Their money is increasingly spent on life's essentials - food, utilities, and medical costs - all of which have risen at a brisk pace in recent years. In many cases, the combination of a pension and a paid off home has been replaced by a meager retirement income, high bills, and a reverse mortgage.
A decade ago, homes were routinely passed on free and clear to surviving children, ten years from now heirs may be surprised to find out how little is left after years of borrowing by their parents to make ends meet.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Fewer Seniors Passing Assets on to Their Children
From The Mess That Greenspan Made Blog:
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I knew it! I knew this would be that same article. First problem, this woman is a boomer. She was born in 1945. The quote "Older people have generally held less credit card debt than younger consumers, but their generation is catching up." does not apply. That was a different generation, one that still remembered the Great Depression and had the habits of frugality. Number two, she has a car payment. There is no excuse for anyone this close to the edge to be making payments on a car. You buy what you can afford. Three, she is 62 and appears to be on fixed income. That means that she decided (for whatever reason) to take SSN as early as possible.
This woman is a poor example for what they are trying to show. This is someone who has clearly been spending over what she earned for some time (witness the "no savings"). Somehow, I just have this idea that the credit card went to buy a bunch of stuff for the house, to make it look as though she is solidly middle class. I'll save my sympathy for those who do not have credit, due to low paying jobs. There may be laws preventing discrimination on jobs due to age, but I can tell you that many companies will not hire older workers.
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