<prompt> Human: First, a little background:Dad took early retirement in 2007, started his own business in small town Pennsylvania. Things went down the tubes in 2008, and ever since then things have been not so good for my folks.Nowadays he still tries to plug away at the business and make it work, as any jobs that hes tried to get in his area arent available to someone his age late 50s. My mom babysits for neighbors. Honestly, I dont think they can make much more money than theyre making already: my dads too old to get any decent jobs back in corporate America, my moms got too many health issues to physically function at a 9-5 retail job.I love my parents, and I couldnt live knowing that their house was forclosed on or that they didnt go to a doctor for a serious problem simply because of medical costs. Yet, thats kinda where its at.The nitty-gritty details of my parents finances, per month: Combined average income: 1200 Money I give them: 1500 Mortgage: -1300 Bare necessities cost of living food, gas, water, electric, etc.: -1000 City Card min. payment 18 interest rate: -150 Chase min. payment 16.2 interest rate: -225 Bank of A. min. payment 9.9 interest rate: -385 Add that all up together and you get -270. Lovely. Also, they have no health insurance. Ok, now for a little background on me:Im newly married, and basically my wifes fine with me helping out my parents as much as I want, as long as I pay my end of the bills and rent. Shes able to save about 20,000 a year with her job, and currently she reports that shes saved 30,000 over the past couple years, so I figured that we have a good emergency fund. Also, she gets to save a substantial amount, so that makes her happy and it gives me a little comfort to know that weve got it in case everything goes to shit.I worked out our budget for 2013, and this is what its looking like for me: I have no debt. I can continue to give my parents 1500 a month. On top of that, I will have 5000 to start a Roth IRA, which is something Ive been wanting for a while. On top of that, if I keep to my budget and live semi-frugally, I will have a solid 15,000 leftover to do what I will. My wife had said maybe we should combine it with her savings, but I think shed be fine if I used some or all of it on my parents too.So before I get to options, let me make a few things clear: 1. I trust my parents. Theyre not gambling, they dont drink or do drugs, theyre not financially irresponsible. They just took a gamble on a business, then the economy went bust. As for the 200k house, possibly a bad move, but again, they couldnt have predicted 2008.2. My parents are very good at being frugal. They dont buy anything extravagant. They dont eat out. My mom cooks cheap, healthy food. Basically, Im not looking to nitpick their finances.3. The house is a tough one. Theyve got 148k left on it. The house has depreciated so much in value that me and my dad both think that if it sold right now, theyd have to end up paying 20k or so just to make up for the loss. Theyve tried to refinance, but because my dads income is too low they wont let him refinance, which sucks, because we both thought he could get the payments down to 900ish.4. They dont have health insurance, and theyre not old enough for social security yet. Theyve tried to find state sponsored health care, but for some odd reason they cant get it.5. Like I said before, I cant live knowing that theyre not able to afford glasses or that they get foreclosure letters. So, for the past year and a half Ive been supplementing their income, and will continue to do so until they get back on their feet. Im in this for the long run, so that means our finances our linked, basically.Ok, options Ive thought of: Pay off the high interest credit cards, stat. Just a matter of me getting some 0 balance transfer offers from my credit cards Ive got like 35k credit limit, so once I get a transfer offer Ill probably knock off the City Card and Chase card. Ditch the house. Not sure that its a good idea, seeing as how it could cost a lot to sell and move, and anyplace they move into would still be at least 600 a month. Ive thought about just using the Roth IRA money to help pay off credit debt. I mean, this is the first year Ive had any money to put towards a Roth Im 30 years old, so I figure why not just wait 1 more year. If our finances our linked as in, Im always going to be helping them out if they need it, then doesnt it make sense to treat their credit card debt as if it were mine, since Ill end up paying it one way or another eventually? Also, my wifes got some savings going on, so me waiting one more year wont make a big difference in the grand scheme of our savings. I live outside the US, but is it possible for me to combine my income with my dads so that he can get the house refinanced? I have no clue, but its something that just popped into my mind while I was writing this. Bankruptcy? I have no clue what it would entail. My dad has an accountant, so I guess he could discuss it with her. Either way, its an option I guess. My mom had to go to the emergency room this past summer, and the hospital reduced her bill from 18,000 to 9,000. They wouldve just cleared it all, but they looked at my dads bank account and saw that Id given him 30k over the past couple years and they said it counted as income. Should I just buy them costco gift cards and stuff like that as a way to supplement their income in case this ever happens again? I could try and get a personal loan from one of the banks around where I live for hopefully 6.6 percent or so. If I can get it, how much should I get it for? Just enough to cover all the credit card debt?Here are the debt totals:mortgage 148,000, 6.5 fixed, 25 years leftCity Card 8,500, 18 150 min. paymentChase 9,500, 16.2 225 min. paymentBank of America 20,900, 9.9 385 min. paymentHospital, 9,600, 0 350 for 36 months, but theyre trying to still work this out to see if they can get it reduced4th edit: hey, thanks to everyone for throwing some ideas my way. Just a matter of thinking stuff through now. Cheers  <response>: First, do not take on any debt or assume any debt to help. The debt is entirely theirs and if it comes to bankruptcy will affect only them, not you.Second, renegotiate these debts. There is no way your parents are paying all that debt off on the current terms. The lenders need to understand that. They need to be made aware that, under the current terms, your parents are incapable of paying and they will get stiffed if they dont renegotiate the terms. Call the credit card companies and the hospital and tell them you are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and if they dont lower these debts you will just declare bankruptcy. In other words, use bankruptcy as leverage. Third, stop paying the mortgage. After a month or two, their mortgage company will start to negotiate too. They can and will offer you a modification of the loan. You may be able to lower the payments. They will not offer you anything until your parents stop paying the mortgage though. As long as the mortgage is being paid, they will not negotiate.This stuff will take time and should be your mothers full time job. She should be on the phone negotiating with each and every one of their lenders. Google some tips on renegotiating debts. Ask for lower interest rates, debt reductions, longer payoffs, better time frames. Bankruptcy is always a last resort and will always be available. The above strategy may help you avoid it, but it must always be on the table or else the lenders will not negotiate. If the lenders dont play ball with you, then bankruptcy may be necessary.Fourth, with regard to healthcare it sounds like their income would qualify them for medicaid, no? Look into it. 