May ’25 Senior Resources Guide: Financial Freedom in Retirement
By JCA on May 6, 2025
by Suzanne Pollak, JCA Senior Writer, for the Washington Jewish Week
More than half (52%) of adults who are between the ages of 50 and 64 have credit card debt. Some 17% of these adults are using their credit cards to cover their basic monthly living expenses, according to a recently released survey from AARP. With costs for housing, food, utilities and health care all rising, many older adults are living a short step away from financial disaster. They are just one medical emergency or life-changing event away from being in serious debt.
This Senior Resources Guide, written by The Jewish Council for Aging of Greater Washington, will present ways to get out of debt and stay out of debt. It’s easy to blame yourself for getting into debt. Rather than beat yourself up and dwell on the negatives and accusations, now is probably a good
time to take that step to living within your means and not having to pay excessive interest rates all the time.
Not only do many older adults currently carry credit card debt, but that number is rising. According to the AARP survey, 37% of them have more debt than they did the previous year. Half of the respondents cite health care as the reason for being in debt, pointing to dental payments, prescription drug costs, and vision care.