Older Tennesseans face growing financial insecurity, but here are some helpful resources

Cost of living got you down? Try being an older adult living on a fixed income, particularly if you rely on Social Security as your main source of income.

Nearly 1 in 4 Americans who receive Social Security depend on it for 90% of their income, according to the Social Security Office of Retirement and Disability Policy. While the average monthly Social Security benefit varies by gender and age, the average benefit payment in Tennessee is $1,502/month or $18,024/year.

With the costs of food, electricity, medical care and housing all rising and outpacing the modest 3.2% Social Security cost of living increase, it’s become difficult, if not impossible, for many older adults to make ends meet, through no fault of their own. To make matters worse, disappearing pensions and inadequate retirement benefits have compounded the problem of rising expenses.

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May is Older Americans Month and we’re writing this column to shine a light on the financial insecurity many of our older neighbors, family members and friends are experiencing, and to highlight new initiatives and resources that can help.

The National Council on Aging reports that over 17 million (or roughly 1 in 3) older adults age 65 and older are economically insecure with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level, including over half of Black and Hispanic elders. Older women are more likely to live in poverty than men as a result of wage inequities, having to take time out of the workforce for caregiving, rising healthcare costs, and death of a spouse or divorce.

Even using more accurate measures of economic well-being like the Elder Index, which shows the true cost of living for older adults by geographic area, we see that millions of older adults are struggling to meet their monthly expenses, even though they’re not considered “poor” because they live above the poverty level. The reality is that for many, the golden years are tarnished by financial insecurity.

While we know that Social Security benefits lift 16.1 million older adults above the poverty line, NCOA notes that every year, $30 billion in available benefits go unclaimed — often because those who are eligible either don’t know about them, are unsure how to apply or need assistance with online applications. These programs (e.g., Medicare Savings Programs, SNAP and LIHEAP) are vital lifelines that can bridge the gap between income and daily living expenses.

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Here's how we are making financial assistance to senior more accessible

To help boost financial security, AgeWell Middle Tennessee and United Way of Greater Nashville have partnered to create a Secure Aging Collaborative and launch RESET, a program making financial counseling, benefit enrollment assistance and referral to supplemental income opportunities more accessible.

FiftyForward, NeedLink and Greater Nashville Regional Council are also partners in providing benefit enrollment assistance. Nashville’s Financial Empowerment Center offers free, confidential financial counseling and now has a dedicated counselor for anyone fifty and older.

Another resource is NCOA’s BenefitsCheckUp, an online tool that connects older adults with benefits programs that can help pay for health care, medicine, food, utilities, and more.

To learn more, visit https://agewelltn.benefitscheckup.org/

AgeWell’s helpline and Directory of Services, United Way of Greater Nashville’s 211 helpline and Area Agencies on Aging and Disability information/referral services, offer help finding emergency financial assistance and community resources.

We all deserve to age with dignity, and the important thing we want older adults and their families to know is that you’re not alone and help is available.

Erica Mitchell is executive vice president and chief community impact Officer for United Way of Greater Nashville.Grace Sutherland Smith is executive director of AgeWell Middle Tennessee and co-chair of the Tennessee Coalition for Better Aging.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Aging in Tennessee: Financial insecurity is real, but there is help