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Prime Times Weekly publication of the Mail Tribune , Medford, Oregon Trying to climb out of THE MONEY PIT More and more seniors dealing with credit woes By PEGGYANN HUTCHINSON O nly a few years ago, the older set -- who remember the Depression -- shied away from debt. But the number of people over 60 with financial problems is inching up. Jan Safley, executive director of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Oregon, has numbers to prove it. Safely In 1993, just eight of 792 people here seeking help from the CCCS in paying off their debts were in that age bracket. In 1998, 45 of the 1,109 people helped are over 60, she says. Credit card debt, the principal problem of the younger client, is showing up in the older group, Safley says. Depression survivors generally didn't use credit cards. Since 1985, Safley has been working with people to pay back debts that are bigger than their income many times over. Under the CCCS program, the creditor will eventually receive the money owed; the client will learn how to handle money and develop a budget. "It's a win-win situation," Safley says. Just ask Helen Bennett, 86, of Medford, who entered the CCCS program when medical bills overwhelmed her after her husband's death. "I'm recommending it to anyone I find who has a financial problem," she says. Bennett, who was in the program nearly three years, calls it "wonderful." Living on Social Security plus a little other income, Bennett has a budget, pays all of her bills on time, and tithes to her church. Service clients work with a financial counselor -- a staffer who also works with creditors to get debts under control. It must be looked at as a business relationship for it to work, Safley says. "People are shocked to learn the amount of money it takes just to stay alive," Safley says. Once this amount is determined, it is subtracted from the debtor's income and the remaining income is divided among the creditors for monthly payments. Since the average debtor has 10 creditors, counselors walk a tightrope in getting everybody to agree. "All your experiences come together ... it's very interesting ... it changes all the time," Safley says. "Each person's situation is different. It is challenging, it takes negotiating skills to sell your client's situation to the creditors. "Compassion, an important part, can't be learned in a book." The way some people handle money is pretty fascinating, Safley says. One young couple made the down payment on a house with a credit card. "They hadn't given any thought to the interest rate," she says. Others have gotten much-promoted equity loans, in most cases nearly eliminating any equity in the house. And "some young people view garnishment of wages a handy-dandy money management tool similar to any other deduction from a paycheck," she says. Many young people don't want to take responsibility for their debts when a job is lost or illness strikes, she continues, "because it wasn't their fault." The majority of the older debtors are realistic, Safley says. "They know they owe it, and generally do not try to get out of paying." Safley, 53, had no idea where her studies would take her when she studied English for three years at the University of Oregon. After marrying naval aviator Gordon Safely, she moved with him to Hawaii and got her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Hawaii. She received a master's degree in counseling from the University of Guam in 1974. When the family, moved around by the Navy, landed in Illinois, Safley started doctoral studies at the University of Illinois in school administration. But times were changing, and she quickly learned three degrees would make her overqualified for many jobs. She quit her studies and sought work. She held a variety of jobs, including substitute teaching, until her husband retired. Medford was not a stranger to the couple when they moved here in 1985. Jan, born in Minot, N.D., lived here briefly before her salesman father was transferred to Lake Oswego. Gordon's family had moved to Medford before he retired. "We had never found a place we liked as well as Medford, so we came back," Jan says. Remembering her volunteer work with the Navy Relief Society over the years, she applied for the CCCS position when its director left. CCCS directors have a credit background and learn counseling on the job, or have counseling experience and learn credit on the job, Safley explains. Things then were less complicated, she admits. "It was before bank mergers, electronic banking, bankruptcy still had a stigma to it and people were open to alternative solutions. "We didn't see people as much in debt," she continues. "The ability to get large amounts of credit weren't available to that large a population." Holiday Budgeting Tips Jan Safley, executive director of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Oregon, offers these tips for people on how to budget time and money for the upcoming holiday rush.: Make a holiday budget and set limits on the amount you plan to spend. Include everything -- food, decorations, holiday cards, postage and gift wrapping. Make a list of gifts, decorations, and food you need to buy. Plan your time. Arrange for a day or half-day off to do the shopping. Trade baby-sitting with a friend to give you more time and cut expenses. Shopping with young children and rushing around on lunch hours is exhausting and not very productive. Be an efficient shopper. If you seek a specific gift, use the telephone and call stores to locate it. If you plan to return to get something, write down the name of the store where you saw it. Toys advertised on television are high on a child's wish list. Help the child understand the difference between advertising and reality. Let the child see it at a toy shop showing what skills are needed to enjoy it. Explain what "some assembly required," "batteries not included," and "pieces sold separately," mean. The trip may be an eye opened and the child may say, "I don't want that." When shopping at malls, go early in the day; Mondays, Tuesday, and Wednesday tend to be less crowded. Use catalogs for some of the shopping and for gift-giving ideas. Gifts that don't break the budget include home-baked and homemade items and gifts of time: baby-sitting, transportation, cooking. Take a predetermined amount of money with you to keep from overspending. If you use a credit card, paper clip an index card to it and write down each purchase. Monitor your credit purchase totals daily or weekly so you will know the total amount charged. Don't charge more than you can afford to repay within three months. Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA