Retirees Seek Bankruptcy Protection

As baby boomers begin to age, many changes are eminent. Gone are the days of retiring at age 60 to enjoy travelling and spending time at home during retirement. An unfortunate trend in our aging population is “working retirement”.

Many adults are finding they have to delay retirement, or return to work after retirement, to make ends meet. Many baby boomers have been in the workforce since their teenage years and hardly took a day off for rest, so why are these hard working adults being forced out of retirement?

If I Knew Then…

The answer is fairly simple: unforeseen events. As these adults age, more are faced with unexpected medical events and conditions. With the healthcare industry struggling to make profit, many people are suffering the fate of poor healthcare coverage. When medical bills begin to pile up, people are left with few options. Other major contributors to the debt burdens of our aging adults are economic turmoil and drops in investment accounts. Retirement accounts simply aren’t worth what they once were, employers rarely contribute into such accounts anymore and many people don’t have the expendable cash for a separate retirement savings account.

The most unfortunate contributor to debt among the baby boomers is victimization. The aging population has also become the prime target for scammers. Criminals are targeting seniors through check or sweepstake scams, which require them to provide their banking information in return for a directly deposited check. Fraudulent home contractors are also on the hunt for vulnerable seniors that are easily persuaded into unnecessary home repairs. After the work is completed, the homeowner is left indebted to an illegitimate company without any documentation proving their existence.

Finding Help

Social Security benefits don’t provide enough income assistance to pay off debts and many may not be able to work if they wanted to.  Fortunately, bankruptcy protection offers debt relief options that can provide our seniors with the help they need. An increase in bankruptcy filings for this age group has been seen in recent months, suggesting many are looking for options to get out of debt without losing their hard earned assets.