More than 43 million people in the U.S. are saddled with student loan debt -- and that's just for federal loans. Many more have private loans, as well. On average, federal loan borrowers owe around $37,000, per the folks at the Education Data Initiative, while those with private loans may owe as much as $40,000, on average.

Keep in mind that those are averages, meaning that while presumably plenty of people owe less, many owe much, much more. Even $35,000 in debt can be debilitating, hampering borrowers' attempts to save and invest for their future -- or even just pay their bills. With the overall average interest rate for student loans recently at 5.8%, a $35,000 debt would cost more than $2,000 annually just for interest alone, with the principal also needing to be paid down.

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Source Fool.com