More and more seniors are seeing their overall debt to income ratio increase due to the overwhelming urge to buy toys for their grandkids on credit to keep them in their good graces. According to a study, a large majority of seniors 60 and over lost a good portion of their retirement savings during the last financial institution crisis. In addition, many are making large payments on homes that are worth less than the mortgage balance due to the housing crisis.
Those seniors who have not lost their good credit ratings are turning to their credit cards to fund their gift giving, especially when it comes to keeping their grandchildren in the latest toys. Gone are the days of sticking a dollar or two in a birthday or Christmas card and getting away with it. Today's grandkids are much more savvy. If they don't get an iPod or the latest Xbox video game, it's curtains for Grandma or Grandpa.
"They've just about lost their asses in this economy," said Olaf Kiebermann of MSNBC, "and now with the rise of what those in the industry are calling 'grandchild greed,' seniors are losing what little they have left by jeopardizing their credit ratings." It is getting so bad said one industry expert that some grandparents are being forced to choose between getting their monthly medication and buying their greedy grandkids the latest in warfare software.
According to Kiebermann's report, some grandparents are finding it necessary to walk away from their homes and move in with their children in order to save the money it takes to buy their children's children expensive toys. And in the most extreme circumstances, grandparents are finding the only way out of debt is to file bankruptcy. In fact, 'grandchild greed' is now listed as the number one reason for insolvency on bankruptcies filed by debtors aged 60 and over.
