Abstract
The elderly, or senior citizens, have always been considered a vulnerable population, physically, mentally, and socially. This population faces a variety of problems every day including many economic struggles. Older adults and the elderly are facing many financial challenges that may not have been anticipated. In spite of good planning and sensible living, their resources may be sorely compromised, sometimes destroyed. What can be done to help this population through the transition into retirement? There are programs that do assist them including Social Security, Medicare and Pensions, however is it enough? The Social Security Act of 1935 along with Medicare have helped many Americans since they have been around and have
100).
As previously mentioned, Social Security is an important source of income for older adults. If this program did not exist the poverty level among senior citizens would greatly increase. Having adequate income is important for many reasons, including greater access to health care, having a home that is heated in the winter, eating nutritious foods, or even having the means to buy medications. Not having these simple things in life can even lead to anxiety and depression, which then contributes to physical illness (Chater, 1997). The problem is with all the baby boomers and the struggles our economy faces will Social Security last and if it does for how long and will there be enough?
The future of the Social Security trust fund is not too promising. By 2027, money coming into the trust fund will fall below what is needed to pay out benefits. There are several factors that have contributed. One factor of course is all the baby boomers, another is the decrease in population growth as women started having less kids as they worked more and more. A third factor is that people are living longer than they did when this fund was first created (Quadagno, 2007, p. 334). The future for Social Security is currently creating much debate on how it can be reformed. Unfortunately, there is no way to reform it that does not have both positive and negative results which is creating