What's A Senior To Do?

$90.17 - that is how much it cost me to fill up with gasoline last week. And I hadn't made any long trips. And there appears to be no help in sight as prices hit the $4.00 mark and keep rising. But I guess it is better than a few decades ago when you could only buy on even or odd days and then you had to wait, sometimes for hours, to buy gas. Then there is my oil bill. My last four deliveries have cost us a total of $2,175! And we seldom have the heat set higher than 68 degrees - usually 58 degrees at night. And this doesn't include the cost of our gas stove on our porch. That bill is still to come. The last year that I was employed my similar oil deliveries cost me $728. Now that is an increase of $1,447 or 303% in the nine years since I retired. Now the major challenge is, that with the exception of some small social security increases that basically covered increases in medicare costs, I've received no increase in my retirement income. Social security has been frozen now for several years and my pension will probably never have a cost of living increase. Now if that isn't enough of a challenge, look at what is happening to retirees with their medical bills. After my first year of retirement, our medical bills, including the cost of insurance, for the year were $6,701. Last year they had jumped to $17,735, an increase of 265%. Our taxes have also increased, by 141%. Now I am not complaining or hurting. We prepared for retirement by living on a very strict budget all of our lives. I have written records which show how we've spent our money each month since we were married. We sacrificed many things so that Dianne could stay home and be a full-time mother to our boys. And that was one of the best decisions we ever made. We have seldom taken vacations, except for business trips, and we have seldom gone out to eat in expensive restaurants. We controlled our expenditures over the years so that we were able to put money aside for these days. And part of that planning was annually putting away the maximum contribution to my pension. And I do have a good pension, even though it will never be increased. And I thank God daily for what He has provided for us. With the loss of such defined benefit pension plans, my sons and future generations will have a much more difficult time retiring. And that is sad. However, the purpose of this blog isn't really to share my financial situations, but to bring attention to the problems facing seniors today who are retired. With the increase in living costs and without any promise of even cost of living raises, a growing number of seniors are really hurting. Increasingly they find that they can't pay for their medicine, or their taxes, or even heat their homes. We know such people. Many are too old and frail to go back to work. And I feel so bad for them. When I retired from teaching, you could find secure investments that would double their value in 14 years. Today it will take about 70 years - far beyond the lifetime of any retired senior. Now most families today are also hurting with these increasing costs. And unfortunately many are tied down to expensive homes, cars, and life styles. Too many coveted having immediately what it took their parents many years to afford. Now many of them are deep in debt and on the verge of losing many of these things. Hopefully many of these will learn to survive by downsizing and living on written budgets. It may also be necessary for many to find additional jobs. These are opportunities not always possible for seniors. But as I view these serious situations for all, it irritates me when the well-off don't comprehend the problems of seniors. I get upset by the teachers of Manheim Twp. whose union has refused to take a pay freeze or even a reduction of their 4% salary increases. Many seniors will be forced to pay higher taxes to cover the raises of these privileged teachers. Then there are the college presidents who are getting raises when their employees are asked to take pay freezes and tuition must be raised. It goes up to the state where legislators refuse to cut staffs or take pay freezes. And it goes the whole way to Washington where I don't think anybody is concerned about anything but protecting their jobs and perks and following party lines. Is there any hope that anybody in political office will ever take living on a budget seriously? I doubt it. But it is a lesson that our seniors are being forced to learn, just to survive.