Millions of retirees and disabled veterans still have not applied for their stimulus payment from the government. This is money that all of these people could put to good use but they are not filing for the payments. They could use it to pay the rent, purchase food or possibly pay for their health insurance premiums or medicine. Many are probably not aware that the money is waiting for them. Some don’t even know the program exists. We have millions of people in this country that can’t read or write. Unless told by another, how would they know of their eligibility for this financial windfall?

A single person is entitled to a minimum payment of $300, and the maximum is $600. Married couples are eligible for from $600 to $1,200. Anyone who has received at least $3,000 in Social Security benefits or veteran benefits can apply. There are specific railroad retirement benefits that might qualify a retiree, along with those who were eligible for the earned income credit last year.

If you know of anyone who might be missing out on this opportunity, please contact them and let them know that the deadline is quickly approaching. The filing deadline is October 15, 2008 and I would hate to see someone in need not receive this payment.

It is very sad to realize that women live longer but have much less in retirement savings and often have to continue working. Most have not prepared well for their retirement and many never had the opportunity to save for it.

Women, in general, have fewer savings than men, but live longer. They are twice as likely to die in poverty, most especially if they are divorced or a member of a minority group. Marriage problems have caused major setbacks for many, leaving them totally unprepared for their golden years. The number of female workers 65 and older is increasing twice as fast as that of older men. Statistics are predicting a 147 percent increase in the number of women 80 years old or over who will be employed in 2016. Here are some of the reasons for this large increase in elderly female employees:

Over their lifetimes, women in our country have worked for pay twelve years less than their male counterparts.

The median average wage of working women is approximately $10,000 per year less than for men.

A recent survey result states that more than half of working women say they cannot afford to save anything for retirement.

The average life span for a 65-year old woman is approximately 85, while a man should expect to live until 82.

Fewer women have pension plans available to supplement their social security income.

Women are terribly concerned about their finances, especially as it relates to their senior years. Many have already experienced poverty and, although they are working hard, they are unable to get ahead. Some know very well how horrible it feels to have to put off health care and go hungry and are frightened by the future they see for themselves.

When a person is considering retirement, there are many decisions that must be made. What is the right age? Can I afford to pay my expenses and still maintain my current standard of living? Am I old enough to be eligible for Medicare? Will I, like many others before me, have to return to work to make ends meet? This is the time to carefully examine your finances and determine if you can afford retirement.

One of the main sources of most retiree’s income is their social security checks. This amount will fluctuate depending on your age at retirement and your earnings up to that time. Social Security has been mailing annual estimates to everyone for a number of years. They are, however, estimates and cover just early retirement, full retirement age, and retirement at age 70. Should you want to retire at some point in between these years, you would have to guess at what your social security income would be.

In an effort to help retiree’s make a sound financial decision, the Social Security Administration recently went online with a Retirement Estimator. This allows workers to see what their expected levels of payments will be for all possible retirement ages. This estimator is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. After you provide specific personal information, the system can calculate your benefit based on your retirement date and current earnings. It will also provide information as to how these payments will change if your earnings increase or decrease. Before making the decision to retire, it is important that you have a realistic view of your finances versus expenses.

Everyone is becoming aware of identity theft as a recurring crime that is affecting a large portion of our population. Seniors are particularly sensitive to this new criminal activity and are trying to do everything they can to protect their information. They have discovered a weakness in our system and have been requesting assistance from the government in remedying the situation.

Apparently, all Medicare Cards display the social security number of the recipient. To make matters worse, every person with Medicare coverage has been requested to carry this card on their person. This is leaving seniors vulnerable to minor thefts in which their personal information will be readily available to every petty crook. Instead of having an account number specifically assigned to Medicare, they are being required to expose their social security number to numerous people who could easily copy it. Seniors are feeling very uncomfortable with this situation and have requested that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fix this system. The Centers have taken the position that there is no problem as they have not been advised of one case of identity theft that could be traced back to a Medicare card. They say costs of changing the system would run about $500 million dollars and it would take five years to implement.

The Senate Finance Committee is supporting a revamp of the current system to eliminate this problem. It is near impossible to believe that, while we are all purchasing shredders and carefully watching over all forms of our identity, our seniors are being forced to carry their social security numbers on their person and required to present it to numerous employees so that they can obtain the benefits they so desperately need.

I just read an article in the newspaper about a lady factory worker who has been employed at the same place for 57 years.  The lady is 93 years old and as a birthday gift her coworkers gave her a cushioned chair on which to sit while performing her job.  She states in the article that she loves to work and has no intention of quitting.  This, however, is not the case with the majority of the workers being forced to stay at their jobs or find new careers to supplement their income.

The majority of seniors who are still employed are not doing it because they’d rather not be retired.  They are staying at their jobs because they cannot afford to live on their current income.  Many retire and then discover that they are unable to survive financially,  so they must go out and find new sources of income.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics has furnished the following statistics showing the reversal of the trend towards earlier retirement.

Employment statistics for Americans 65 and older have increased each year.

Americans 65 years of age and older comprised 15.5% of the labor force last year, the highest rate recorded since 1971.

Of workers 65 and over, 56.3% were working full time jobs.  Until the last few years, part time workers always outnumbered those with full time employment.

In the past 30 years, workers 65 and older have increased by 101%, compared with a 59% increase in total workers.  Those 75 and older increased 172%.

Unfortunately, this situation is continuing to amplify, but jobs are not always available for those who need them.  This will lead to additional financial problems in the future for all.  If seniors are unable to supplement their incomes through employment, how will they be able to survive in the future?  They will require government assistance from a social security system that has been raided for years by our government.  Pay back time may just be around the corner.  The helping hand of the United States had best start providing that help locally, instead of globally.  Our citizens must come first.