Surviving on $1,800 a month in Social Security, she died looking for a place to live [View all]

[Xolodno]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/surviving-1-800-month-social-100746403.html

When I first met her, Joanne Marie Erickson had not left her apartment in weeks and she was just days away from being evicted from her home of 23 years. She sat on a tattered couch, while her cat Muriel wandered around her cluttered living room. She was alone, overwhelmed. “I think I’m falling apart,” she said.

I had hoped, naively it turns out, that my reporting would be enough to help her get the assistance she needed and find stable housing. But long waitlists, leads that went nowhere and promises of help that went unfilled continually frustrated her efforts.

She was evicted in February and died in May, while homeless, just days short of her 71st birthday. Erickson’s tragic end — homeless despite a lifetime spent caring for others — illustrates the urgent and complex challenge of providing support for aging Americans, many of whom will outlive their savings. For the millions relying solely on Social Security, a modest benefit at best, survival in high-cost cities like Los Angeles can be untenable. Layer on the inevitable decline of the body and, for some, the mind, and the prospect for many older Americans grows even grimmer.

For the love of God people, put money aside for retirement and forget about it. Social Security is not enough and we got sicko's in Congress who want to reduce it. I was on a 401k meeting held by our administrator, he spent a lot of time telling everyone how to use one of their calculators to "catch up" for retirement. That same calculator told me I was so far ahead, I had nothing to worry about. And that was just the 401k, not my assets, pension, etc. Plus I still freak out if I have enough.