The Elderly Worst Affected by the Foreclosure Crisis

Many of the elderly are having to retire early and are becoming dependent entirely upon Social Security but this too is not without difficulties. The earlier the retirees start drawing on their Social Security the less will be the amount. The policy had been introduced as an incentive to the people to go on working as long as they can. It is the working populace that provides the fund for the Social Security. But with the fear of the amount being reduced the elderly are in a fix since in the charged economic climate there are no job options.

Joan Campagna had wanted to wait till she was 70 before retiring. But today she is worried. Sixty four year old Joan lives in Fort Myers, Florida. She lost her job last June and had no other option but to start drawing from the Social Security benefits six years earlier than her planned schedule. Consequently she is now withdrawing $600 less than what she would otherwise have taken in if she had waited for her seventieth birthday. She bemoaned, “I want to be sure that I can support myself. That’s my biggest concern.”

Following the Great Depression the USA Social Security Administration was set up under Roosevelt. It has seen for the fiscal year that closed on last September 30th an increase of applications by 21%. The calculated expectation had been that the spike would have been by 15% said Stephen Goss the chief actuary of the agency.

According to the researches of Courtney Coile and Phillip B. Levine of Wellesley College many who are retiring early because of lack of opportunities are relatively less educated, earned less and most probably their savings and investments were also poorer. It meant they were more dependent on Social Security than others and more negatively impacted because of the reduced amount.

Coile noted that as a result “it leaves workers forced into retirement by a late-career layoff with lower income and a higher risk of poverty.” Already these effects are loudly visible in the crowding at food pantries, shelters for the homeless. Guy Kelly of Merrimack Valley Community Service Corps of Lawrence in Massachusetts said he has a waiting list comprising of those in their fifties to obtain of a humble stipend.  He said, “There are people clamoring for these positions. That basically means people either can’t find work or have given up and are desperate for anything right now.”