Why Seniors Are Leading The Bankruptcy Charge

Across the country, senior citizens are starting to follow what is becoming a national trend by filing bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy by seniors and retirees is approaching an all time high, according to the results of multiple studies and research.

The reason for this is that the economy is not particularly good right now, and seniors are the typical people living on a fixed income. As inflation occurs year after year, the amount of that fixed income does not keep pace with the rate of inflation. To compound this problem, health care costs have gone through the roof, and some pension plans have begun to put caps on the health care coverage of retired employees, and some companies have tried to cut that benefit out totally.


Senior Americans, more now than ever, are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by debt and financial obligations. One of the sad observations that comes as a result of this is noting that after being a part of the labor force for 30, 40 years or more, now is the time when the seniors should be able to kick back and enjoy life, but for many, that is not the reality they are facing. One estimate indicates that people age 55 and over account for about 22% of those filing for bankruptcy.

There are many reasons that seniors are facing this problem, and many of these things are not relegated to seniors. There is the skyrocketing cost of health care which also includes prescription drugs, and unfortunately, these become used more and more as people advance in years. Other necessities such as food, clothing are done on credit cards. A desire to help their children who may be struggling financially also plays a factor. Another large factor is unrealistic expectations of what income their pensions will provide, the benefits (or lack thereof) that their pensions include, and the extent to which Social Security plays a minor role in their income.

One way that many seniors have found temporary relief from this problem is to accept the offers of a credit card that seem to arrive by the truckload in every day's mail. Out of necessity, they get the credit cards, charge them to the hilt, and then when in the same situation next month, the process is repeated until it becomes a house of cards, which falls loudly. They are as helpless as anyone else as they see their savings erode even more quickly with the high interest rates charged by many of these credit cards.

One of the problems reported by bankruptcy lawyers in various cities is that in consulting with seniors about the financial problem, very few of them were willing to bring the problem out early, where bankruptcy alternatives could have played a role. It seems to be an attitude with this age group, where they would rather suffer than be embarrassed and swallow their pride.

The one thing that most people who are considering bankruptcy are not aware of, and this is particularly true of seniors, is that more often than not, they are not aware of bankruptcy alternatives. Bankruptcy should always be your very last resort, with all viable options thoroughly investigated prior to filing. A good bankruptcy lawyer will help with that.