Virgina Hambrick used her last $40 to visit urgent care. She hoped to avoid spending the money, but her bronchitis symptoms were getting worse and she needed to see a doctor.
She felt healthier a week later, but limited health insurance means the urgent care co-pay took all the cash she had left. Hambrick’s spending money is gone, her bank account is overdrawn, and she’s “sitting around wishing it was two weeks from now” when she can cash her next Social Security check.
“I don’t even have $1 in my wallet,” she told Business Insider.
The 66-year-old lives in a rural area about 50 miles outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband. They both live off her $1,625 monthly Social Security income, according to documents reviewed by BI. Hambrick retired several years ago, and her husband hasn’t had an income recently because he was caring for sick relatives. He’s also 57 and not old enough to receive Social Security, which typically kicks in at 62.
The couple’s home is miles from the nearest grocery store, and it’s difficult to go places because Hambrick can’t afford a car. As bills keep piling up, Hambrick is worried she will have to go back to work — something that seems impossible without transportation.
Millions of Americans are in a similar position. Like ALICEs — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed — Hambrick doesn’t qualify for most forms of government assistance, despite struggling to afford basic necessities.
As the country faces a retirement crisis, older adults like Hambrick are especially vulnerable to financial challenges. Fifty-two percent of boomers have $250,000 or less in retirement assets, per an April report from the Retirement Income Institute, the retirement-focused research arm of the Alliance for Lifetime Income. The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey found that more than half of Americans over 65 have an annual income of $30,000 or less.
And, while over half of older adult households rely on Social Security, the fund could run out by 2030.
Hambrick’s family was “extremely comfortable” with money throughout her childhood, but her daily expenses as an adult are a constant struggle. She’s losing hope her financial situation will ever change.
“I just keep putting one foot in front of the other,” she said. “I don’t want to be living under a bridge.”
Hambrick “never imagined” she would be struggling financially
For Hambrick, hundreds of dollars a month in rent, utility, internet, and cellphone bills are difficult to afford on her Social Security income. She and her husband live in a house that has “16 different health code violations — and those are just the ones I’ve seen,” she said, adding that they will likely have to move soon.
She had a retirement account from her former manufacturing job at Boeing. But, as money began to grow tight, she decided to withdraw her Boeing retirement funds to pay bills and unexpected expenses. She has worked in various jobs throughout her career, and left her most recent role in the hotel industry a couple of years ago.
The couple now receives about $100 a month in SNAP food benefits. It helps them afford groceries, but they have to spend another $100 every month on things SNAP doesn’t cover, like toilet paper, dish soap, and laundry detergent.
Hambrick’s refrigerator died in early June, causing nearly $300 worth of food to spoil. She doesn’t have the money to replace it, so she and her husband “eat a lot of ramen noodles.”
Although she qualifies for some Medicare benefits, Hambrick said her income is considered too high for Medicaid, meaning she doesn’t have health insurance for emergency or long-term care. She avoids going to the doctor, but medicine still costs about $150 a month out-of-pocket. There’s also a lot of confusing paperwork, she said.
Hambrick thinks she will have to return to work soon. She said she has multiple graduate degrees, is a former community college professor, and has decades of experience in the manufacturing and customer service industries. Hambrick “doesn’t care” what she does next because it’s difficult to get hired as an older adult.
However, she can’t afford the car payment or gas to drive anywhere for an interview or regular shift. And, even if she could get hired, Hambrick said she can’t have a role that requires her to stand all day or lift heavy items because of her health.
“If somebody wants to work around my limitations, then they would have a totally dedicated employee,” Hambrick said.
At this point in her life, she feels like she should be traveling to new places and having fun with her husband in retirement. She “never imagined” she would get to this point, she said.
“I spend my money on the same thing that everybody else spends their money on,” Hambrick said. “The only problem is my money is probably half of what everybody else has.”
Are you an older adult living paycheck to paycheck or on Social Security? Are you open to sharing how you spend your money? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.
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