Elderly going to their graves with more debt than ever before

With the fall of the stock market and peoples retirement funds in 2008, and the fact that inflation for necessities such as food, fuel, healthcare, and other items has risen since that time, more fixed income seniors are having to use debt to get by each month.

In an article this weekend by USA Today, they take a look at the amount of debt seniors are accumulating in their retirement years.

Nearly 40% of retired Americans said they've accumulated credit-card debt in their twilight years — and aren't worried about paying it off in their lifetime, according to a survey released by CESI Debt Solutions.

"At the end of the day, some people of a certain age say, 'It's too late in the game for me to do anything about it. I can't win. So I'm just going to stop playing the game,'" said Neil Ellington, executive vice president at CESI.

The long-term effects of this phenomenon are that children of seniors will begin to lose any inheritance they might once have received, and assets such as property will not be passed down as the banks and credit card issuers make their claims in probate for a piece of the estate.

Inflation is the silent killer and the silent tax on all Americans, and no one is hit harder than those on fixed incomes.  For 40+ years these people saved and hedged their money for retirement, only to see government policies through taxes and monetary destruction take away all they tried to invest to live their golden years in comfort.

And sadly, the only solution the government sees for its own crisis is to print money, and devalue their savings even more.  This of course leads to an even greater need for seniors to use debt just to survive.