“The Boomer” is a column written for adults nearing retirement age and those already in their “golden years.” It will also promote reader interaction by posting e-mail responses and answering reader questions. E-mail your questions or topic ideas to thefoxboomer@gmail.com.

It’s a word that folks of all ages cringe when they hear it: bankruptcy. 

But it’s a word--and a process--that’s on the tip of our tongues more and more with higher joblessness, rising health costs and increased cost of living.

Indeed, we baby boomers make up a big chunk of the bankruptcy pie. A recent study in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s ABI Journal showed 42% of all individuals filing for bankruptcy protection were between the ages of 45 and 64 in 2007.

We’re also filing for protection from creditors at a much faster rate than other age groups, with the number of filers rising 65% from 2002 to 2007 – this, even as bankruptcies among younger filers dropped by 60%.

“This significant demographic uptick in older bankruptcy filers has outstripped the aging of the general population as a whole,” the authors of the study, John Golmant and James Woods, wrote.

While it may be a last resort, it should be treated as a necessary weapon, particularly if you just can’t get out from under your bills.

“I would say 50% of the people realize its going to be cathartic and 50% think going in it is going to be a shameful process,” says Bill Kelly, founder and president of Kelly Financial Services in Braintree, Mass. 

“But I can tell you by meeting with them after they are done, they are totally different people. Even the credit industry understands, the Visa and MasterCard companies, they understand, they would rather have a rehabilitated debtor they can do business with again someday than have somebody they have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars chasing in order to keep their books in order.”

There are two types of bankruptcies. Most likely, you will file for Chapter 7, which allows you to keep property like your house and car. Almost all other debts are paid after liquidating some assets, and often those debts are paid at a reduced rate. You’re still on the hook for child support, property taxes and student loans, but the big bills – namely those from credit cards – are handled.

Chapter 13, which is known as an individual reorganization, is similar, but it has the advantage of stopping a foreclosure and allowing you to file a plan to pay back debts. But not everyone has the income to put forward a viable Chapter 13 plan.

Note: Your credit, as you might imagine, will be crushed once you file. Chapter 7 filings stay on your credit report for 10 years, while Chapter 13 filings show for seven years.

“What you should file for each is up to the filer, but whatever you file is going to have a negative impact on your credit,” says Kelly.

So, how did we get here? There are a number of factors. The ABI study largely blamed the housing crisis, as with the drop in home values leaving baby boomers with little or no home equity. Baby boomers were also more likely to refinance our mortgages, even when it wasn’t appropriate.

We also took on too much credit-card debt, in addition to having to pay higher health care costs – not just for ourselves, but for our children and, often, our parents.

But there are also cultural issues, according to Kelly. The generation before the boomers dipped their toes into debt as they spent more to offer their children more luxuries – the ones they didn’t have going through the Depression. “My dad always had a used car until 1964, when he got a Pontiac Tempest,” Kelly said “It was $2,300, and you would have thought he was John Rockefeller. They bought that car on time payments."

“The boomers grew up watching people go into debt. Most of the time, they paid it off, but debt became normal to them, whereas it was a new phenomenon to their folks.”

Boomers took it a step forward. In addition to new cars and other luxuries, they also had to handle the explosion of student loan costs, both for themselves and for their children. And nursing-home costs for parents. And new gadgets like iPhones. “No one ever said, ‘no.’” he said.

Add to all this sour soup the fact that, after years of saving for our retirement, we’ve had to suffer through a terrible market environment that has wiped our much of our 401(k)s. In the end, many of us have found ourselves with little financial wiggle room.

Of course, there are ways to avoid bankruptcy, provided you have the foresight to see problems on the horizon. It always helps to pay off unsecured debt, namely those high-interest credit cards, quickly, and then pump the excess money back into your retirement savings, financial planners say. Also, you can lower your secured debt by maybe downsizing your house or not buying a new car when a used one would do. And, of course, try to stay in your job as long as possible to ensure regular income and health insurance.

But, if you find yourself in the situation of needing the protection to file for the protection the bankruptcy code provides, don’t worry about the stigma.

“I would say it has helped more people I know than hurt by a long shot, maybe 10 – 1,” Kelly said.