May 31, 2026
David Devaney always managed to keep up with his bills as best he could. But after a back injury and subsequent surgery in 2020 left him relearning how to walk, the 80-year-old struggled to pay off about $45,000 in credit card debt.
The high-interest debt was accumulated over the years, in keeping up with everyday expenses and helping out his children financially. Devaney ended up calling his creditors to help find a solution to help repay his debt on better terms.
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“I called my credit card holders and the banks and everything, and they wouldn’t talk to me,” Devaney told CNBC. “They just said, ‘Oh no, we can’t help you.’ I wasn’t in arrears or anything, and they couldn’t understand why I was calling.”
Devaney’s experience reflects a growing challenge for older Americans. Nearly 60% of retirees carry debt, according to 2023 data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances.
Tyler End, a certified financial planner and co-founder and CEO of Retirable, told Moneywise he’s seeing more retirees rely on credit cards to cover everyday expenses as rising costs continue to strain household budgets.
“For older Americans on fixed incomes, there’s often limited flexibility when big or unexpected expenses come up,” End said. “In some cases, using a credit card for a short-term expense can be manageable, but can quickly become risky when balances start carrying over month to month.”
When keeping up isn’t enough
For some seniors, the strain of credit card debt is compounded by a desire to continue helping their family financially. Devaney told CNBC he often stepped in to help his children when he could, even as his own debt grew.
End advises retirees to prioritize their own financial security. Doing so can ultimately help the whole family more in the long run.
“Having honest conversations with family members about financial boundaries and what is realistically sustainable can relieve pressure on everyone involved,” he said.
Devaney eventually contacted American Financial Solutions, a credit counseling firm, that negotiated his minimum debt payments down with creditors. He paid off his debt by 2024 by also paying more than the minimum balance as much as he could.
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Devaney now lives in New Orleans. But at the time, he called Arizona home. He was living off about $1,800 a month in Social Security benefits. Even while residing in a relatively affordable area, keeping up with his debt payments was increasingly difficult.
The challenge, End told Moneywise, is recognizing when borrowing is becoming harder to manage before it turns into a larger financial problem.
“If a senior notices they’re technically keeping up with payments but becoming more dependent on debt each month, that’s usually a warning sign to act early rather than wait for a crisis point,” End said.
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Reaching a ‘tipping point’
For Devaney, the warning signs appeared before he ever missed a payment. Even while paying his bills on time, he could feel it was becoming harder to stay on top of his finances
His experience is becoming more common among older Americans. According to AARP, the average debt among households headed by adults aged 65 to 74 rose to roughly $45,000 in 2022, up from about $10,000 in the early 1990s.
Many Americans are currently trying to stretch fixed incomes further as the cost of everyday necessities rise. As an example, food prices increased nearly 24% between 2020 and 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture data, while inflation remains sticky.
“The pressure from sustained credit reliance and affordability challenges has reached a tipping point,” Mike Croxson, CEO of the National Foundation of Credit Counselling, said in the company’s latest Financial Stress Forecast released in May. “Consumers want to manage their obligations responsibly, but their traditional capacity to do so is evaporating under current market conditions.”
Rather than waiting until bills become overwhelming, retirees should talk with family members, a financial professional or another trusted advisor as soon as they start feeling stretched, experts say. The sooner those conversations happen, the more options people typically have to get back on track.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
