With the cost of housing, the cost of health care, the cost of gas, and the cost of living in general continuing to rise year after year, my parents are now among the ever increasing group of older citizens on a fixed income who are being forced into filing for bankruptcy because they can no longer afford to live on those fixed incomes.  My Dad’s declining health over the past year led to much higher than usual medical bills are they were just finding it impossible to make ends meet.  I’d really like to be able to help them out after all they have done for me over the years, but I’m having trouble making ends meet as well.  I tried to apply for a home equity loan that I could use to help them pay off their debts, but my credit is in such bad shape that I could swear the loan officer was holding back laughter.  Both my parents worked virtually their whole lives to support the family and now, in their twilight years, they don’t even have enough to survive, let alone enjoy themselves.  I hope that when the time comes that my 401k supports my family a lot better than my fathers pension is taking care of him.