Bankrupt! The poor are getting younger

More stats from USA Today on the growing disparities between the rich and poor. Biggest piece of news: more than class as a deciding factor, age is growing as strong determinant for one's wealth.

--Since 1989, nearly all of the country's wealth has been accumulated by people over the age of 55

--Households headed by people 35-55 have actually lost wealth over the past 20 years due to inflation.

Together, these two facts highlight a strange reality: old people are wealthier than ever, but have not put away enough money to properly survive their (ever lengthening) lives. Young people are not making enough to keep up with inflation, yet they are paying into a system for which they will never reap the benefits.

Compiling this problem is the raised expectation for education--undergrad degree as greens fees--and the debt that comes along with it. Added burden is the pressure to invest early and consistently (cannot tell you how many terror-inducing retirement 101 seminars I've attended) in order to just survive in retirement.

Bankrupt!: CyberBegging

ABC News 20/20 showcases a burgeoning trend of "CyberBegging", wherein broke scrubs appeal to the masses online for some dough to pay off shopping debts, mortgages, even new boobs. One lady claims to have clocked as much as $13K with the strategy. Dustin "Screech" Diamond is profiled, too.

Critics find the idea to be shameful, yet it would seem that increasing numbers of youth and desperate debtors are rather shameless about it and find CyberBegging to be a "creative" and viable option for debt management.

File your own e-beg here and here and here.