What do most senior citizens agree on?

By Elle Hayes, Aged hippie, activist, master gardener, cannabis advocate. Answered Jun 19, 2019. Social Security alone will not support you in your golden years. Not if you want to eat and pay rent both... No one told me, as a ‘silent generation’ almost-a-boomer. I worked from age 16 to about age 50 not even considering it. After all, I’d invested in AT&T stock since 1965. Many times it was an expensive effort but I persisted in saving for retirement through automatic deductions for AT&T stock. Even after divestitures in the 1980s and splitting up of AT&T I invested in US West and then Qwest. Then we got a crook for a CEO. Joe Naccio told us we had to keep investing to keep our jobs and help the company through hard times. Meanwhile, he was selling his stock as fast as he could. It’s called insider trading. He got caught but he’s out and living in his mansion while thousands of retirees who actually believed him are poor. Lying, cheating bastard. He went to jail but my 3/4 of a million dollars in stock disappeared down the toilet. I ended up with USD60,000. So much for saving for retirement. Now I’m poor. Really poor. I pay 1/3 of my Social Security into monthly Medicare (no it’s not free), into a supplemental insurance policy that pays some of the uncovered expenses and will cover devastating illnesses, and into a membership for a “boutique” clinic that was the only local clinic accepting new patients that can deal with a couple of geriatric related issues I have. The few geriatric doctors in my area all have waiting lists. I was medically retired after a devastating auto accident when an 18-wheeler driver fell asleep at the wheel. I did not get a big payout. I wasn’t ready to retire and planned on working another 10+ years to save for retirement. That left 2/3 of my Social Security for rent, food, and other necessities like the balance of the medical co-pay which isn’t covered, specialist visit co-pay, glasses, hearing aids (no they aren’t covered) dental care (again, not covered) and the very occasional fun thing. And used books. I no longer have a car. I live with my youngest daughter's family but pay rent. I shop at Goodwill or Salvation Army. I sell things on eBay like handmade repurposed Navajo jewellery when I can (arthritis in my wrist and fingers). Which I learned from my husband's uncle. Hubby was a Warm Springs tribe member whose Auntie married a Navajo man. And still, after 60 years of being a productive member of society, live at the poverty level. Social Security alone will not allow you to live in anything more than basic comfort. If it weren’t for my adult children giving me free old tech and my son-in-law needing high-speed internet to work from home I’d be in a homeless shelter without any tech or, like when I was 60, sharing a house with college students. Never trust CEOs to be truthful. Social security alone will not support you in retirement. 14.7k views on December 4, 2019.