Mortgages Carried Later In Life a Disturbing Trend
By Tim Grant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Owning a home free and clear has been an enduring part of the American dream, but in recent years more people are waking to the reality that they will be retiring still owing money on their mortgages.
“It's a bad trend,” said P.J. DiNuzzo, president of DiNuzzo Investment Advisors in Beaver. “One piece of advice I can give is to pay off your house and then retire.”
Rather than cutting back on debt, people approaching retirement appear to be increasing the amount of debt backed by their primary residence, a complete shift from what retirees in past generations did. The number of families headed by people 55 or older with housing debt has increased steadily from 24 percent in 1992 to 36 percent in 2004, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington, D.C.
