The idea that being in debt impacts one’s ability to save for the future is certainly no surprise. But a Securian study that addresses America’s debt, attitudes about debt, and how they feel owing money has affected retirement plans is pretty interesting.Take a look here.

They found that 7 of 10 retirees currently have debt. The survey does not count mortgages as debt, which I find to be peculiar and also frightening. Whatever happened to the idea of retiring the mortgage when you retire from your job?

Debt is also the main priority for the majority of those surveyed. Not retirement savings.

It also found that most consumers are philosophically against debt. Sixty-eight percent believe that financial irresponsibility is to blame for debt. Yet 82 percent of those surveyed said they have some form of debt.

I have debt– a student loan. And I’m sure many of you out there have car loans (which we may take on soon) and credit card debt.

Do you consider debt a normal part of life? Is it shameful? Do we rely too much on debt? Should mortgage debt be retired when you do?

Share your thoughts about debt in this country. Are we in too deep? Are you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am and is filed under debt, retirement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.