For decades, the image of retirement in America was simple and reassuring. Work steadily for most of your life, pay off your home, clear your debts, and step into retirement with financial peace of mind. That picture is changing — quietly but significantly. A growing number of Americans are now entering retirement with mortgages, credit card balances and auto loans still hanging over them. What was once seen as a financial burden of younger years is increasingly becoming a reality for older households.
