Four Types of Financial Assistance for Struggling Seniors
Retirement typically means living on a fixed income. That can bring about serious financial challenges, as retirees are faced with paying the same bills they’ve always had from a dwindling bank account. Fortunately, as GoBankingRates reports, there are resources available to help retirees pay for expenses such as utilities, rent, food, and medical bills.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps seniors pay for utilities. LIHEAP provides financial assistance to eligible low-income households to help them manage their energy costs such as electricity and gas.
Seniors typically spend about a third of their income on housing costs. Resources like the Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, is a federal rent assistance program designed to provide rental assistance to eligible low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled so they can afford safe and suitable housing.
Healthcare costs also eat up a huge amount of seniors’ retirement income. Medicare is a federal program that provides health coverage for those who are 65 or older and those with certain disabilities.
Proper nutrition is important, especially as we age. But affording fresh groceries is costly. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program helps seniors, low-income individuals, and families by providing benefits that can be used to purchase eligible food items in grocery stores and other locations that accept SNAP funds.
The Seniors Trust is committed to improving the financial well-being of America’s retirees through the passage of The Social Security Expansion Act. It will give retirees an immediate benefits increase of about $200 a month, a fair annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increased minimum benefits, and will ensure the long-term solvency of the Social Security program.
