I wish I was doing more about it, but everything's so expensive these days. Every year things seem to cost more. I have four credit cards that are all maxed out that I just pay the minimum on. But I have pretty good equity in my house and good health care and benefits with my job. A few years ago, my daughter got pregnant unexpectedly. She also had some heavy student loan debt, so I've been helping her out. Hopefully one day, she'll return the favor!
~Andrea, 55, Urbandale, Iowa
About three years ago, I had an illness that required surgery and my husband was involved in a minor car crash. Both of us were in shock when we finally got the hospital bills. We had heard about people getting into trouble because of medical bills, but we didn't think it would happen to us. We thought we were covered by insurance, but somehow we still ended up with huge bills. We are still struggling to pay them off.
~Maureen, 63, Fairhope, Ala.
