By Lizzy White
You know them.
It's hidden from view in your circle of friends.
She is 55 years old, broken and tired of trying to save face. Pretending is normal outside.
For them, you do not know that their power was last cut for non-payment or she meets the criteria for food aid from the week. His clothes are always perfectly in good times, when they were still bought money.
A twinge of panic by
But if you pay attention, you'll see the sadness in their eyes, hear the note of panic in her voice command over anything else.
"Trial size" of the flood ends meet these days, buying pitcher $ 1.99 10oz. Did not you know detergent came in that size.
Loading it expensive restaurants, the two have always loved, but the control of mineral water with a hint of lemon, instead of the $ 12 glass of Chardonnay. It is economical in their menu selection, careful, count every penny in my head. It resists split the bill on the table, desserts, coffees and the second and third cup of wine do not drink fulfill manner.
Nest Egg: gone for so long
Vive Wireless, a gym and nail appointments. She discovered that she do her own hair.
No retirement savings without nest egg; for so long. No expensive to subscribe to equity and no man to save apartment.
Slowly month and pay the wages of their credit decimated. Call collectors constantly, reading from a script literally polished, the expressions of sympathy for his difficult situation - still necessary payment terms that can not keep.
Stops when the phone rings
Ask friends how anyone could so be privately educated the economic freefall. Finally, it is still as talented as ever and very intelligent. But the work is important today, especially in and outside concerts advice. I do not remember when she had a real job. He learned seem to get involved, but not just ringing the phone opportunities.
You do not remember exactly when it stopped.
But they came into the unknown world of old and used to be and is not safe because it belongs.
What he knows is that dozens of online application is known, may have disappeared into a black hole. She is convinced that entrepreneurs set to reject their algorithms online job recruitment to any person who obtained before 1995.
She wonders what became of it. So far, his health, but the pain remains. Or is your opinion?
Homeless women are often invisible to them, but work is evaluated with curious eyes and wondered if his stories began like you.
Time to stop counterfeiting than normal
Even if you is not poor, exactly, you can still downward mobility and feel ashamed. If yes, continue. Normal stop pretending. There are millions of women who, like us, and there is strength in our numbers.
Women in pensions are particularly affected by the crisis of the income security in old age in the United States. The gender pay gap costs $ 431,360 equity in women during their lifetime, according to the Center for American Progress. This deficit another $ 304,000, the women lose time from paid leave to spend a life for family members (according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP) and hundreds of thousands more to care for children and the consequences, no matter economic disadvantage shows in lost wages, reduced pensions and benefits.
The picture is even worse if you are a woman of color: There are three in 10 people over 65 and those in poverty 4 live unmarried black women early in 10 single Hispanic older women, a rate more than double the white women, according to Women's Institute for Secure Retirement (WISER s).
But if we hide or rejection of our financial uncertainty, we do not take the active role we have to navigate through this phase of our lives. An action that I took really helped me and gave me both the perspective and peace of mind was a friend of the election, to talk and to completely clean my situation. It turned out that she was broke, too, and also worried about his future as I am. On my own It was a burden for me just say my truth.
For all of us, there are difficult decisions about where and how we live. The good news is that the market is starting to respond with more innovative and affordable housing and co-housing to continue to participate Baby Boomers and lead a meaningful life. I hope that manufacturers follow suit with value engineering products for low-income retirees.
So while our new rental housing can ba and the size of a postage stamp, is better than a small room in a dingy building with a strange smell and institutionalized hospital food lit limited.
Welcome to the new normal.
Lizzy White is a consultant, social critic and writer based in Washington, DC She believes that in honor of all our stories change lives for the better. You can reach her fakingnormal@yahoo.com.
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