Bankruptcy

Bankruptcies Soar for Senior Citizens

By J. Michael McBride

This statement is from an analysis report based on bankruptcy filings between 1991 and 2007. According to this analysis, the number of senior citizens being forced into bankruptcy is 'soaring'. In 1991, filers over the age of 55 accounted for 8% of bankruptcy filings. That number almost tripled by 2007 at 22% for the same age group.

The reasons seniors are forced into bankruptcy are really quite simple when you stop and look at today's economy. The main contributing factors include:

* higher prices for ordinary consumer goods;
* economic setbacks due to medical treatment; and
* entering retirement still paying off mortgages and other debt.

Overall Statistics:
55-64 - up 40%
65-74 - up 125% (more than twice likely to file)
75-84 - up 433% (more than quadrupled)

This analysis examined noncommercial bankruptcies filed between 1991 and 2007 from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project to be published in the Harvard Law and Policy Review in January.

The sad truth is that these individuals are living on fixed budgets, with the majority of their income accounted for from Social Security. Some seniors are working in their golden years to pay for other expenses. The article referenced below gives several examples of senior citizens and their personal hardships that contributed to their bankruptcy filing. These hardships are not consumerism, nor are they from lives of luxury.

You can read the entire article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082702215_pf.html

Chandra

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on August 29, 2008 (boomark / email).