How do senior citizens deal with ends meet during the recession(2011)?

Hope this helps. I retired after working for the Federal Government for 4 decades. I was lucky when I retired and have a good life. When my parents worked, everybody made enough money to have a house, eat OK and make ends met even if they were not rich. then in my generation born in the 1940's and 1950's (Baby Boomers) we started out Great! we could buy new cars and houses and life was good. But it got worse over the years.

It was a slow erosion of benefits. They started to take a little away each few years.

1. Businesses started to cut work hours. If they did not work 40 hours a week then the business did not have to pay them benefits and kept the money for themselves.

2. People were told to put money into a 401K accounts and it would be a great retirement but 401K's were paid in the stock market so when prices went down in the stock market the retirement funds went down too. For example, If you have $200,000 in your retirement account and the market collapsed so your account was not worth $100,000 then you knew it would not be enough for you to live all your life retired so you had to keep working.

3. Companies went bankrupt. People were laid off. Can't pay for the house so the bank takes their house back. Maybe you still have a job and paying for your house but you can't sell it because lots of the neighbors lost their houses and they are all empty so nobody will buy yours either and it isn't worth much anymore.

4. Health care companies got greedy. costs went very high. Years ago, people just paid the doctor or hospital and didn't need insurance. Costs are too high now. Easy $200,000 just for one hospital visit now or more.

5. State governments make promises to get votes and can't pay for promises. Like California where I lived so long. They are broke but still pay for free college. The governor, Jerry Brown, in California just signed a law that Mexicans coming illegally into the state can go to free college! who is going to pay? The state can't afford it so they just cut the poor state workers benefits and retirement. people suffer. Why would the state make the Americans work to pay for illegal Mexicans to have free school! crazy things like that are going on and no one changes it.

6. Social Security is still there and it has not changed too much. Now people get about $1200 a month but that isn't much to live on If you don't get some other money from a company retirement or 401K or savings. t will be worse in the future. Bad planning so money coming in from workers doesn't cover the payments to the retired.

You can see that it is a very big problem that you are giving a speech on and it was not caused by any one thing. It was not sudden. It was very slow and took decades. that's why most of us didn't see it coming and didn't plan differently. We trusted the system!

It was all either BAD PLANNING OR GREED. Baby Boomers had too much trust. We counted on companies and governments and not ourselves. We trusted 401K's and other retirement accounts and shouldn't have. We should have questioned the politicians and demanded they stop spending so much. We should have saved the money into our own bank accounts so no one can take it from us. We should have been careful to work for big companies and watch what they did to us or work for ourselves. Now the recession hits just as we get old enough to retire and we are in trouble. Many of us can't live and must work when we are too old and it is a shame.

My advice to the young? Trust yourself. Save some money from everything you get and buy gold with it. Even just a little each year. Save it in a very good place or bank security box and tell no body! Buy a small house in a very good neighborhood and pay it off as fast as possible so the bank can' t ever take it. And when you are old like me you will be comfortable and can travel and sleep all you want!

I am a senior citizen and I only wish I could get a job. That is very unlikely if you are past 60 with no managerial or executive experience. Seniors dont normally have to pay for child care. Yes, some seniors have investment accounts like 401Ks, CDs and IRAs but most dont who are of a certain age. I never had any of those when I worked. They only came into being in the 1980s.

You are asking why they have to work? The average senior lives on Social Security of $1200 a month. That is why. Sure there are well-off seniors who also work by choice.

What benefits are you referring to? I am one of those on Social Security but it is not enough to pay for living expenses. There is no "state" pension unless you have a defined pension plan from a private company you worked for, and most people dont have that unless they are government employees.

Social Security is it. There are no government programs for elderly.