September 13, 2021

New Poll Explores Seniors’ Biggest Concerns

New research by seniorliving.org found that older adults have been more emotionally resilient than their younger counterparts during the pandemic, and that many of seniors’ biggest fears are related to finances.

Older adults’ biggest fear is their loved ones becoming seriously ill. When it comes to finances, nearly 1 in 2 older adults fear not having enough money saved for retirement, and that worry is expressed even more strongly by those between the ages of 55 and 64.

In addition, 1 in 4 older adults fears they’ll never pay off their existing debt. And forty-five percent of people between 55 and 64 fear having high medical bills, while 39 percent of those over 65 have the same worry.

“Social Security and Medicare already address many of seniors’ biggest fears, and they can do more,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “If we increase Social Security benefits to cover more of the expenses that seniors truly face, we can alleviate a lot of anxiety.”