Maureen Cotter of Beacon sits at her desk on Thursday in Beacon. Cotter is careful in her spending, but is still dealing with the troubling rising cost of living expenses. “I didn’t think I’d outlive my money.”
Kelly Marsh/For the Times Union
Paul Sund, 83, has lived in Beacon for more than 20 years. Once a truck driver and later a registered nurse working in Albany and Wyoming counties, he said he felt like he “had the key to everything.” Now, he feels only mounting financial pressure.
Years ago, when his mother became sick, Sund stayed home to care for her. Around the same time, his car and truck broke down, leaving him stranded and reliant on ambulances to take his mother to doctor appointments.
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“If I were lucky, I could do some shopping and take the ambulance home,” Sund said. “I worked around whatever I could.”
As he got older, walking became difficult, making it hard for him to find a job or maintain a steady income. He eventually had to sell his house while struggling to keep up with monthly credit card bills.
He sometimes got frustrated when fraud alerts appeared for charges he knew were unauthorized, but he avoided canceling the card because he needed it for everyday expenses. Instead, he called the bank to dispute the charges, a process that often took seven to 10 days.
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“There is always a balance there. I don’t have enough cash. There is no real backup,” Sund said. “I don’t have a car. If I have to take a cab to doctor appointments and don’t have the cash, how do I go? What do I do?
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“It worries me,” he added. “I get very upset.”
Debt burdens grow for adults over 70
Over the past two decades, debt has risen across all age groups, partly because of inflation. Since the pandemic ended in 2022, however, people over 70 have made up a larger share of overall debt.
In the first quarter of this year, New Yorkers over 70 held $1.86 trillion in debt, up significantly from roughly $1.7 trillion in previous quarters and marking a record high.
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For New Yorkers ages 50 to 59 and 60 to 69, total debt balances have increased gradually but steadily over the past decade, reaching about $4.2 trillion and $2.8 trillion, respectively, in the first quarter of this year.
Across all age groups, people aged 40 to 49 have consistently held the most debt, totaling over $4.9 trillion in the first quarter.
Jaffrey Rohan, program manager for the Financial Coaching Corps program, which partners with the New York Public Library on financial education, said he has seen more older adults seeking financial coaching services in recent years, driven by a range of factors.
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One common issue, Rohan said, is coercive debt — older adults discovering debt their partners had racked up, sometimes only after the partner died, and they have to deal with it.
Lack of financial knowledge is another factor, Rohan said. There is now greater access to various fintech products through buy-now-pay-later services, but the older group generally doesn’t know how to use them effectively, which can lead to more debt.
Certain demographic groups also are more vulnerable to financial challenges such as debt, according to a 2020 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. These groups include women, people with lower levels of education, low-income individuals, nonwhite populations — particularly African Americans, people with dependent children, and those who are separated or divorced. Health conditions also play a major role, as medical issues can lead to significant medical expenses.
Maureen Cotter of Beacon said she now relies on Social Security as her primary source of income.
Kelly Marsh/For the Times Union
For women of Maureen Cotter’s generation, financial vulnerability often began decades before retirement.
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“Women were not being paid the same as men,” said Cotter, 87, of Beacon.
After her first divorce at 29, Cotter had to support her young children on her own at a time when women faced lower wages and limited access to credit. As a single woman, she could not get a credit card in her own name until after the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974. She worked as a secretary, bookkeeper and office manager in New York and Connecticut before turning to freelance work, which left her without a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement benefits.
After her second divorce in her late 40s, Cotter bought a house in Fishkill. But a major surgery later drained her income despite having insurance, forcing her to take out a reverse mortgage. Over time, the loan and rising housing costs made it too difficult for her to keep the home.
She now relies on Social Security as her primary source of fixed income.
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“I have to be very careful with the foods I buy because of the cost,” Cotter said. “I can’t buy gifts for the grandchildren like I wanted to.”
“Many Americans have entered retirement with mortgages and other loans that previous generations had paid off earlier in life,” said Olivia Mitchell, international foundation of employee benefit plans professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “Housing costs have risen sharply over time, and many older adults have refinanced, taken out home equity loans, or downsized less than expected.”
She added that the longer life expectancy now means retirees must stretch their savings over more years, and that inflation since 2021 has increased living expenses, leading them to rely more on credit cards or other borrowing to maintain their standard of living.
Data shows that for people over 50, credit card debt and home equity lines of credit gradually account for a slightly larger share of their total balances as age increases. Auto loans remained relatively steady as a share of total debt, while student loans gradually accounted for a smaller portion over time, which may include loans taken out for their own education as well as their children’s.
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Mitchell said that among people over 70, many already have paid down most of their major debts, such as mortgages and student loans, making revolving credit a larger share of their remaining liabilities.
“Credit cards are often the easiest and most accessible form of borrowing for retirees facing rising living or medical expenses,” Mitchell said. “Many older adults also rely on cards temporarily because they’re more likely to live on a fixed income and be less flexible than people of working age.”
HELOC loan shares also increase among older adults because they tend to have more home equity to borrow against, while younger people are less likely to have that option, Mitchell said.
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Middle-aged adults saw average debt rise by nearly 30%
From 2019 to 2024, average debt per person rose sharply across all age groups, though inflation, which totaled about 22.5% over the period, also contributed to the increase.
People in their 40s saw the largest increase at 32%, followed by those in their 30s and 50s, both at 29%. Among adults over 70, average debt rose 25%, reaching about $643,000 per person in 2024.
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People in their 30s, 40s and 50s often juggle multiple financial obligations at once, increasing their debt burden as costs rise.
“First of all, paying off their mortgages. If they have children, they’re covering college costs,” Mitchell said. “At the same time, they’re trying to save for retirement. In some cases, they’re also caregiving for their aging parents, all that at once.”
For older age groups, even though they may no longer be supporting as many people financially, they often struggle because their retirement income does not keep pace with rising expenses, particularly healthcare, long-term care and inflation, Mitchell said.
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“Events later in life, such as widowhood, divorce, and rising insurance and property tax costs, can further strain fixed incomes,” Mitchell said.
Because 2026 population data is not yet available, the per-person average debt for the first quarter of 2026 cannot yet be calculated. However, the total debt continued to rise from 2024 to 2026, increasing another 12%, or roughly $200 billion, in the first quarter of 2026.
Average debt rose less in New York than in other large states
Among major U.S. states, New York saw a 15% increase in total debt balance per person between the first quarter of 2019 and 2026, reaching about $58,000 — the second-lowest among the states analyzed, behind only New Jersey. Nationwide, total debt balance per person rose 26% during the same period, reaching roughly $64,000 in the first quarter of 2026.
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Although New York has seen a smaller increase in debt than other large states, many seniors still cannot afford regular meals and rely on local governments and community organizations for support. They also say cuts to programs supporting older Americans, including home- and community-based services and Medicare-related programs, have made them more financially insecure.
“Quality of life is definitely diminished for seniors who are on fixed incomes. With the cost of housing yourself, feeding yourself and trying to keep your health together, the stress of that also does not help the health situation,” Cotter said.