On a recent Women & Money podcast segment, Suze Orman took a call from a listener named Mary about her 94-year-old mother, who is carrying roughly $10,000 in credit card debt on a fixed income of Social Security and a teacher’s pension. Mary said the account was current but the minimum payments had become a burden. Suze’s blunt reply: “Who cares about a FICO score when you are 94 years of age?”
If Mary and her four siblings follow the wrong instinct (protecting Mom’s credit score or draining their own retirement to pay a card issuer), they can burn years of savings on a debt the law does not require anyone but their mother to pay.
The Verdict: Suze Is Right
Orman’s advice is sound. Late in life, on a fixed income, with no…