more than likely there kids have scrounged most of it like some people i know,lend me this lend me that i will pay you back,ok and they never have a lot have no intention of paying the money back.

Great die and make a profit out of life

It's hardly rocket science, is it?
If you haven't got the money, don't spend it.
Foreign holidays, designer clothes, cigarettes, booze and parties aren't compulsory.
Cut up your credit card.
Take up a hobby that costs hardly anything - photography, painting, bird watching - there are loads of things to fill your time but which won't get you into debt.
Never, never, never go to a money lender. Rates of interest can be as much as 4000%!
The only thing you should ever borrow for is a roof over your head. And make sure you pay that off as quickly as possible.

If you have insurance against loss of earnings, it must be bogus because no right minded company would cover such a risk. Neither Equity release nor the innovative buy and rent back is the answer. The latter is by far the worst - you sell the house for about 80% of the market price but continue living in the house and pay rent which you have no control of as it just keeps on rising far above the inflation rate. The buyer cannot lose because your rent is more than enough to cover their mortgage, which you cannot get because you are considered too old. The best answer is to seek independent advice from the Local Authority Debt Counsellor who will make up a sensible repayment package.

Smug pompous and patronising lot aren't you? I sincerely hope that life doesn't knock you down in your later years....but if it does, you'll no doubt be the first ones to moan about life being unfair.
You just never know what life is going to throw at you OR your family......... debt doesn't necessarily mean that people have been wasteful.... sometimes they have not been able to see any other way out of situations. Added years don't make life any easier, and don't just assume that because someone has retired, they have nothing to pay out any more..... plenty of OAP's still have mortgages, you know, and not necessarily due to them being stupid,... eg. 'switching' mortgages often ends up with longer commitments, but this advice can be given by so-called financial experts. think before you preach!!

Unless as a VERY LAST resort do not use equity release........the biggest way of ensuring you're in debt for the rest of your life to the equity release company. Such a sweet sounding name, so bloody expensive for you and your family.

I watched Robert Peston`s programme a few weeks ago on Britain``s financial mess and how it all began in the eighties.. Turned out it was the fault of the government at the time. They shouldn`t have allowed us all to have credit cards, and the ` buy now pay later` scheme was a total disaster. I can imagine that some people are still paying their debts off from then.

I am old fashioned - if I havent got the money in the bank to pay for something I go without. I have never had a credit card and dont want one.

Utter Crap, why borrow money when in your late forties or fifties,and then expect to retire @ 65, i paid my mortgage off when i was 50, i had banks trying `give` me money, so easy to fall into that trap without knowing the consequences yrs later, 66 now and life is ok, not much return on my savings, but i get by, if i want something i wait till i have saved for it, cash speaks volumnes in today shister markets.

major ageism going on in these comments, should be ashamed of yourselves