Money Listens

A recent article in USA Today discussed how seniors were getting hammered by rising prices.  It’s not your imagination; prices have been going up.  For the three months ending May 31, the annualized inflation rate for food was 6%, and for energy, inflation exceeded 28%.  Food and gasoline are the worst, but prices in general rose at a 4.9.% rate.

When you’re retired and living mainly on Social Security, it’s especially tough.  An AARP survey found that 59% of seniors have trouble paying for food, gasoline, and medical care.  If you’re like me you find that hard to believe. You hear mostly about retirees playing golf, going on cruises, and generally enjoying the good life.  You see them walking in the malls and eating at Olive Garden.  41% can afford to do that.  The 56% who can’t will stay at home to save the gas for doctors’ visits.  Are you and/or your parents going to be in the “having trouble paying for” group?

It sure looks that way.  The median balance in 401(k)s and IRAs for those approaching retirement age is $60,000.  That’s not going to go very far.  Seniors don’t just need help crossing the street.  They need help preparing for the future.  This is especially critical for women. Women live longer and are more often alone in old age, and they are more likely to be adversely affected by rising prices.  Forty percent of elderly women  receive more than 90% of their income from Social Security.

There is probably someone in your life that could use help crossing into retirement.

This entry (Permalink) was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 12:24 am and is filed under Retirement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.