For many Florida retirees, the days of being financially secure are gone. Many people go into retirement with a significant amount of credit card debt that is a strain to keep up with when they are only receiving a portion of what they used to earn through either a retirement account or Social Security. To make matters worse, credit card debt is often not the only debt that people carry with them into retirement. Many have mortgages, car loans and other financial obligations as well.
For households here in Florida and elsewhere that carry rotating balances, the average amount of credit card debt as of March was $16,048. Even though that means that there are numerous households carrying less of this debt, there are also a significant number with more. That same month, people without revolving debt still had an average of $5,700 in credit card debt.
With regard to the second average, people age 65 and up averaged around $6,351. People over the age of 75 averaged $5,638 in credit card debt. These numbers might not seem excessive for people who are working full-time, but for retirees whose incomes are limited, these amounts can be overwhelming.
Large amounts of credit card debt can rob people of their ability to make ends meet after retirement. In order to get back on track and start fresh financially, filing for bankruptcy may be appropriate as an option to find some relief from this and other debts. After working for what were most likely decades to provide for a family, people of retirement age deserve to have the chance to enjoy their golden years.
Source: Selena Maranjian, “Don’t Let Credit Card Debt Wreck Your Retirement — Because It Can“, Selena Maranjian, Sept. 29, 2016