Suze Orman warned Social Security recipients of this 1 growing threat in America — called it a ‘heavy burden’ to carry while speeding toward the 2033 payment cliff. Will it bite you, too?

Income cliff and expense surge

Policymakers and taxpayers seem well aware that the Social Security program is currently on an unsustainable path. A report published in 2024 by the trustees of the Social Security trust funds suggested that the funds could be depleted by 2033.

With this looming income cliff on the horizon — just eight years away — retirees and seniors who are approaching retirement should be focused on saving and investing more to cover themselves. Instead, financial experts like Orman are worried seniors are borrowing more and turning to one of the most costly forms of leverage.

“There is no good time to carry expensive credit card debt,” she wrote in a post her website in January.

“But to be paying interest of more than 20% on unpaid credit card balances in retirement seems especially hard. When your goal is to live comfortably off of fixed-income sources — savings, Social Security, and perhaps a pension — having such expensive debt can be a heavy burden.”

If these trends continue, many seniors could face the dual challenge of lower Social Security benefits and higher debt-servicing costs in retirement. For many, this is a recipe for financial ruin. Americans aged 55 and over already account for 20% of all bankruptcy filings, according to Debt.org.

Orman offers a relatively simple solution to avoid this.

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Needs-based budgeting

For seniors approaching retirement, Orman recommends, “focusing on needs vs. wants.” By trimming expenses down to the bare minimum, she suggests you could use excess savings to pay off credit card debt and stop relying on cards altogether.

“This is just as true if you are 65 as when you are 25 and trying to figure out how to live within your means for the first time,” she says.

To be fair, conspicuous consumption isn’t the only reason credit card debt is swelling.

A quarter of consumers said they used their credit card at least once in the month previous to afford basic essentials, such as groceries or gas, according to survey by CivicScience this past October. Another 16% claimed to do so frequently every month.

The rising cost of living has pushed many Americans, of all ages, to take on debt to afford basic necessities.

If you need debt for essentials, perhaps consider sources that are cheaper than credit cards. Home equity loans can be as cheap as 6.63%, according to LendingTree, while the average interest rate on a two-year personal loan was 12.32% at the end of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve.

Avoiding debt altogether is the best option. But if that’s not possible, a lower interest rate could make your burden a little lighter.