Too poor to retire and too young to die - sad story about elderly working seasonal jobs

[Liberal_in_LA]

At the wise age of 79, Dolores Westfall knows food shopping on an empty stomach is a fool’s errand. On her way to the grocery store last May, she pulled into the Town & Country Family Restaurant to take the edge off her appetite.

After much consideration, she ordered the prime rib special and an iced tea — expensive at $21.36, but the leftovers, wrapped carefully to go, would provide two more lunches.

_____

Westfall — 5 feet 1 tall, with a graceful dancer’s body she honed as a tap-dancing teenager — is as stubborn as she is high-spirited. But she finds herself these days in a precarious place: Her savings long gone, and having never done much long-term financial planning, Westfall left her home in California to live in an aging RV she calls Big Foot, driving from one temporary job to the next.

She endures what is for many aging Americans an unforgiving economy. Nearly one-third of U.S. heads of households ages 55 and older have no pension or retirement savings and a median annual income of about $19,000.

-----

Her seven-year journey has taken Westfall to 33 states and counting. She’s worked as a cavern tour guide, resort receptionist, crowd control officer, hustling clerk at an Amazon warehouse. Others like her have cleaned toilets, picked beets, plucked chickens.

Her monthly income consists of $1,200 in Social Security and a $190 pension, plus pay from her seasonal jobs. She owes $50,000 on her credit cards. There’s also a $268 monthly loan payment for her aging rig.



http://graphics.latimes.com/retirement-nomads/#nt=notification

[daleanime]

1. ......

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. I hope someone sets up a gofundme for this woman

[daleanime]

12. I hope we pass some substantial....

Social Security reform. She shouldn't have to live like that after a life time of work.

[KamaAina]

2. If only Steinbeck had lived to see this.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Yep.

[WinkyDink]

22. If only people still read Steinbeck.

[KamaAina]

24. A-yup.

[Downwinder]

3. The Golden Years!!!

[Warpy]

9. My most prized possession is something I inherited from my mother

It's a daisy fridge magnet with a badly embroidered "SCREW THE GOLDEN YEARS" in it.

The story in the OP is going to be repeated millions of times as Boomers are forced to join her, only most of us will be living in our cars or in shells on small pickup trucks instead of in RVs, moving to a rotation of camp sites in the same town because we can't afford to travel anywhere else, working jobs nobody wants like gas kiosks after midnight.

This country has become pure hell for too many of its citizens. The best advice I can give kids in their 20s is don't get old.

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. sadly, it's the 50K in credit card debt that is really doing her in.

There is no way she can afford to get out of that debt.

[Warpy]

64. Yeah, I know, it's pay the minimum every month until her body gives out

and then they'll sue and take what's left of the RV while she gets put into a nursing home on Medicaid.

Horrible.

[2naSalit]

6. Sounds like

my life sans the mobility.

[historylovr]

7. K & R

[Cleita]

8. My husband and I used to do that but mostly we worked at

USFS campgrounds as campground hosts. We used to work with people like Dolores who heavily relied on those jobs to survive because they had no home other than their rigs and a Social Security income that was insufficient to make ends meet. I often wondered what happened to them when they no longer could drive or their rigs became too broken down to repair or became too unhealthy to do what is often back breaking work with long hours.

[steve2470]

10. this story really makes me sad, especially for Ms. Westfall

for you, Ms. Westfall

[onethatcares]

11. ever get that stinking feeling

that this stock market up and down cwap is only going on to take the last income seniors may have depended on?

It's no wonder the richie riches don't like unions or minimum wages or benefits.

[truedelphi]

26. A full one point two trillions of dollars was lost in terms of the market

Late last year. i think a substantial amount of this was due to the drop in oil prices.

My family is feeling the pinch, as although we don't have any investments, the people who call us up for our service are mostly among the retirement-investment class. With their dividends way down, they' re pinching pennies. And that translates into harder times for everyone.

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. There are a lot of us out here

In the same boat. We all got wiped out in the 2 stock market crashes and the recession. All our savings got wiped out. And most of us lost our jobs a few years before time to retire so we had to live on our retirement savings.

We are learning to get by.

[truedelphi]

29. Yes so many of us did get wiped out with the last

Two "down times" in the economy.

Which is why I would shoot myself before ever ever voting for anyone who is tied into the Corporatist agenda!

[Thinkingabout]

30. I work with those same type of people. Unfortunately

There are younger people working for minimum wages and does not have SS or pension where I work but they still work. Cooking for one sometimes cost more than a family per person.

[SheilaT]

14. Am I the only one who is horrified that if she's on such a limited income

she spends $21.36 on a total of three meals?

For that amount of money she could get ten meals cooked from scratch, at least, depending on what she fixes. Apparently she not only didn't do long term planning when she was young, but she's not very good at even short term financial planning at this time.

[hobbit709]

15. What can you do if you have no cooking or storage facilities.

[Snobblevitch]

16. Do you think her motorhome came without

a kitchen or a refrigerator?

[hobbit709]

18. could be broken.

[Yo_Mama]

21. A cooler would allow her to do better. Really.

She still can't handle money, poor thing.

[Snobblevitch]

37. Anything is possible.

[SheilaT]

23. To keep beef for the next two lunches means she does have storage facilities.

And there are vastly cheaper ways to eat out than spending that amount of money. Plus, she's shown watching TV so she has electricity, which means she could at least run a microwave.

It is truly scary how many people are like her: didn't save very much, didn't think very far ahead, and was also caught by a string of bad luck such as the space charge in her mobile home community being raised, and the collapse of the economy. It also looks like she just walked away from her mobile home. She's have been better off selling it at a rock-bottom price.

What bothers me so much about this specific story is that it feels like she's still not doing any reasonable planning. She must spend a fortune on gas, moving around the country like that, although with the recent drop in gas prices she's better off. The huge credit card debt she has indicates she's been using them pretty steadily. If her story were totally unique it would be one thing. But aside from the details, this sort of thing is entirely too common.

[dembotoz]

48. No my best friend has no fridge ....long story

She travels for work a lot. So she is not home a lot
But when home she does p!an meals where she can use leftovers for a couple days


Trust me I see her do it all the time

[notadmblnd]

52. Wow. You're just full of compassion for your fellow man, aren't you?

[Liberal_in_LA]

51. picture of her kitchen

http://www.trbimg.com/img-564f9c89/turbine/la-na-retirement-nomads-20151120-pictures-016/800

[Yo_Mama]

20. No, you are not. It was a strange moment for me. n/t

[catnhatnh]

47. Yeah

But then I thought on it....This is a person who once had money and now doesn't, not one of us who never had the ease to ignore costs. She makes several mistakes a person raised poor would not but she is trying....

[leftyladyfrommo]

49. She just has an RV and it probably isn't very big.

It's hard to cook for one person. Cooking from scratch is expensive because you have to buy more than you need. And you end up eating the same thing for several days at a time. She probably just has a very small refrigerator and a very small stove and very limited work space.

I find myself eating out and making several meals from whatever I buy. It's cheaper than buying all the ingredients to prepare food.

I also try to buy 1 day old stuff because it's marked down 50%. Fresh fruits and veggies are really expensive so I don't buy them very much.

[SheilaT]

56. I live alone. I cook for one person. I know how tricky it can be.

I do have a full kitchen, which means I have a freezer, so that is an enormous savings.

Some meals are cheaper to buy already prepared. A lot are not.

But still, $21 for only three meals when she's living that close to the bone just boggles my mind.

And veggies aren't necessarily all that expensive, although again her limited kitchen facilities/storage is a huge problem. But as someone else has already pointed out, a simple cooler would be a huge help.

I see a cascading series of poor choices. It would be nice if a fund were started for her, but I wonder just how well she'd manage any windfall.

[shanti]

67. tbh...

breaking that 21.00 into three meals would be about the same as if she bought 3 burger meals at a fast food. $7 per meal (for fast food) sounds about average.

It's appalling that she's still working at 79 though

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. She was hungry at that moment. bought based on her appetite. we've all done it before.

stretching it to cover three meals was good planning.

[Fairgo]

53. shame on you

Seriously, that's what you took from the story?

[ohnoyoudidnt]

55. I did think that at first.

But that doesn't mean that is the kind of thing she does all the time. I can understand her occasionally wanting to treat herself to a good meal. If she owns the RV, $1,390 a month (SS and her pension) shouldn't be too difficult to live on. The $50K in credit card debt could be a problem, but she could just tell the CC companies to F off. I think SS is protected from garnishment and maybe her pension is too.

[SheilaT]

57. Actually, the best thing she could probably do is to declare bankruptcy.

I'd certainly encourage her to do that.

[shanti]

68. absolutely

at 79, what does she have to lose? i wonder what she's waiting for...

[Snobblevitch]

17. The key phrase in the OP is

"having never done much long-term financial planning..."

[truedelphi]

31. That may well be the key phrase,

but here are two items to consider:

One) Even among women of a wealthier class, who have the extra money each two weeks to put aside, they find out the hard way that if you live to be eighty five, there is a good chance you will live to be 95! And their money will not be there for them by then. (Women are now living to be 99-101 or more!)

Two) Financial planning is something that is available to only the well to do.

[Snobblevitch]

38. Financial planning NOT only available to only the well to do.

I worked at a job with a 401k plan and many of those enrolled did not make a lot of money. The financial planner came to our office with some frequency. (The employer did not contribute.) It was a small company. Sure, if your job is frying burgers at McDonald's you aren't likely to have a financial planner. But my family is not well to do and we have retirement accounts.

[truedelphi]

40. You are well to do.

I didn't mean by a long stretch the super rich.

I meant those who have a steady job, a roof over their heads, a lack of serious illness in the family and what not.

I meant those who have security.

Many people do not have that.

And even among those who do have that, when an economic collapse hits, they find out that their funds were invested in exactly the wrong things.

[Snobblevitch]

42. Having a steady job and a roof over your head does not make you well to do.

[truedelphi]

43. Maybe then it is a matter of perspective - try being without a job, or without a

Roof over your head for a few years, and then get back to me.

[Snobblevitch]

44. Of course there are people who are jobless and homeless.

That still does not make all people with a job and a roof over there heads "well to do." That's just hyperbole.

[Retrograde]

41. and the less you have the more important it is to plan

I've been where you were, Snobblevitch: in these parts employer-funded pension plans are the exception, so Mr. Retrograde and I knew we'd have to ultimately provide them for ourselves. We had budgets, took advantage of all that was available, like IRAs and 401(k)s and employee stock purchase plans, and made a point of saving 10% of our takehome when possible. Yeah, we got lucky with a few investments, but when the last tech bust happened and we both lost our jobs we were able to still live comfortably.

I do think, though, that it is getting harder: student loans are ginormous compared to what we had, housing costs here are out of sight, and employers are not as generous as they used to be (does anyone still do profit sharing?).

[Solly Mack]

19. K&R

[PasadenaTrudy]

25. To quote Pete Townshend

"Hope I die before I get old.."

[smirkymonkey]

34. Exactly what I'm thinking.

In fact, it's my retirement plan thanks to this ridiculous student loan that makes it impossible for me to save for retirement. I have a tiny bit put away, but I will never be able to retire and I am not feeling like I will even be employed until retirement age anyway. My company is always laying people off even thought they are one of the largest companies in the world. The older you are, the harder it is to find a new job. It sucks.

[guillaumeb]

27. Another greedy senior traveling the country on permanent vacation,

while eating prime rib.

But seriously, this is shameful. Too bad Westfall cannot give inspiring speeches and make big money.

And this is the real GOP plan for the US. People work until they die while the capitalists get richer.

[randys1]

28. She is greedy, because the Koch bros are on record saying they dont have enough yet,

what is wrong with this greedy Woman?



http://www.gregpalast.com/i-want-my-fair-share-and-thats-all-of-it-the-kochs-the-xl-pipeline/

"I want my fair share – and that's all of it."

How people dont react to this, I just dont understand.

[truedelphi]

32. What I have found out about most people is this

One easy (but painful) lesson: Another person's reality is not considered to be a reality until it happens to them.

[raccoon]

60. Ought to put this on a poster and bumper sticker. nt

[Matariki]

33. Add to this too old to keep or get employment

because it's too expensive for employers to have older workers on their insurance policies.

we are so screwed

[smirkymonkey]

35. Yep, it's so depressing!

[JEB]

36. I will work until I die.

Just the way it is for me.

[leftyladyfrommo]

46. The trouble with that is that most people's health

Goes and they can't work until they die. Arthritis, disbetes, heart problems. All common things for people getting older. Plus your mind just isn't as sharp.

[awoke_in_2003]

63. Some of us

may not wait for death to come knocking.

[Johnny2X2X]

39. Could be you

I think that people don't know how easily this women could be them. You can save and invest adequately, but if there is a crash at the wrong time you can lose it all. A sickness, a fire, an injury, getting scammed, there's a lot of chance things that can happen to you that can put you behind, if a couple hit at once you can be in the same situation.

I see way too many elderly working at fast food places just to get by. We are the richest country in human history and we can't provide for the elderly. Shameful.

[KG]

45. it's been a bi-partisan effort.

[Tab]

54. My mother is considering taking a job, even at Walmart.

She's in her early 80s.

Obviously I'm younger, but the scenario scares me. I'm not sure I want to get old.

[flamingdem]

59. Painful. Really hate seeing anyone her age having to struggle

I worry about the boomers retiring, things will get more expensive, doom awaits if we don't invent another way.

[FLPanhandle]

61. I have my exit strategy

I'll be retiring onto my sailboat, when I'm too old or broke to sail anymore, then I'm going to set the sails and step off the stern.

[Liberal_in_LA]

62. Omg

[madville]

65. Spend time around a

Nursing home, elderly rehabilitation, or hospice facility. Residents and patients regularly beg the staff and their loved ones to kill them and not for financial reasons, from my experiences it was chronic pain, cognitive impairment, loneliness, and loss of mobility. There are worse things than dying, voluntary assisted suicide should be legal and available everywhere in this country.

The idea of going out on ones' own terms doesn't sound as crazy the older one gets.

[PasadenaTrudy]

66. +1

Agree 100%. We should all be able to make that decision. Wasting away does not appeal to me either.

[mountain grammy]

69. Doesn't sound crazy to me.

[mountain grammy]

70. It's hard to read these stories..

and it's just as hard to read some of the comments.

Like many of us, I've often lived on the edge, as a child and and an adult. I've been lucky to end up fairly comfortable, but will never forget what it's like to be one flat tire from disaster. Let's be kind to each other.

[SheilaT]

71. I lived on the edge growing up

and at the beginning of my adult life. Which is why I've saved and planned very carefully. And why I am so often astonished that so many do nothing of the kind.

[CurtEastPoint]

72. I am in touch with the author of this story and have her

email address and also her physical mail address if anyone is inclined to offer encouragement and/or financial assistance.