My father-in-law has been saying he can't retire despite being in old and in rough physical condition. He's been paying into a 401k for 40 years, has a paid-off house, and they'd collect over $6000/mo in combined Social security payments. He also has a good job as a draftsmen at a military contractor.

Turns out that they've been racking up credit card debt until they can't afford the payment then withdrawing from the 401k to pay it off.

I still can't fathom what those credit card charges could be. They don't have any flashy stuff, their house is small and in disrepair, they have cheap cars. He's an alcoholic and they go out to eat a lot, but it still doesn't add up to me. Only thing that makes sense to me is that he got scammed somehow.