Senior debt problems linked to housing crisis

The older population tends to experience greater challenges managing debt, according to a report from AARP, due in part to the housing slowdown that limits payback options. The study showed that of those U.S. residents who carry debt, 25 percent of the over-50 population spends more than 75 percent to pay off creditors. The report suggests that, before the housing crisis, seniors were likely to sell their homes or take out reverse mortgages to help pay off debt. Gail Cunningham, a representative from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, told Newsweek that her group has seen “an across-the-board increase in seniors coming to [it] for help.”