Denver Seminary

"While young adults may feel empowered by debt, they start to feel weighed down by it when they reach 28, according to a new study," Smart Money reports. "The more credit-card and college loan debt shouldered by those aged 18 to 27, the more they felt in control of their lives, according to an Ohio State University study. Rachel Dwyer, lead author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University, says of her rather disturbing findings, 'Debt can be a good thing for young people - it can help them achieve goals that they couldn’t otherwise, like a college education.' The study examined two kinds of debt: credit card and college debt. 'Surprisingly, though, we found that both kinds of debt had positive effects for young people,' Dwyer says. 'It didn’t matter the type of debt, it increased their self-esteem and sense of mastery.' ...The more surprising (and scary) aspect of this study, which involved 3,079 young adults: By 28, young people are aware that they overestimated how much money they were going to earn."

Source: http://www.nasfaa.org/Main/Financial_Aid_in_the_News_Format/2011/For_Debt-Laden_Young_Adults,_Reality_Bites_At_28.aspx