“We lived the humble life of two public servants who were just getting by,” said Linda. “We bought a house, we’ve been struggling with debt. I’m still in debt after his death and the bills keep coming and I have to keep working.”
Before retirement, she earned about $5,000 a month. Now, with her pension, she will have about $3,700 a month.
She is looking for part-time work and other opportunities that can keep her afloat. She wants something that will give her a “modicum of autonomy” when it comes to planning and said that if necessary, she will apply for Instacart and deliver groceries. She wants to make sure she is never a burden to her children, even in her old age.
She never sees herself being able to stop working completely; she said she would work until she physically could no longer do so.
Linda is not alone. Many retirees or potential retirees are unable to completely opt out. A little more than half are living on less than $30,000 a year, or expect to do so they work until the day they are no longer physically fit. It’s a situation that has become more pronounced in recent years as retirement becomes increasingly reserved for higher earners — and it can only get worse as pensions continue to wither and Social Security remains at risk.
“I totally see myself working for the next 20-some years — if I have that much left. Whatever I have left, I’m not going to enjoy retirement life in Florida,” Linda said.
A looming retirement crisis for many
Linda’s retirement goals are modest: she’s hoping to craft a winning recipe where she can survive on her teacher’s pension, a rolled-over government employee pension plan, the sale of her home and a few part-time jobs partial.
“I’m hoping that all those ingredients thrown together in one bowl will bake something I can live with. I’ll never be rich. I’ll never be carefree and carefree, but I’d like at some point, to the point where I’m free to travel and supplement my income with part-time work,” she said.
Linda is one of a dwindling number of retirees who have a pension, but it comes after a career spent in low-paid public service. A report by the Government Accountability Office found that older Americans with lower incomes have become less likely to carry retirement account balances; at the same time, fewer low-income households have a pension. This means that the burden of saving and planning for retirement is shifted to workers, rather than employers paying into a monthly retirement benefit; for lower-income workers who may not be able to save, this can be an even sharper challenge.
Linda said she thinks teachers in particular have gotten a bad rap over the past few decades. They are seen as people who just want to buck the system, but she said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Even though I had that position, I also had the low salary that went with it. And there are a lot of things you have to deal with in life financially,” she said. “And teaching, unfortunately, is not a career choice that guarantees financial stability.”
However, she said it was still the most exciting and rewarding work she has ever done.
She also wants the country to rethink conversations about Social Security and retirement benefits more broadly. Pensions have fallen into the hands of private equity, she said, potentially jeopardizing those guaranteed benefits. At the same time, politicians have targeted social security, suggesting a possible increase in the retirement age and not moving to fund its coffers.
“We have to get out of this frame of mind that suggests that Social Security that people have been paying into for decades is somehow a right. It’s a right,” she said.
But even so, Linda still feels lucky: She has two grown sons who will always take care of her; she’s even moving to get close to one. They make good money and she knows she has a safety net.
“There are so many in this country who are looking at retirement age, throwing up their hands and in total despair, wondering how they’re going to make it,” she said. “And those are the people I feel really terrible about.”
Are you struggling to retire or not experiencing the retirement you hoped for? Are you working in retirement? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.
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