More and More Seniors Are Among America's Homeless

There but for the grace of God go I...whatever the reason it just breaks my heart that the older and the youngest in America go without a home and food. We know what we have paid in over our lives in taxes to help the needy but it seems that we still struggle with basic human decency. I do not see this as a failure of Americans but of those we entrust in our government to do the right things.
 

Blessed said:
There but for the grace of God go I...whatever the reason it just breaks my heart that the older and the youngest in America go without a home and food. We know what we have paid in over our lives in taxes to help the needy but it seems that we still struggle with basic human decency. I do not see this as a failure of Americans but of those we entrust in our government to do the right things.
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"There but for the grace of God go I." I have always said this Blessed. People who look down their noses on the homeless better be careful. They may be among them one day. Just sayin.....
 
Went to my neighborhood park Saturday. As I was leaving I saw a woman in her seventies or beyond. She was immaculately coiffed, like she just came from a salon. She was dressed well. She seemed to have only one shoe................clothes upon clothes were in a shopping cart. Homeless!
 
Medical emergencies can bankrupt someone quickly and, once down, its difficult to recover. Every advanced nation in the world has some form of universal healthcare but not the U.S. Why??? We spend trillions trying to make a better life for people in other countries because it creates profitable businesses for a favored few. Universal healthcare here would kill a few businesses that are profitable for a few but benefit the entire nation.

Hillary Clinton proposed an excellent health care plan for the country in 1993 but the old white guys in Congress would have none of it. Had it been adopted, the homeless and indigent elderly population would certainly have been drastically reduced today but there would have been fewer millionaires.

https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/health-reform-initiative
 
helenbacque said:
Every advanced nation in the world has some form of universal healthcare but not the U.S. Why???
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Health Care is the 3rd largest "Industry" in the U.S.....accounting for over 17% of the nations GDP. We used to have a Medical Profession, but over the past few decades it has become the HC Industry. The Primary purpose of Any Industry is to make money.

https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-healthcare-industry-statistics/

https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/healthcare-industry/

Coincidently, the Health Care Industry is one of the biggest political campaign donors.

Do some research on this site, and you will quickly find out just who really runs this country.

https://www.opensecrets.org/
 
With the structure of our U.S. economy, the rich get richer and the lower and middle classes get poorer.

Somebody recently paid $195 million for an Andy Warhol painting of Marilyn Monroe. That person evidently had 100s of millions of spare cash laying around that they could use to purchase a wall decoration. We have people paying over a million dollars for a few minute ride into outer space while others get their dinners from trash cans and sleep on the street. People working full time for minimum wage in some cities can't afford rent on a small apartment and have no choice but to live in their cars.

We're living through something out of a dystopian novel. It's no wonder people are flipping out and doing crazy !@#$%. People have lost hope and they're losing it.
 
Huzz and I are acquainted with a man here in town, who due to his wife being on dialysis (and she being unable to work at all due to her health), the man is working at a job where he does get health ins. (which is rare around here) and also a minimum wage job to the tune of about 70-80 hrs./week to just barely keep a roof over their heads in addition to her getting the dialysis.

Huzz's brother has terminal cancer and not feeling too bad yet but since he knows his time is short, would love to retire from his job now and go do some traveling, etc. before it's too late. But nope, can't happen because if he were to quit before his younger-than-he-wife is old enough for Medicare--which is 6 years from now--it would cost him about $2,000 to keep the health insurance he has with his job now. (And he couldn't go ahead & quit & go out looking for cheaper health ins.--if he could find any that's cheaper (doubtful)--and probably couldn't get diff. ins. anyway since he's got the pre-existing cancer.

I think that things being like this in, to hear some people say, the "greatest country on earth," is disgusting, barbaric, and inexcusable.
 
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helenbacque said:
Medical emergencies can bankrupt someone quickly and, once down, its difficult to recover. Every advanced nation in the world has some form of universal healthcare but not the U.S. Why??? We spend trillions trying to make a better life for people in other countries because it creates profitable businesses for a favored few. Universal healthcare here would kill a few businesses that are profitable for a few but benefit the entire nation.

Hillary Clinton proposed an excellent health care plan for the country in 1993 but the old white guys in Congress would have none of it. Had it been adopted, the homeless and indigent elderly population would certainly have been drastically reduced today but there would have been fewer millionaires.

https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/health-reform-initiative
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Helen when I see that we are sending other countries billions of dollars, it gets to me. Remember how ugly things got when the Affordable Care Act was still in the works and it wasn't just politicians either! We have families with starving children, seniors who have to decide whether to pay their rents, buy food or buy their meds....and now this, growing numbers of white haired homeless. When the 4th stimulus for Americans still hurting from the effects of the pandemic, was proposed, we heard there wouldn't be another because "it would be too expensive", it would be a budget buster and send the national debt skyrocketing..... yet, how much did we send the Ukraine recently? It makes no damned sense to me! We want to seem like "big shots" at the cost of the most impoverished and vulnerable in our own country.
 
There are some very sad stories on YouTube of senior citizens living in their cars because they can't afford to own or rent a place. And these same folks rely on the meager revenue from their YouTube channels for extra income to add to their Social Security.
 
Don M. said:
Health Care is the 3rd largest "Industry" in the U.S.....accounting for over 17% of the nations GDP. We used to have a Medical Profession, but over the past few decades it has become the HC Industry. The Primary purpose of Any Industry is to make money.

https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-healthcare-industry-statistics/

https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/healthcare-industry/

Coincidently, the Health Care Industry is one of the biggest political campaign donors.

Do some research on this site, and you will quickly find out just who really runs this country.

https://www.opensecrets.org/
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Thank you for these links Don! Interesting info and stats, though some are grim. I'm not quite sure how to navigate the Open Secrets site to find out "who really runs this country". I did look under lobbying.
@Knight Excellent article in the link you posted! Seems like they covered all the bases regarding this issue.
 
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helenbacque said:
Medical emergencies can bankrupt someone quickly and, once down, its difficult to recover. Every advanced nation in the world has some form of universal healthcare but not the U.S. Why??? We spend trillions trying to make a better life for people in other countries because it creates profitable businesses for a favored few. Universal healthcare here would kill a few businesses that are profitable for a few but benefit the entire nation.

Hillary Clinton proposed an excellent health care plan for the country in 1993 but the old white guys in Congress would have none of it. Had it been adopted, the homeless and indigent elderly population would certainly have been drastically reduced today but there would have been fewer millionaires.

https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/health-reform-initiative
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I believe both Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon - but definitely Nixon - believed in universal healthcare. But the vocal minority shouting "SOCIALISM!" shuts it down every time.

This, despite the fact that time and time again, studies show the US spends more but receives less benefits (in terms of longevity) on healthcare than any country that has universal healthcare.

The US is #46 in global longevity rankings. We are BELOW Cuba, Lebanon, Slovenia, Guadeloupe, and Singapore. As of 2021, Hong Kong rated #1, with Japan #2.

It's not only embarrassing....it's tragic.
 
Lethe200 said:
I believe both Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon - but definitely Nixon - believed in universal healthcare. But the vocal minority shouting "SOCIALISM!" shuts it down every time.

This, despite the fact that time and time again, studies show the US spends more but receives less benefits (in terms of longevity) on healthcare than any country that has universal healthcare.

The US is #46 in global longevity rankings. We are BELOW Cuba, Lebanon, Slovenia, Guadeloupe, and Singapore. As of 2021, Hong Kong rated #1, with Japan #2.

It's not only embarrassing....it's tragic.
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My BFF and I were discussing the pitiful state here in the states and she brought up how people cry socialism and don't really know what the hell it means. They go by what they think it means. And you're right, such labeling, along with other excuses, is preventing the powers that be from doing the right thing by we citizens.
 
Just came across this when doing some "digital cleaning". Famous Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell was facing homelessness at age 86 in 2019. Mr. Burrell has played with many Jazz and Blues greats as well as lead for his own projects. He has recorded countless albums and is a professor and director of Jazz studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. I'm sure he never expected to possibly face homelessness.
"His plight became public after his wife, Katherine Burrell, launched a GoFundMe page on May 9, in which she chronicled a number of overwhelming circumstances that the couple is currently navigating. In her telling, the couple has faced a cataclysmic series of misfortunes — including substantial ongoing medical expenses after a 2016 accident, identity theft and ongoing litigation involving the home owners association group in their community — that has brought them to the brink.

"We are facing possible foreclosure and homelessness," Katherine Burrell wrote, adding: "It saddens and embarrasses me to desperately need and request help, but it is necessary at this point." The page's initial fundraising goal was $100,000; as of Tuesday morning, donations totaled almost $145,000."
I hope the Go Fund me donations helped resolve their plight.
 
Don M. said:
Seniors who were unable to prepare for retirement are going to be hit especially hard in coming years.
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Unable or unwilling? I see so many people now setting themselves up for a very bad retirement. They have two big cars a big house, toys and then complain they can't save anything.
 
officerripley said:
A convo I had with a realtor a few years ago:

Me: So many of the new (and the few that are affordable) single-family housing divisions have all 2-story homes which are not good for the elderly. I wish they would build more single-family housing that's suitable for the elderly since there's no way I'll ever be able to get my husband to live in any kind of multi-family setting.
Realtor: I agree with you; they should build more for the elderly but not going to happen; single family housing that's suitable for the elderly (i.e., single story, etc.) is too hard to re-sell.
Me: Really? Why?
Realtor: Because (and I can tell you from first-hand experience) any home buyers that are middle-aged or younger do not want to live in an area with even a few "old people." This happens to me all the time: I'm driving prospective buyers to look at a home and if they see one head of gray or white hair, they frown & say, "Are there a lot of old people living in this neighborhood? Because I do NOT want to live in an area with grumpy old people who'll be complaining about the noise my kids make and I myself don't want to hear sirens every day because some old person is having chest pains!" And no matter how much I beg them to look at the house & tell them how nice it is, they won't even look at it and want to move on to the next on the list. And this happens all the time.

I think this is sad but didn't really surprise me to hear it.
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Funny, even before I was old I looked for houses that had older people in the neighborhood. You knew they would take care of their property, be quiet and respectful and general good citizens. But I can see a family with small kids wanting to be in a neighborhood with kids around
 
garyt1957 said:
Funny, even before I was old I looked for houses that had older people in the neighborhood. You knew they would take care of their property, be quiet and respectful and general good citizens. But I can see a family with small kids wanting to be in a neighborhood with kids around
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Michael Z said:
My son told me that as many as 30% of the homes near him in the Mnpls area were owned (and flipped) by investors! Consequentially, an uninsulated unlivable 100+ yr old home was selling for $180,000! This is a crime and needs to be stopped!
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Our neighborhood was built in the mid-1950s. When we moved here in the mid-80s there was a good mix of owners in their 70s on down to families in their early 30s like us. None younger - few in their 20s could manage a 20% down payment and mortgage interest well in the double digits.

Flash forward to today - we're now among the longest-term owners. Over the years many houses have been sold and resold. We love our neighborhood of owners of all ages, every race, color and creed you can imagine, and many small children.

Lots of flippers have sucked the cream off home sales here in the past few years, I'm sad to say. They put in $50K worth of prettying up and minor modernizing, add $150K to what they paid for the house and sell it in nothing flat. Sure, it makes my house ever more valuable (ridiculously so, to be honest), but it also makes the neighborhood unaffordable for young couples.

@Michael Z, you couldn't buy a postage stamp sized piece of land for $180K here, never mind one with a house on it - livable or not.

3 br/ 2 ba, 1450 SF, nothing-fancy, tract houses in our middle-class suburb go for over a million. Upgraded houses like mine that have almost double that square footage go for plenty more. And they sell in a week. It's ca-razy. Problem is, unless cashing out by relocating to a far cheaper area, the next house will cost the same.
 
garyt1957 said:
Unable or unwilling? I see so many people now setting themselves up for a very bad retirement. They have two big cars a big house, toys and then complain they can't save anything.
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Future retirees are going to have to start planning and saving early in their working careers. Defined Pension plans are becoming a rarity, and Social Security is headed for trouble within the next decade. The Best, and perhaps Only plan that will serve retirees nicely is the 401K/IRA program. But, that will only work for people who invest fairly early in their working careers. Those who fail to plan ahead may be in trouble when they retire.
 
Don M. said:
Future retirees are going to have to start planning and saving early in their working careers. Defined Pension plans are becoming a rarity, and Social Security is headed for trouble within the next decade. The Best, and perhaps Only plan that will serve retirees nicely is the 401K/IRA program. But, that will only work for people who invest fairly early in their working careers. Those who fail to plan ahead may be in trouble when they retire.
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With strong encouragement from parents and other elders in their lives - including their employers - my children and their friends began planning for and investing in 401Ks and other retirement programs while in their mid-twenties. They get some degree of matching funds from their employers and understand the "distant" horizon will be upon them sooner than they think.

To be honest:

DH & I planned for retirement but not nearly as early or diligently as they are.

My parents didn't plan for retirement in any specific way, but fortunately had sufficient assets to sustain themselves.

My grandparents never really planned for retirement and didn't have substantial assets, so their adult children kicked in every month to help support them.

By my observation, young adults are planning for retirement far earlier than previous generations. The internet is loaded with information about how and why to start early preparations. News reports abound with sad tales of seniors who hit retirement with very little savings, hoping and imagining Social Security would be sufficient, then learning the hard way that it is not.
 
Another story today about how mobile home parks are in the cross hairs of greedy Wall Streeters and most politicians are no where to be found doing anything about it other than flapping their lips about "Rent Control"... A media diversion tactic from what needs to be done, taking real estate and financial corporations and REIT's out of the low end residential home markets. Be sure to read Comments that shows overwhelming numbers of people are sick so little is being done. Besides being a prime element causing massive homelessness it is also the largest factor driving up inflation killing all working class folks. Demand your politicians stop this American tragedy from happening.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corporate-landlords-blackstone-gobbling-mobile-174500027.html
 

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