Do you know the meaning of “Retired Debt”?

Maybe or maybe not.  Anyway, I’ll tell you. 

This is the usual definition:

“A debt is retired when it has been paid in full, or satisfied by some other means. ”

Okay, enough.  We don’t like too much technical…

So, consider this scenario:

A certain person I know, who is now a pensioner, has just finished paying off a small car loan. 

So that debt is now retired.  Okay?

The pensioner is happy the debt has gone.

The pensioner’s state pension will now stretch a little bit further. 

The pensioner, like most of the population, has had a number of personal loans over the course of their lifetime from the bank.

The bank was always there to help…and the loans were always paid back. 

The bank knows the pensioner is a pensioner, and has a limited income.

A few weeks after the last payment was made on the car loan the pensioner got a very nice letter from the bank.

The letter confirmed the pensioner had been a good customer.

The bank wanted to help the pensioner some more and was offering the facility of another new loan.  But this time the amount was twice the amount of the previous loan. 

What a kind bank…

Clearly, the bank has a different meaning for “Retired Debt”. 

The pensioner, becoming more wise, put the letter in the bin. 

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