HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Student Debt Slows Growth as Young Spend Less. “The anemic economy has left millions of younger working Americans struggling to get ahead. The added millstone of student loan debt, which recently exceeded $1 trillion in total, is making it even harder for many of them, delaying purchases of things like homes, cars and other big-ticket items and acting as a drag on growth, economists said.”

UPDATE: A reader emails:

It is likely to get worse – as their parents have less to spend on their behalf.

So far I have only spent to subsidize necessary health care and car down payment for adult offspring, and co-signed for their major purchases (mortgage, professional start-up). I hope it is enough to get them over the hurdle, because I’m about done, if I’m to fund my own retirement as well.

Indeed.