Debt Poses Risks to Financial Security for Americans Reaching Their Golden Years Americans now retire with far more debt than previous generations. This can pose a significant risk to retirees' income, and may result in them not having enough. It also means that when a spouse dies, there could be little left over as creditors deplete an estate's assets - forcing survivors to make difficult decisions and risking grim circumstances for surviving spouses who may struggle to pay off mortgages. In fact, among baby boomers, 80 percent carry some form of debt in retirement, and 47 percent are still paying on their homes, according to a 2015 Pew Charitable Trusts report. And a Dec. 20 Government Accounting Office report said the government took $171 million out of Social Security paychecks from those over the age of 50 to cover unpaid student debt. Many planning for retirement are struggling to pay off debt, especially since Americans increasingly borrow to address life's challenges, including taking home equity loans to pay for their children's college 20 RuralLeaderMag.com | FEBRUARY 2017
education. "With retirement debt so high, households must take steps to help mitigate the risk of financial insecurity in their golden years - and leaving debt behind for family members to absorb," says Jill Perlin, a vice president, Advanced Marketing, Prudential Individual Life Insurance. "In the past many financial experts have recommended that retired couples don't need life insurance, since lost earnings from work no longer need to be replaced if a spouse dies," said Perlin. "But retirees now face a whole new set of circumstances, especially given current debt levels. In retirement, the debt lives on for the surviving spouse, while income drops." In the last few decades, almost everything has changed for Americans planning for retirement. Many retirees no longer reap the benefits of employer-sponsored pension and health insurance plans. With both spouses working, Social Security tends to
