This is Bess. She’s a 73-year-old retired secretary who worked for the same company for 40 years. A widow, she lives on her pension and Social Security. She lives in her home that she and her husband bought 53 years ago.

After some unexpected home repairs and a short hospital stay, she got behind on her bills. She wanted to stay independent, so without telling her grown kids, Bess took out a $5,000 loan. The fees were excessive and the interest rate very high, and pretty soon she couldn’t make the payments. She refinanced multiple times, getting deeper and deeper in debt. When her children found out about her situation, they paid off the debt.