This Proposed Bill Could Offer Major Relief For Retirees Collecting Social Security

You might think that a high student loan balance is a burden exclusive to younger generations, but in the time since federal student loans were first made available in the late 1950s, they've had a severe impact on essentially every American cohort old enough to pursue higher education. In fact, Experian found that baby boomers had the highest average student loan balance of any generation in 2025. Even worse, student loan default rates have skyrocketed since many of the debt relief efforts initially put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic have been reversed. As of 2026, roughly 9.5 million borrowers are in default. 

Defaulting can be especially serious for retirees since the Social Security Administration can garnish Social Security benefit payments if someone falls behind on their federal loans — an essential thing to know about Social Security. While this practice of garnishment was temporary halted for federal student loan borrowers in January 2026, this can change at any time — unless Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders get his way, that is.

On August 17, 2026, Sanders announced plans to introduce the Stop Social Security Garnishment Act, which would ensure that neither retirees nor disabled Americans can have their Social Security benefits reduced in response to unpaid student loans. Backed by Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Sanders is expected to officially introduce the bill in mid-September 2026, when legislative sessions are slated to reconvene.

In a press release, Sanders noted, "...an increasing number of seniors are in danger of having their Social Security checks garnished to pay back student loans they took out decades ago" — and there's data to back that up. As of Q1 2026, the Education Data Initiative reported that 15.2% of student loan borrowers aged 50 and older were at least 90 days past due on a student loan payment. Though definitions can vary depending on the type of loan, the official Federal Student Aid website defines a loan as defaulted on if the borrower goes longer than 270 days without making a payment. This suggests that even more older borrowers could be in danger of wage garnishment by the end of September 2026.

It's worth noting that all baby boomers will be old enough to qualify for Social Security benefits by the end of 2026. And, according to the Education Data Initiative, 4.3% of borrowers over age 60 carried student loan debt in 2024. Per the Pew Research Center, there are roughly 64 million baby boomers in the U.S. in 2026, meaning well over 2.75 million people could have their benefits protected should Sanders' proposed bill succeed. That figure also grows when you factor in the roughly 10.9 million people under age 65 that the Social Security Administration reported received disability benefits in July 2026 — many of whom might have their own student loan debt.