- Linda, a retired teacher from Ohio, must continue working to make ends meet.
- She and her husband are both civil servants and have lived a simple life, but they still need to work.
- Many retirees face similar hardships: lower incomes, reduced pensions and cuts to Social Security.
Linda, 64, has been working for the past 31 years, but that doesn't mean her work is over.
The former Ohio high school teacher, whose last name is known to Business Insider but who is withholding it due to privacy and professional concerns, said her retirement life hasn't been what she expected — both she and her late husband were public servants. So while she doesn't have a high-paying job, she does have a pension and will receive a monthly stipend after she retires, but it hasn't been as useful as she would have hoped.
“We were two civil servants living a modest life, trying to make ends meet,” Linda said. “We bought a house, we got into debt. After my husband passed away, I was still in debt, the bills kept coming in and I had to keep working.”
Before she left, she was making about $5,000 a month, and now, including her pension, she makes about $3,700 a month, according to a BI document review.
She is looking for part-time work or other opportunities that will allow her to sustain a living, and she wants a job that gives her “some autonomy” when it comes to her schedule. And she, if necessary, She plans to apply for Instacart to deliver groceries so she won't be a burden to her children as she gets older.
She doesn't expect to be able to quit work completely, and said she plans to keep working until she is no longer physically able to.
Linda isn't alone. Many retirees and those planning to retire can't afford to give up completely. According to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, more than half of respondents age 65 and older will be living on an income of less than $30,000 in 2022, putting many older Americans in a difficult financial situation. Working until the day you can no longer physically work. This situation has become more pronounced in recent years, as retirement benefits have become more and more available to higher-income earners. And with pensions continuing to fall and Social Security in jeopardy, the situation may get even worse.
“I plan to work for the next 20 years or so, if that's how long I have left,” she said. “No matter how many years I have left, I don't plan on enjoying retirement in Florida.”
The looming retirement crisis for many
Linda's retirement goals are modest: She hopes to combine her teacher's pension, a rollover from the civil service retirement plan, the sale of her home, and a part-time job to create a recipe for success.
“I hope I can put all the ingredients in a bowl and make something that I can live off of. I'll never be rich, I'll never be free of worries and anxieties, but I would like to get to a point one day where I can travel freely and supplement my income with part-time work,” she said.
Linda is part of a dwindling number of retired people who are pensioners but who have worked in low-paid public service jobs. A Government Accountability Office report last year found that low-income older Americans are less likely to have balances in their retirement accounts, while at the same time fewer low-income families are receiving pensions. That means the responsibility for saving and planning for retirement has shifted to the workers, rather than the employers who pay the monthly pension benefits. For low-income workers who may not have the means to save, this can be an even more serious challenge.
Linda said she thinks teachers in particular have had a bad rap over the past few decades, and the idea that teachers just want to squeeze the system couldn't be further from the truth, she said.
“Even though I had the job, the pay was low. There are a lot of things in life that you have to deal with financially,” she said, “and unfortunately, teaching is not a profession that guarantees financial security.”
Still, she said it was the most exciting and rewarding job she's ever done.
She also wants to see a broader rethink of the debate over Social Security and retirement benefits, which she said could fall into the hands of private equity, jeopardizing guaranteed benefits. At the same time, politicians are taking aim at Social Security, proposing to raise the retirement age but not doing anything to fund it.
“We need to move away from the mindset that suggests Social Security is some kind of right because people have been paying into it for decades. It is a right,” she said.
But Linda still feels lucky: She has two grown sons who are always looking out for her, and she plans to move closer to one of them. Both have high incomes, so Linda knows she has a safety net.
“There are so many people in this country who are approaching retirement age and they're just throwing their hands up in despair and wondering how they're going to survive,” she said. “I really feel sorry for those people.”
Are you struggling to retire or not being able to live the retirement life you hoped for? Are you still working after retirement? Contact this reporter. inquiry.
