More retirees burdened by debt

[question everything]

Sunday, April 17, 2005

More retirees burdened by debt

Maintaining living standard, health-care costs, helping children and grandchildren take financial toll.

By PERALTE C. PAUL
Cox News Service

Generation Y may have the rep for spending right into a bind, but their grandparents and soon-to-be-retired parents are catching up.

More and more, seniors are entering retirement with existing debt or taking on new debt after leaving the work force, experts say.

Today's seniors, and the first wave of baby boomers entering early retirement, are used to carrying debt. They've spent years paying installments on revolving bills like credit cards and mortgages.

They seem to keep spending at high levels, even after steady salaries are replaced by retirement income typically 30 percent lower than they brought in as workers.

And an increasing number of retirees, who face rising costs for health care and other services, also are paying bills for their adult children and, in some cases, grandchildren.

Added up, it's a worrying combination, financial experts and bankruptcy attorneys say. They're seeing an increasing number of retirees seeking help with heavy-duty debt.

More..
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/04/17/sections/business/your_money/article_484285.php

[Helga Scow Stern]

1. Good article. I sent it to someone who was questioning the fallacy

of the new bankruptcy bill.