As one now 65 who has been blessed with generally good health and a faithful God, and never used gov. health care or needed/used its welfare programs as a believer (but have received abundant free will charity over the years in working for free in the Lord's work), this article led me to do some research, and learn some things I never knew:
" she earns $915 a month through Social Security and through Supplemental Security Income," which to be precise, means she receives money she earned thru SS, while it turns out that SSI [not SSDI/SSD] is funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes), and is for those 65 or older, as well as for those of any age, including children, who are blind or who have disabilities (according to the SSA definition) and can demonstrate their financial need (insufficient or no income and less than $2,000 in assets). People do not need to have worked in the past to get SSI.
Then there is SSDI , which is funded through payroll taxes: "The main difference between Social Security Disability (SSD, or SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the fact that SSD is available to workers who have accumulated a sufficient number of work credits, while SSI disability benefits are available to low-income individuals who have either never worked or who haven't earned enough work credits to qualify for SSD." "The amount of the monthly benefit after the waiting period is over depends on your earnings record, much like the Social Security retirement benefit."
To meet the SSI income requirements, you must have less than $2,000 in assets (or $3,000 for a couple) and a very limited income. But, you cannot receive SSDI Benefits if you are working and making more than $1,170 per month in 2017 (or $1,920 if you're blind) There are exceptions to this rule. However , "there is no limit to how many cars you can own [under SSDI]."
However, what the Atlantic article also does not state is (research shows ) that the state of California provides a State Supplemental Payment (SSP) For most people, the maximum possible SSI benefit (including the SSP) is $910.72 for an individual and $1,532.14 for a couple. In California, people who qualify for SSI also get Medi-Cal benefits automatically.
Plus she would be eligible for Medicaid, ans , if having a Gross Income under $1,276 then she would be eligible for up to $194 in Food Stamps.
(if she works 50 Saturdays days a year at $50 a day then she makes 2,500 a year, and the Social Security earnings limit for people age 65 and younger increased from $15,720 in 2016 to $16,920 in 2017.)
In addition , Seniors are offered help for " special-needs housing and affordable rentals, as well as get assistance with your utility bills and more. You or your elderly loved one can get a low-income tax credit from HUD. Through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Database, you can find affordable housing or rental properties .."
And this lady was accepted into Section 8 housing, for which "you must be a low-income person (below 50% of the Area Median Income). The voucher will pay anything above 30% of your adjusted monthly income up to an established limit. For example, if you earn $2,000 per month and the home you want rents for $900 per month, you would pay $600 and the voucher would cover the difference of $300 as long as the Fair Market Rent for your area is equal to or greater than $900."
Thus while the Atlantic want to burden the taxpayers more, it would seem there is substantial help for a lady such as this. Yet if any class of persons should be prioritized it should be the elderly who worked and the disabled ( I have a friend who was left a paralytic after getting hit by a drunk, and has a hard time getting reliable help), beginning with veterans, versus subsidizing indolence and unmarried and fatherless families, and students who do not pay off loans, or forgiving their remaining debts if they work for the gov. or secular non-profits steadily for 10 years and make 120 required continuous payments during that time.
So marriage and the stability it creates and having kids and the stability it creates may actually be a good thing ( sarc ).
My mother in law lives with us. My wife and I provide ALL the meals to my folks who live nearby.
The old ways definitely work.
The Fast Food industry used to be exclusively teenagers and younger people.
Now it’s the opposite..................
Gonna need to be a lot of Golden Girl living situations. No way can a typical single senior afford $1000/month rent, like the one in the story who then got into Section 8 housing.
Posted earlier.
Same hippies and stoners...just at retirement age.
The national debt is the worst plague to seniors. The feds will never go broke- they just print more money. But the resultant inflation robs seniors silently.
I actually expect to and want to work until 70 and should be able to retire and afford to live well past 100, though I doubt I will live that long.
I will still work part-time even if it is volunteer work a few days a week because I think it’s important to have to be somewhere daily.
For all of my adult life, I have paid into the Social Security System, served 32 years in the military, worked for the same company for 28 years, and faithfully put 8% of my pay into 401ks, and now that I am 71 years old, I have two pensions, Social Security and my required minimum dispersements to live on.
I think of all of the years that my co-workers laughed at me for “wasting” my money on 401Ks because we would be taken care of by social security.
Now, I had to retire because it wasn’t worth it to keep on working when looking at taxes. Of course, Crumbles Pelosi believes that I need to have my 401k funds must be taken over by the government as I am not capable of handling my finances. Yeah, that is why I have a financial planner!
I planned ahead. I don’t feel a bit guilty!
That seems like a low amount for Social Security. My MIL is 95. She never earned more than $22,000 a year up until retirement. She gets about $1,400 a month.
Of course, she also saved her first communion money. And she lives with us.
But it seems that this person just didn’t work a whole lot at any kind of a wage.
BFL
I use to see a very elderly woman get on our bus with 2 large garbage bags of bottles. The transit is probably subsidized or even free for her, so she is using the bus system to collect bottles to help with her income.
THAT is NOT how I want my retirement to be. Scary.
Every day; the Indianapolis Star prints a chart of the dead; listing their name, city, age.
I find quite a few every day; at least 20 5 or so; that have lived into their 90’s.
I circle them in red; leave the paper for another to read; with the question:
“Will there be enough money for YOU to live this long?”
Bkmk
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