Sunday, December 24, 2006

CONTOS AMERICANOS : POBRES

Having a Hard Old Time

By Martha M. Hamilton
Sunday, December 24, 2006; Page F01

Barbara E. Davis was 57 when the heart attack struck at midnight in April 1996. She had just turned over to look at the clock, and as she turned back, "the pain hit me between my breasts and went all the way through to my back."

Until that day, Davis had worked as a chef at the College of Preachers at the Washington National Cathedral, but the heart attack and subsequent open-heart surgery made it hard to continue at the job she had held since 1972, although she tried briefly. As a result, she retired sooner than expected -- before she was eligible for a full pension, she said.


Now she gets along on a little less than $15,000 a year in retirement -- her combined net income from Social Security and a pension benefit of $216.02 a month.

She is more typical than it often seems when you live in the world of the worried well -- those of us with the luxury of wondering whether to open a Roth or a traditional individual retirement account or whether to annuitize that lump sum. Nearly a quarter of all retirees have no income other than Social Security. For 40 percent of elderly recipients, Social Security is more than 90 percent of their income -- which underscores why strengthening Social Security is so important.

more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/NewsSearch?sb=-1&st=HAVING%20A%20HARD%20OLD%20TIME&

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