How to Overcome Credit Card Debt When You Receive Legally Protected Income and Assets

If you're struggling with credit card debt after retirement, or perhaps the onset of a legally recognized disability - you are not alone. First and foremost, we want any senior citizen or legally disabled person to understand the following information:

When retirement income is protected by federal law, it is not subject to garnishments or levies resulting from unpaid credit card debt. This means if you are sued by a credit card company because you could not pay the credit card bill, any judgment resulting from the lawsuit cannot touch federally protected Social Security benefits, Veterans benefits and/or federally protected pensions. Many states also offer additional protections of retirement income and private disability.

Creditors and debt collectors do not want you to know this. Debt settlement companies do not want to tell you this. Some bankruptcy attorneys need to do a better job communicating this basic fact: debt collectors and creditors cannot legally enforce the collection of any unsecured debt against any protected form of income.

Credit card debt is a burden carried by many Americans, but senior citizens and legally disabled persons tend to have less ability to carry the load. The Senior Citizens League's recent retirement survey revealed a big factor in the increasing amount of credit card debt carried by senior citizens: 57 percent of the 3,028 survey respondents report that they have spent through emergency savings or have no savings at all. This survey also reported the amount of senior citizens who visited a food pantry or applied for SNAP was more than twice as high in 2022 vs 2021.

Without savings, increased living costs leave vulnerable senior citizens with frequent budget shortfalls. Credit card balances cards to keep up. A lot of these senior citizens and legally disabled persons were already carrying large balances after health issues, job loss and global issues out of their control. When you add higher credit card payments to higher cost of living, the result is frequently sacrificed food, medication and basic necessities.

If this sounds familiar, we may be able to help. If you're concerned about unpaid credit card bills or collection agencies contacting you about unpaid credit card debt, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We are happy to discuss your situation, answer whatever questions we can, and discuss how HELPS can help you deal with credit card balances you can no longer afford.