600,000 senior citizens about to lose their homes

Posted on 09. Jun, 2009 by Nathaniel Bacon in Economy, Health, Top Stories

More than 600,000 seniors are delinquent in their mortgage payments or already in foreclosure, USA Today reports.

Unlike younger people, many are on fixed incomes and lack the money or job opportunities to catch up on payments when they fall behind.

Conventional wisdom holds that most seniors have paid off their mortgages or have significant equity in their homes. But the reality is, hundreds of thousands of older homeowners are suffering in the housing crisis.

A recent report from AARP showed that 25.5 million seniors ages 50 or older have a mortgage—-and that older Americans with subprime first mortgages are nearly 17 times more likely to be in foreclosure than Americans of the same age with prime loans.

Worse yet, a study done by Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 36 percent of workers ages 55 and over have less than $25,000 in savings and investments aside from the values of their homes.  ARTICLE

Thanks Grandpa Tom