USA Today reported that two-fifths of retirees carry balances on their credit cards, according to the 2024 Spending in Retirement survey, released in November by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
By the numbers: Six in 10 retirees had debt of some kind, according to the EBRI report. Sixty-eight percent had credit card debt, 38 percent had mortgage debt and 34 percent had car loans, the three most common types.
Go deeper: The EBRI report portrays the overall financial state of retired Americans as “precarious,” said Bridget Bearden, research and development strategist at EBRI and author of the study. The survey covered retirees from 62 to 75.
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EBRE also reported that 31 percent of retirees said their spending level is higher than they can afford. In a 2020 version of the survey, by contrast, only 17 percent of retirees reported overspending.
