When I was in my 20s, I envisioned a retirement filled with leisure activities and without financial concerns. I would somehow make my mark on the world and become, if not wealthy, at least a solid member of the upper middle class.
Life does like to throw monkey wrenches into the works, doesn’t it?
My early jobs were before the creation of 401-Ks, IRAs and the like, and my later career was for an employer who did not offer such benefits. We were living paycheck to paycheck, and there was seldom any money left to put into savings.
So, like many other folks in my generation, I’m now faced with a retirement based solely on Social Security. Fortunately, having worked for so many years, my monthly benefits are slightly higher than average, but still not enough for anyone to actually live on comfortably.
Sure, I can manage to meet the monthly mortgage and utility payments, my car payment and gas to put in the car, but there’s very little left for extras. And that “very little” is constantly declining due to increases in property taxes and insurance.
The budget got totally blown out of the water recently when I recived a notice that the auto insurance policy would increase by $100 a month in June.
Once my heart stopped palpitating, I called the insurance company to find out why. Happily, it’s an easy fix – it turns out that hubby’s and my defensive driving courses need to be renewed. I’ve completed mine and hubby is halfway through his (and that’s a story for another time), so the premiums will eventually go back down to where they were, or at least close to it (naturally, there’s an increase every year regardless of the status of the defensive driving course).
I’m assuming the mortgage and homeowner insurance expenses will also rise again this year. Hubby may be forced to retire soon, and we will have to purchase our own health insurance. The premiums and out-of pocket expenses on Medicare Part B will be more than half of what hubby will collect from Social Security, which means we’ll have to cut our grocery bill significantly. At that point we maybe could get rid of one vehicle, but that really won’t make a lot of difference in the amount going out the door every month.
So I’m stressing out a bit over finances. I even considered going back to work, but physically I just can’t do it. Even if I could, who would hire a 72-year-old senior citizen who’s not in very good shape?
Searching online for freelance jobs that could be done from home, I came across an article outlining ways for people to get a little extra cash. One of the ways is taking paid surveys. I’ve done that in the past and made very little money, but needs must. Out of curiosity (and to be truthful, perhaps a bit of desperation), I went onto the Branded Surveys site and enrolled. If nothing else, taking surveys can be fun – and it’s nice to be the respondent instead of the surveyor for a change.
Really, I didn’t expect much. But I was pleasantly surprised. I made enough last week to put in a very nice Amazon order.
Since I’m sitting at the computer all day anyway, it’s easy to take surveys rather than play videogames and it’s enticing to know that, even though payment is minimal, I maybe can earn enough to keep me in books and yarn. Well, at least for now. My Social Security benefits will never change (except for the annual cost-of-living increase), but my monthly expenses (like the mortgage) will continue to rise until it gets to the point where hubby and I can no longer stay in this house. Hopefully that won’t be for a few more years.
I try not to worry too much about what’s going to happen when I can no longer afford my home and food. No one seems to care about old white folks, so there really aren’t a lot of programs to help us. I checked and it seems that our combined Social Security benefits, although lower than most people earn in their first jobs, are still too high for us to qualify for food stamps or other government programs. Hubby and I will qualify for income-based senior housing, but the required rent of 30% of our combined Social Security income is still a lot more than we are paying now, which of course means (again) cutting back on groceries and forgoing any extras.
I try not to bring politics into my posts, but it seems to me that if the federal and/or state governments can spend $2400 a month, plus housing, plus medical expenses, plus food, for each of the “asylum seekers” who have flooded into this area, that there should be something in the coffers for senior citizens who have worked their entire lives and contributed into those programs. I’d love to have free housing, free medical, free food, and an extra $2400 a month, wouldn’t you?
But enough of that. By now some of you are thinking less of sweet old Cordelia’s Mom. I can handle losing my income, but I surely don’t want to lose my readers.
Hugs, all.
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Twitter page (@cordeliasmom), or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
You should look into Upwork if you’re looking for freelance work. Lots of projects for writing and editing!
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Thanks, I have but so far haven’t found anything that fits. (I find your user name interesting … )
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Like you, I retired to live solely on Social Security. We were okay as long as hubby was alive, but when he died I had only my benefits to live on. Luckily, I am now living with my daughter and her husband, which makes life a lot easier for me. I recently signed up for one of those study taking companies – I haven’t earned much yet, but it’s interesting to do. I do have a question for you, however – where did you get the sum of $2400 income for asylum seekers? Is that something your state provides? I do know asylum seekers can get emergency medical care and some financial assistance for their first 12 months here from various agencies but thus far I have not seen that $2400 figure.
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I’m not sure if the $2400 is state or federal (probably state if you haven’t heard about it), but we have a lot of the asylum seekers housed our local hotels and there have been proposals to move them into apartments (rent paid by the government) and give them $2400 a month to spend towards whatever they want. Of course, this is then taking apartments away from working class folks who are already having a hard time finding housing. People around here are furious.
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This is a real dilemma, as is the homelessness issue. Is helping good, or is it enabling? Are the asylum seekers truly in danger? I’m sure it’s a little of both in both cases, and I wish I had an answer.
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Yeah, I wish I had an answer, too. All I know for sure is that neither federal nor state governments are doing anything much to help us seniors.
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Our Federal government really isn’t doing much of anything other than squabbling – parties are apparently more important than the country or its people, and I don’t see it getting better.
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I wrote a long and detailed comment regarding the fact that the $2,400 number is an error (asylum seekers in NY are eligible for $180 per person per month), and the root issues behind the problems many retirees face today. WordPress ate that comment.
I’m going to take that as sign that I should not have broken my practice of not commenting or posting on political issues (which I’m sure will grow harder this year).
I hope you find a solution that works for you.
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Thanks, Dan. I stand corrected. Now that I think back, the $2400 is the amount that is allowed for monthly rent for an asylum seeker, which is why many of our local apartments are being snapped up for them. Greedy landlords would much rather get $2400 (guaranteed payment from the government) for a 2-bedroom apartment than the average rent of, say, $1200, which most working people would pay. I know a lot of young people who are already having extreme difficulty finding apartments they can afford, and giving these apartments to non-citizens is making a lot of folks very unhappy.
[End of rant, I promise.]
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Hang in there as long as you can, CM. Going down to a one-car household has helped us some as my dear wife Karen prepares how and when she’ll end her working days.
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Trying, Mark, trying. If only prices would stop rising every single week!
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I saw an article the other day where someone was talking about the need to have an actual plan to save social security before it gets even deeper into the “danger zone.” It referenced how people had worked very hard over their lifetimes to earn those benefits. And then I thought about the relatively miniscule amount of those benefits to all of those years…something really doesn’t add up for all of that hard work.😀
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Thank you. I don’t know whether it adds up or not, but I am concerned about Social Security being cut at some point as we’re barely hanging on now. I worked for more than half a century (paying into Social Security the entire time) and, believe me, I earned every penny I get from Social Security now.
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its a real nightmare and it does make you wonder why we work so hard all our lives for governments( the world over) to take it away from us.Make it impossible for us to claim anything and give it away to others who have not contributed willy Nilly? 💜💜
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I know, right? Sorry to hear it’s not just an issue here in the US.
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No most definitely not it’s world wide 💜💜
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Bummer. (I didn’t want to click “like”)
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its a harsh world 💜💜
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