals.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/money-pulse-0815.aspx

PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults living in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (500) and cell phone (500, including 313 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from July 9-12. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, InsuranceQuotes.com and Caring.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, Insweb.com, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 100 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:

Caroline Farhat
Senior Publicist
caroline.farhat@bankrate.com
(917) 368-8638

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/millennials-delaying-milestones-due-to-student-loans-300123834.html

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.