Community Chat

[SeaMaiden]

This was from PEOPLE  on MSN. 

I think with more and more boomers retired and living longer, therir retirement savings fall short with todays high cost of living  and high cost of medical care.  I hope this is not my future retirement!   

To help pay for his wife’s mounting medical bills, Robert Blocksom is looking to come out of retirement. But instead of helping others with their financial planning as he had done for so many years, the 87-year-old is aiming to hit the road as a truck driver.

“I got a little bit of everything, but mostly I can’t walk very well, and I’ve had some breast cancer,” Robert’s wife, Jelaine Blocksom, tells PEOPLE. “I’ve just been diagnosed with asthma, so I’m having problems breathing. I was in the hospital twice last month. So it seems just about everything is falling off.”

The couple have sold off many of their possessions — including a mobile trailer — to help pay for medical bills since Jelaine’s health began to worsen, CNN affiliate  News first reported. They also moved from their home in Middleburgh Heights, Ohio, and relocated to an apartment that’s easier for 87-year-old Jelaine to move around in.

As the news station noted, more and more Americans in their golden years are coming out of retirement to find work. Over the last 12 months, some 255,000 people 85 years old or older were listed in the workforce. Many of these seniors took up jobs as farmers, ranchers, bookkeepers and accountants, and many, like Robert, are looking to become truckers.

According to a Social Science Research Network study, the rate of seniors 65 and over who filed for bankruptcy rose almost 204 percent from 1991 to 2016. The study found that high health care costs, coupled with reduced incomes and a decline in pensions, have contributed to the trend of financially strapped retirees.

While the trucking business is known for its rough work schedule, Robert said he hopes to stay local and work weekends so he can continue to care for his wife. He’ll start taking his commercial driver’s classes in September.

[Peaches McPhee]

Good for him, for being healthy enough to work.  Lots aren't, and are alot younger.

My FIL is about 86 and works part-time in the grocery store.  Says it pays for the property taxes.

Anyone is one big illness away from financial trouble.  

[Mominohio]

Sorry but I'll step out here and say most 87 year old men shouldn't be driving the big rigs. Sight, and reaction times would worry me with most people that age on the road in those big trucks. 

And if he wants to work that is one thing, but having to go out to make ends meet at that age is indeed sad. 

I don't have the answers. The great health care in this country isn't free, but we shouldn't be having to resort to this either. 

[Mominohio]

And I'll add that I think a lot of stories like this are brought forward by either the people or the media to raise not only awareness, but more importantly, the funds (through donations and go fund my type fundraising) for people in situations like this. 

I think many times situations like this are exploited just for the ability to raise the money. Not that I'm against it, just that I think it is often a calculated plan, more than an elderly man really going to find a job driving truck.

[Snowpuppy]

It's truly sad.

OTOH, we are being sold the idea of "just work longer" because your pension plan went broke.

[millieshops]

@Peaches McPheeANYONE is absolutely correct.  Ugly life happens overnight and at any age.

Many of us like the couple in this story who are older than the boomers have been workers and savers and still we're looking at lives and costs that were virtually unimaginable during our working years.  I suspect that's what has happened to Robert and his wife.  I know when I retired I thought I had saved well for my retirement years, but with what has happened in the 19 years since, I'm no longer so sure.  Also like them, I don't expect that selling off the "toys" of my past will fill the gaps.  Scary.

[shopperqvc]

@Mominohio I agree with you on the reaction time and the eye sight problems. I'm not in my 80's but I know I can't handle driving the way I used to. I was a very good driver when I was much younger, but today I plan my trips to the store and other places.

And I drive the highways as little as possible. I just don't like the speed anymore. I drove the expressways in chicago when I was younger and I could drive them like a "native", but those days are gone. 

Maybe delivering piazza or even groceries to other elderly folks that can't get out would be a better idea for him than a big rig. It wouldn't pay as much, but it would be safer for all concerned. 

[OKPrincess]

It is sad since he was a financial advisor. A person can’t live on social security alone either.

[chrystaltree]

It's a tragic situation.  People who retired 20 or 30 years ago never expected to live as long as they have.  They never expected that that their savings and retirement income would not keep pace with prices.  No one ever expected that medical expenses and medication prices would soar the way they have.  The world changed in the 20 or 30 years since they retired and they have outlived their savings.  We're going to see much more of this in the years to come!  

[Maggie Nolia]

So sad -- it just should not be -- but what an admirable man.  At the very least, retirees should be exempt from all taxes which would be a start in easing their financial concerns.

I pray someone starts a gofundme type thing for him.