The Biden-Harris economy has been hard on Americans at every stage of life. From young people, maybe just out of college, looking for a job in their field, looking for affordable housing, maybe even thinking about buying their first home and starting families, to those who are financially established, have kids, and are just trying to stay afloat and put food on the table and gas in the car. Then, there are America’s senior citizens. The people who have spent their adult lives working and saving so they might retire and enjoy the fruits of their hard work. But in the economy Kamala Harris helped build, for many seniors, that leisure time is still out of reach.
Kamala Harris’s economic impact:
1 in 3 American seniors were forced to unretire and return to work because of the rampant inflation crisis. pic.twitter.com/xpzW0aEMaB
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) August 20, 2024
Take the case of Barry, a 74-year-old retiree in Coconut Creek, Florida, who was forced to take a paid internship at Career Source Broward (County), where he assists others, many his age, in finding employment just to make ends meet. But what might be the worst part of this story is that Barry has income from three different retirements, and it is still not enough. He said, “I have three different retirements, and it’s not enough. I can’t afford to eat. I can’t afford to pay my utilities. I’m barely making my condo payment.”
Sadly, Barry is not alone. This is the dilemma for many older Americans, who probably never thought they would be considering going back to work at this stage of life. A survey in June conducted by the Motley Fool showed that 44 percent of those surveyed said they were thinking about looking for work because their monthly Social Security check was not enough to keep pace with growing inflation.
Even though those receiving Social Security benefits got a cost-of-living adjustment in 2024 of 3.2 percent, the rate of inflation outpaced that in March, April, and May. For the average Social Security recipient, that monthly check replaces roughly 40 percent of their yearly pre-retirement earnings. But for around 27 percent of those receiving Social Security benefits, that is their sole source of income.
Just watched a depressing report detailing the amount of retired seniors (30% in some markets) having to return to work because inflation has exhausted their retirement. Struggling to figure out exactly who this administration is helping? #VoteRedToSaveAmerica
— Lance Manly (@mcribluv) August 28, 2024
Senior Citizens, people 75 years old and even older, are the fastest growing age group in the labor force. One in four seniors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are still working. Other cities that have roughly 30 percent of senior citizens still employed include Irving, Texas, Salt Lake City, Utah, Plano, Texas, and Irvine, California.
Even those coming behind Barry and his peers are feeling the pinch of Harris-Biden inflation. Nearly 71 percent of those considered “Gen X,” between 50 and 59 years old, say they are considering putting off retirement. Inflation and just generally not having enough money are the top reasons given to keep working.
Coming out of retirement is something that hits close to home. Like most people approaching retirement, my husband looked forward to the free time he had earned from working. He retired in September of 2020. Unfortunately, retirement didn’t last long, and he went back to work in November of 2021. The primary reason: inflation and a languishing stock market under Joe Biden hurting 401K earnings. He says:
“I am hoping that Donald Trump will be reelected and the economy will stabilize, bringing prices down and giving me the breathing room to consider retiring again.”
Americans 65 and over are the most consistent voting bloc. In 2024, Kamala Harris and the Democrats should be aware that they are going to vote for who will send them back to retirement.
1/3rd of all seniors are currently working, w/ a majority citing inflation as their reason for postponing retirement.
30% of working seniors have already had to “unretire.”
If people who have worked and saved their entire lives can’t afford the Harris economy, we’re all doomed.… https://t.co/y0rdorJ9aD
— Dan Boyle 🇺🇸 (@DTB_Posts) August 23, 2024
