Retiring with Financial Security

Seniors should be able to retire with financial security, alleviating the financial worries younger family members might otherwise incur to care for their older loved ones.

The U.S. system of democratic capitalism means that our social safety nets rely on the Federal government and individual household income, including pensions, 401ks, and other forms of annuities, to provide subsistence income for seniors who have retired from full-time employment. 

As of March 2024, 22 percent of Americans aged 65 and older were working. This means that the vast majority are retired and may do episodic work but are no longer part of the formal workforce. In 2023, 14 percent of Americans in this age group were living in poverty, which is roughly 6 to 8 million Americans. Minority older adults are more likely to live in poverty, with 43.4% of Black and 44.1% of Hispanic adults aged 65 and older having incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

For seniors who can and who want to retire, there is Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that can go a long way in helping to ensure that financial and medical assistance is available. Unfortunately, at the same time that their incomes are “fixed,” there are issues beyond the control of seniors that can contribute to their financial insecurity, including climate change (i.e., some homeowner’s insurance companies are abandoning entire states due to massive fluctuations in inclement weather), pandemics (COVID -19 is considered just a precursor to more global health challenges), and domestic and global economic downturns. 

The Federal government must work harder to ensure that seniors, who have given the most productive years of their lives to moving this country forward, are given what is needed to live out the balance of their lives in relative comfort.