On Monday, we talked about our reporter Sahara Sajjadi’s piece about Arizona seniors who can’t afford to retire.
I asked if you or someone you know has felt this struggle. Here’s what you said:
đź’¬ “My friend at age 68 went through a brutal surgery, chemo, radiation and feeding tube due to her tongue cancer. The treatments and the battle went on for a year. She had a GoFundMe page which raised $8000. She used that to pay her part of her insurance bills. Now that she is on the other side of this ordeal her Social Security is not enough to pay all of her Bills let alone have any extra money. She now has a job working in the cafeteria at a school to make ends meet. To be age 70 and having to go back to work … this is not part of the American dream.” — Dana H.
đź’¬ “I’m 59 and I don’t see myself ever being able to retire. My 401k match is maxed out but with market fluctuations I do not feel stable. Single income of 5-person family with young kids/grandkids. Just praying my brain holds out after 70 so I can keep going.” — Julia N.
đź’¬ “I moved here from Wisconsin. Had SS and dividends from stocks I inherited. Bought a house in Bisbee. Sold my house in Wisconsin. I intended to work or start a business when I ‘retired’ here. I had my eyes wide open the whole time. Last year I went through a bout of cancer. Surgery, chemo, radiation. Unfortunately now I’m looking for a job and I think I’m not having any luck because I’m too old (but extremely talented). That could also be the problem, I’m overqualified and old. Moral of the story: I tapped into my SS at 65 but I never expected to live on it.” — Annabelle H.
đź’¬ “I live alone, retired at 66.5 so receiving not quite full Social Security. Thankfully I have a small monthly pension in addition to my SS. Still I’m struggling to keep up. I own my home, a reverse mortgage helps as I don’t have house payments. However, maintenance on my house and having to keep insurance going is a huge struggle with homeowner insurance and automobile insurance continuing to rise every year. My Medicare premium increased by $11 this month. It never stops and now the threat of subsidies on medication coming to an end. I’m thankful I didn’t vote for Trump or I’d be regretting that.” — Sharon T.
Keep sending in your comments—I’ll post them to the website later today!
