Greatest generation: Financial setbacks hurt most at end of life

Carol Forsloff - People in their 80’s and older who went through WWII and the Great Depression and who have been called the Greatest Generation, have seen their plight worsen with health and financial burdens.   Is it time to get back to remembering this group, when we think of patriotism?

The Greatest Generation is suffering despite their often-lauded status and having been defined great because of their sacrifices and suffering, all done without complaint. But it isn’t just the financial downturns that will cause many of them to suffer more than just a little bit.  ” It’s money and the “me first philosophy” that experts warn will cause many seniors to struggle now and in the years ahead.

 As homelessness and state funding is cutback in the wake of the recession, and as states worry about their budgets, social service agencies and charitable organizations observe a reported increase in the number of seniors in upper age brackets seeking help. Due to the housing crisis many are unable to sell their homes and move to where their children live. So they turn to public agencies, to state governments, church and private groups for aid. 

But local governments complain about financial burdens already too heavy for them to move forward on critical needs, namely paying salaries, while the impact of so many people out of work has created growing concern over charitable options for everyone. Also as working people try to keep their jobs and homes, it’s easy to forget those who are neither seen nor heard daily because they are tucked in some corner in an apartment complex, retirement center, or home away from those who in decades past were called upon to care for elders during hard times.

 Seniors struggle around the world now.  In Toronto The Star stated in December 2008 that 30% of Canadians believe they will have to work past 65. But most folks in their 80’s would neither be hired nor have the health or other resources to allow them to get out of their easy chairs, and more likely beds, and return to the workforce, as health professionals maintain. 

 The Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel several years ago wrote that those over 70 are likely to feel bleak by their next birthdays because few resources exist for upper age seniors during this recession. The Journal calls these people “the forgotten people” because no bail outs have been planned for them. This comes at a time when pension plans that do not provide fixed benefits, are seen likely to decline while 401K retirement plans already have declined. So the small, average $63/month Social Security increases at the turn of a year likely won’t do seniors very much good.'

In Hawaii the long-term residents who are past 80 find their property values have soared, so they fare fairly well.  On the other hand, the price of medicine and necessities for living still make budgets tight for people.  Those people who decide to retire in Hawaii find their money drained with housing costs, unless they know the best places on the islands to live, something not always readily available in the tourist brochures.

Some seniors are faring worse than they thought because they lost even more of their savings in the great upheavals of the stock market of several years ago.  The fact many of them did not remain in the stock market, or reenter it, means they may not have regained what they lost.

 But it’s the fact that seniors can’t rely on their last hope, their children, that is the saddest cut, according to elders across the country who bemoan the fact that they can’t move and don’t have the financial resources to pay for the kind of help they need. Furthermore folks lament that they will be unable to regain economic stability any time soon.

Economic experts tell us that it took until 1954 for the stock market to reach the level it had in 1929 at the time of the stock market crash. Folks in their 80’s don’t have 25 years to wait for help to arrive. So our greatest generation is rapidly becoming the forgotten generation by the culture that is predominated by baby boomer leadership, the “me first” folks, the group with the upper age senior parents, even though this greatest generation, people in their 80’s, was declared the best for doing all the right things.

The Greatest Generation sacrificed a great deal during the Depression and war years.  Those sacrifices might well be remembered every day, for the Greatest Generation to live out their remaining years with the respect and consideration it deserves.