'Perfect storm' puts all types in financial peril
Christine Dugas

The current financial crisis is all-inclusive; our path to prosperity or even simple financial stability seemingly obliterated.

With every furlough, layoff or stock market drop, Americans of all ages and backgrounds are seeing their incomes dwindle, bills pile up and financial options disappear.

The number who are suffering has increased by 3 million the past year, according to a recent Gallup-Healthways survey. Some 37% of us said we were worried about money last week. Last year, 3.2 million consumers contacted the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, up from 2.2 million in 2007 and 1.4 million in 2006.

"What's happening to families is a perfect storm," says Bob Manning, a finance professor at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The personal stories illustrate how unemployment, health problems, shrinking retirement savings, unaffordable mortgages and other financial stressors lead to unprecedented challenges, worry and consequences. Recent history has shown periods when one area of concern consumed a family - a lost job for six weeks, for example - but nothing like this. And while people once could piece together solutions to recover financially or prevent outright financial ruin, fewer options exist today.

"Some people will never get out of debt," Manning says.

Whether you're in a financial crisis depends on your debt problem, says Steve Bucci, president of the Money Management International Financial Education Foundation, a non-profit organization. If you are less than 90 days late on a credit card bill, that's not a crisis. But if you are 90 days late on your mortgage, that's an earthquake, and if you are one month late on your car loan you might lose the car, Bucci says.

"For many, it's not one particular event, as much as it is life events starting to pile up," says Gerri Detweiler, co-author of Reduce Debt, Reduce Stress. "And it's compounded by the economy and the lack of credit options that are available."

Retirement on the line

The elderly have been harder hit than most. Personal bankruptcy filings among those 65 and older jumped 150% from 1991 through 2007, according to a study released last year by AARP. Although they have been known as the most frugal savers, today, many of them are deep in debt and without a safety net.

Howard Zynkian, 89, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy more than a year ago to help him save his home. Unlike Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which allows people to have most unsecured debts discharged, Chapter 13 sets up a plan for the filer to repay most debts over several years.

But Zynkian, who lives in El Cajon, Calif., refinanced his home five years ago and didn't understand that he was getting into a risky, alternative mortgage. After his monthly mortgage payment had jumped from $1,500 to $2,700, he was facing foreclosure.

The retired dentist had used up all of his retirement savings to pay his rising mortgage bills. He cares for his daughter, who has severe back problems, and together they receive about $2,900 a month in Social Security.

This week, after much effort, he was able to get a loan modification from his lender. Now he will pay $1,269 a month on a 3% loan rate. After five years it will go up to 4% and then six years later, it will move to 5% for the rest of the term.

"I can just barely manage it," he says.

Zynkian's story is an example of how critical events are coming together for people in every life stage, from the youngest to the oldest, says Melissa Jacoby, a law professor at the University of North Carolina.

"And we used to assume that the elderly had already built wealth in their homes, and that was part of their retirement plan," she says.

Even those who are still working often have less money available to contribute to their retirement plans. Those who are retired and kept most of their 401(k) plans or IRAs invested in stocks have in many cases watched the funds lose half their values.

"The rules seem to have changed, and so they do many silly things," Bucci says.

For example, retirement savings are being used now for paying bills. The golden rule for retirement planning and funds: People still need to continue to save for the long term, and their 401(k) will be a fundamental part of their retirement, says Brent Neiser, director of Strategic Programs and Alliances for the National Endowment for Financial Education. And when stocks and other investments go down, one could consider them a blue-light special and buy more.

But those close to retirement should keep adding to savings, try to work longer and claim Social Security later, so that the monthly check is larger.

Especially if your retirement savings can provide only temporary financial help, you shouldn't rely on it now.

What to do before layoffs

Few life changes affect finances as much as a lost job.

Last year, Amy and Mike Dew, from Sanford, N.C., both were laid off from jobs. It took Mike about nine months to find a new job. Amy, who lost her job in November, just started working again this month.

They are earning much less.

"We literally went from almost a $100,000 salary to probably $50,000 for the two of us," Amy says.

Recently the Dews, who have two teenage daughters, filed for bankruptcy. They gave up one car and their home.

Last month, the national jobless rate was 8.1%, the highest in more than 25 years.

If you expect to lose your job or have your salary slashed, get prepared. Try now to implement a very bare-bones budget and prioritize expenses. "It gives you a better sense of what you can and cannot handle if you lose your job," Detweiler says.

If you are without a job, consider making only minimum payments, using a line of credit as long as it's available, and keeping your money in a safe place, such as an FDIC-insured bank account. "You need to save your cash because when your cash is gone you're out of luck," Bucci says.

Medical bills can be a problem

Health problems and taking care of family members add up to a double whammy of costs: financial and emotional.

Ardella Mitchell, 44, who is raising her 16-year-old son and two grandchildren, has lupus and fibromyalgia. "I get sick a lot, and I'll always have it."

Mitchell, who lives in Cleveland, works as a nursing assistant and schedules her hours based on how well she feels. She recently filed for bankruptcy because her husband is unemployed.

"I had a lot of medical bills that I couldn't pay because I don't have insurance," she says.

Health problems often trigger bankruptcy filing, Jacoby says. And even people with health insurance sometimes become overwhelmed with medical debt.

When families are hit by a combination of serious illness and debt, they should quickly seek help from a credit counselor and a bankruptcy lawyer.

If you don't have health insurance, negotiate the best cost for treatment. If you do have insurance, try to renegotiate the payment dates on bills not covered.

Trying to keep your home

The biggest debt for most of us - our mortgages - has been at the center of the economic collapse.

Sandra Barker and her husband chased the American dream from South Florida to Houston in 2005 hoping for better career options. Sandra is an executive search consultant, and her husband worked in sales.

But their jobs didn't pan out as they thought, and they returned to Florida about eight months later.

"When we came back, it was really painful because the (housing) prices were at their peak," she says.

They bought a home with a hefty mortgage. Last December, they filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy because her husband had lost his job and was in an accident. Debts were mounting, but they wanted to keep their home.

Home foreclosures are still rising in many markets, and that is causing prices to continue to fall. At least in some cities, home sales are starting to improve. And there are more options to help homeowners reduce their mortgages.

The House has approved a plan to give debt-strapped homeowners a chance to lower mortgage payments via bankruptcy courts. And the Senate is considering loan modification legislation.

For most families, the traditional wisdom is to always pay for your mortgage when debt mounts, Jacoby says.

"When people have so many competing bills to pay, it is difficult to decide what to do," she says. "But if you want to keep your home you're going to have to pay for your mortgage, even if you file for bankruptcy."

Credit counseling can help

Oscar Garcia, 57, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy two years ago to cope with rising credit card debt. He kept up with his mortgage payments and wanted to keep his home.

But then last year, his job in New Jersey was eliminated, and the company closed. His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery followed by chemotherapy.

He doesn't have health care, and COBRA coverage for unemployed workers proved too costly. He is up to date with his mortgage but is worried that if he doesn't get a job he'll lose the home.

"He is a typical immigrant story who came here and picked himself up, doing well, raising a family," says his bankruptcy lawyer, Mark Goldman. "But now 20 years later he loses his job, and he won't be able to retire."

Home equity loans and credit cards can't cover for debt anymore.

"Many of the safety nets are drying up," Jacoby says. "So we see people engaging in more informal borrowing from friends and family, who are also in difficult financial trouble."

When the typical solutions disappear and problems mushroom, many people panic. Some respond by ignoring their plight as long as they can, while others make sudden choices without seeking the advice of experts.

Several initiatives are being launched by the government, organizations and the private sector to help financially strapped people survive. But just comprehending the programs and finding out if you qualify is challenging, Neiser says. And that is where a non-profit credit-counseling organization, which is not selling anything, can help.

"Finances are so personal that we're almost suggesting that people hold up a mirror to look at themselves and their money and what's going on there," Neiser says. "But then they should look outside of themselves to find out what are some of the smart things they should be doing as they move forward."

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