Everyone jokes about having "senior moments." But being forgetful, or becoming confused, is simply a part of growing older. Unfortunately, there are a growing number of aging Americans having "senior moments" when it comes to their use of credit cards.

One of the entitlements of retirement is that you get to gripe about "kids these days." You can shake your head, and point to their sloppy dress or loud music and say, "Now when I was growing up, things used to be different."

Make no mistake, many older Americans have earned their stripes and can complain all they want. However, there's a growing constituency that has grown eerily quiet during the last few years. They're not complaining about today's youth, particularly because they're mirroring the kids' irresponsible behavior in one specific area: credit card debt.

Fixed income, expanding credit limits

There's a growing tide of senior citizens falling into credit card debt. Many of them are on fixed incomes, and are feeling the pinch of increasing medical costs-particularly, prescription drugs. Adding to the financial burden are children who are hitting up their aging parents for loans, health insurance, rent, and other expenses. As a result, seniors are being squeezed from multiple directions. Many think credit cards are their only source of relief.

Not understanding the options

As seniors begin to slide deeper and deeper into debt, they face far greater financial peril than a younger generation. While a younger crowd doesn't learn about their financial options because of recklessness or ignorance, many senior citizens have a hard time intellectually understanding multiple credit card offers. If they don't have the cognitive ability to comparison shop, they'll simply pick up the first offer that falls in their laps, which is often a card at a high interest rate.

Once they've run up an enormous balance, things can get truly ugly. Unable to make their monthly minimum payments, many seniors are forced to foreclose on their homes, and spiral ever deeper into debt. Where seniors were supposed to be entering their golden years, they instead find themselves awash in a sea of red.

Solutions to the problem

There are a number of short-term and long-term solutions to the problem. In the short-term, seniors and their families can become more open about financial matters. Simply by discussing the matter, seniors may find that their children can provide some easy solutions. For example, a credit card with a zero-percent balance transfer might help lower a minimum payment.

In the long-term, society will have to carefully evaluate how we provide medical funding and other basic necessities for seniors on fixed incomes. With a glut of baby boomers nearing retirement, it's a problem that should be dealt with sooner, rather than later. Otherwise, credit card debt will continue to affect both old and young for years to come.