Older Americans Face Rising Poverty Rates: What This Means for Your Retirement

Retirement Crisis Deepens as Seniors Struggle to Keep Up

The American Dream Fades for Golden Years

Forget golf courses and beachside condos—growing numbers of older Americans can't cover basic living expenses. The safety net's fraying while financial advisors keep pushing the same tired 60/40 portfolio strategy that barely kept pace with inflation back when CDs actually paid something.

Social Security wasn't designed to be a primary income source, yet here we are—with millions relying on checks that haven't kept up with soaring healthcare and housing costs. Meanwhile, Wall Street cheers record highs while Main Street seniors choose between prescriptions and groceries.

The retirement landscape's shifting beneath our feet, and traditional planning approaches look about as useful as a flip phone at a crypto conference. Maybe it's time to acknowledge that working until you drop isn't a plan—it's a failure of the system.

Key Takeaways

• The number of older Americans living in poverty rose last year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Social Security remains the most effective government program at preventing poverty, lifting an estimated 28.7 million Americans above the poverty line last year.
• However, experts are concerned that the looming Social Security shortfall and cuts to other government assistance programs could put more Americans into poverty in the years to come.

More older Americans were living in poverty in 2024, new data on income, poverty, and health insurance released by the Census Bureau shows.

According to the supplemental poverty measure, which takes the official poverty line and accounts for geographic differences in cost of living and the impact of programs like Social Security, 15% of Americans 65 and older were in poverty in 2024. That's up about 0.8% year-over-year and an increase of nearly 5% since 2021. That's above the national figure of 12.9%.

The official poverty rate sits at 9.9% (see the chart below), meaning over 9 million older adults struggle to afford necessities like food and medicine.

Why Older Americans Are Increasingly in Poverty

"A country as rich as ours should be shocked that over 9.2 million of our fellow older Americans struggle to cover basic expenses like food and medicine," National Council on Aging CEO Ramsey Alwin said. "Aging with dignity continues to be out of reach for far too many Americans who worked hard and played by the rules."

Alwin said the lapsing of aid programs that helped older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a factor in the rising poverty rate among older Americans. He also said the TRUMP administration's cuts to low-income assistance programs like SNAP and Medicaid could make those same older Americans less healthy.

In its own analysis of the Census data, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) agreed, noting that programs like SNAP and the child tax credit have lifted millions of Americans above the poverty line.

"Policy advances over the last 25 years have helped millions of people secure health coverage and lifted millions of people above the poverty line," the CBPP wrote. "However, if left unchanged, July’s Republican megabill will erode much of the progress on health coverage and push poverty and inequality higher."

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What It Means For You And Your Retirement

If you're worried about having enough money in retirement, you're not alone. Social Security keeps 28.7 million Americans above the poverty line, but the program's trust fund will run out as early as 2033, when it may only be able to pay 79% of promised benefits. Meanwhile, surveys show that between 20% and 46% of Americans have zero retirement savings, even as confidence in retirement security hits new lows..

Surveys this year have shown that Americans' confidence in their own retirement savings, or simply having the ability to retire, has dropped as the cost of living continues to rise. A range of surveys have put the number of Americans with no retirement savings between 20% and 46%,

There are government programs available to help older adults find affordable housing and other forms of assistance. Beyond government assistance, those retiring without much of a safety net can seek out a range of discounted services for older adults.

The Bottom Line

New Census data shows that the number of American older adults living in poverty ROSE in 2024 to 15%, above the national average for Americans overall. Experts point to the reduction of low-income assistance benefits that brought people above the poverty line during the pandemic, and note that a drop in Social Security payments could lead to more Americans living the last decades of their lives closer to poverty.