“I will work until I die”

• 72 -year -old Linda Lara was pushed out of her apartment from 30 years after a significant rental march.

• She managed to move to a subsidized apartment in senior homes, which he calls a “miracle”.

• But although it works part -time and receives social security, Lara struggles with limited savings.

Linda Lara has always wanted to become a homeowner. But being a single mother, taking care of her elderly parents and helping her three granddaughters made it impossible to ever get enough for an advance payment.

Nearly six years ago, Lara was lucky to get off the list of Sen Mateo Senior Housing, California, the city of 30 minutes south of San Francisco, which has been called at home for decades. Despite her rental rent on the market, Lara still has to work 20 hours a week to supplement her social security checks and pay her bills. Like many more adult Americans she would talk to, Lara does not think she can ever retire.

When Lara’s daughter was 12 years old, they moved to an apartment with a bedroom in San Mateo, which Lara eventually called for almost 30 years. They loved the neighborhood, the “charming” features of the old apartment, and most importantly, the accessible rent. Lara never wanted to leave.

“There were hardwood floors, arches, there was an old Wedgewood stove. There were French doors that went out into the courtyard,” Lara told BI. “It was a really sweet little apartment.”

But in 2019, the apartment building was sold. The new owners informed Lara that more than doubling her rent, which she could not afford.

Fortunately, Lara had entered several lotteries for senior low-incomes a few years earlier. Just when she was confronted with forced from her home, she was informed that she was selected as a studio with an area of ​​380 square meters in a subsidized building serving older residents just a few blocks of her longtime home. She took advantage of the opportunity and quickly moved, relieved to pay less than $ 800 a month.

“It was like a miracle, a gift from the sky that presented it just when I needed it,” Lara said.

But the rent is increasing every year. It is now about $ 1,000 a month. Lara works part -time as the office administrator of the district park department, which pays her about $ 2170 a month, and she raises $ 1547 in a monthly social security. Her social security payments are less than they would be otherwise, because she took advantage early, at 62, when she stopped working full-time to help her take care of her granddaughters.

Lara is worried that if she loses her job or is no longer able to work, she won’t be able to even afford her subsidized home. With very little in savings, retirement is not able.

“I’ll probably work until I die,” she said. “Unless I move somewhere far, it’s much cheaper.”

Do you struggle to afford home costs or can you not find the right home for age? Refer to this reporter of eralman@businessinsider.comS

Scarce retirement dwellings

Lara is far from alone. One in five Americans at 50 years of age or older say they have no retirement savings, and more than half are concerned that they do not have enough rescued to last them for the rest of their lives, an AARP survey found last year.

The apartment is a large part of the problem. Many baby bubbles are struggling to find affordable and affordable homes to grow old. Even those who have their home and have seen that their capital has been rising in recent years, they have problems finding smaller homes to reduce themselves.

The record number of housing owners of 65 and larger-about one-third of older households-processed by expenses, which means they spend more than 30% of their incomes on housing and utilities, a report from Harvard 2023 has found. This is especially difficult for those at fixed income. As a result, the elderly are increasingly facing homelessness. Single adults of 50 years or more It is now evaluated that they represent about half of the homeless population in the United States, compared to about 10% three decades ago.

Lara doesn’t want to move away. She has deep roots in her community, and her daughter, son -in -law and granddaughters live nearby. She said she was not afraid to be pushed out of San Mateo or the bay area when she raised her daughter. But nowadays, she said, she has the feeling that nothing is accessible.

“The prices of the apartments are out of control,” she said. “I have to stay in this apartment until I probably can afford it anymore and then I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

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