Recent polls indicate that baby boomers are suffering from a plethora of debt-related problems. In a survey conducted by the Heinz Family Philanthropies and Newsweek magazine, at least 50 percent surveyed felt stressed from having too much debt, 34 percent were unable to pay their loans, and 9 percent had declared personal bankruptcy.
Despite the thriving economy, debt has remained a consistent problem among boomers. The 1998 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances documents that 87 percent of householders aged 45-54 are in debt, with a median debt of $48,000, up 15 percent from 1995. That figure is made marginally less frightening by the fact that it includes debt owed from a primary mortgage. Boomers rank only behind the age group of 35-44 in terms of percentage in debt and debt holdings.
Oceans of ink have been spent documenting the seemingly inexhaustible capacity of boomers to try to spend their way to happiness. However, as writer Anne Field points out in an exhaustive piece on the unique debt issues faced by ThirdAgers, the characterization of boomers as trend-loving spend-aholics doesn't always hold up. She singles out the financial demands of funding kids' college tuitions and assisting aging parents as two major reasons ThirdAgers find themselves struggling with debt-payments instead of funding their nest eggs.
Indeed, demographics.com found something that many of us know all too well already, that "those most likely to be in debt are the affluent and the middle-aged."
