Debt in Retirement

One of my bank accounts has only about $200 in it — but it alone makes me almost $15 trillion richer than the U.S. Federal Government.

See the U.S. Debt Clock which shows that minimally the US Government debt is $15 trillion:

It appears that the new retirement for a lot of today's retirees is to have a lot of debt.

Accumulating debt, in fact, is a way for people how not to retire rich.

Here are some retirement quotes and quotes about debt management that should help you put debt in proper perspective so that you don't accumulate too much yourself.

A creditor is worse than a slave-owner; for the master owns only your person, but a creditor owns your dignity, and can command it.
— Victor Hugo

Clearly, true prosperity is living easily and happily whether you have lots of money or not. I have had the fortune of being on both sides of the fence. I have been broke, over $30,000 in debt, and have had to borrow money to pay the rent. At one time I even had the sobering experience of sleeping in my car for two cold winter nights when the temperature was -21º F. Extremely cold, of course, but this is still far from the bottom.
— from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

You can't put your VISA bill on your American express card.
— P. J. O'Rourke

Who pays his debts, gets rich.
— French proverb

Never run into debt, not if you can find anything else to run into.
— Josh Billings

If you'd lose a troublesome visitor, lend him money.
— Benjamin Franklin

The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced. If the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt, people must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 BC

He who borrows gets sorrows.
- Turkish proverb

And here are some last words of famous people to add humor to this post:

LAST WORDS OF SOME FAMOUS PEOPLE

"Draw the curtain, the farce is over."
— Last words of François Rabelias

"If this is dying, then I don't think much of it."
— Last words of Lytton Strachey

"I have spent a lot of time searching through the Bible for loopholes."
— Last words of W. C. Fields

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
— Last words of John Sedgwick (immediately prior to being killed by enemy fire at the battle of Spotsylvania in the American Civil War, May 1864)

"Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. My advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it."
— Last words of W. Somerset Maugham