Pay Debts & Routine Necessities for Marla & Ralph

My husband (80 yrs. old) and I (76 yrs. old) are retired senior citizens, married 49 years with three adult daughters very close in age, plus two grandchildren. We’ve always had a tight financial situation and managed somehow, but in recent years things have gotten much worse. The past two pandemic years have set us back even further. Last year, after our dog had surgery and had to be euthanized six months ago, we began maxing out credit cards. We are now struggling to make ends meet and keep up with routine expenses. We have difficulty affording food and other necessities while being deep in debt. We’ve even just recently been forced to go to a FOOD BANK. Our two desktop computers are breaking down and need to be replaced, and we can’t afford to keep up with the high cost of technology. We have only one old car (2007 model) and no money for final expenses. We worry about how long we can afford our rent with increasing property taxes. When we pay off one bill, there’s another new huge expense, and if we have an emergency now, I’ll be thrown into a panic! I can’t tolerate the extreme stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights from all the aggravation, and if this continues much longer, I'm afraid I will implode with a heart attack or a stroke.

• Our DEBT has accumulated due to credit card charges for “NECESSITIES.” Please note that we are NOT spendthrifts, and we do NOT have trouble managing money.

• We’ve tried everything to resolve our financial difficulties, including downsizing to a small rental home in 2016, and we just consolidated all our credit accounts to try and make some headway. We economize in every way possible. However, living on SOCIAL SECURITY alone is impossible like we are now without any other source of income and NO SAVINGS. My husband’s 401K retirement plan savings were entirely exhausted due to lengthy periods of unemployment years ago.

• Our Social Security income is just slightly over the maximum to qualify as a “low income” family, so we aren't eligible for any additional benefits.

OUR GOAL:

• We are trying to pay off our massive BACKLOG OF CREDIT CARD DEBTS that piled up from many years of unemployment, medical expenses, and home relocation expenses (including three cross-country moves over the years due to job changes). In addition, we have had to help support our adult children during times of their unemployment.

• We need FINANCIAL SECURITY. Our retirement was not supposed to turn out like this, but life has thrown us a horrible curve ball. We desire only the necessities of life and some peace from constant worry.

We have had UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES and many HARDSHIPS leading us up to this point in our lives, and neither one of us is in any position to work and hold down a job, although I’ve tried to find employment unsuccessfully at times. My age and physical handicaps, including back trouble and arthritis in my hands, work against me.

• My husband and I were both thrown into early retirement unexpectedly, and certainly not by choice, due to circumstances beyond our control before we were financially prepared and secure.

• My husband had a long career working for various companies that had buy-outs or mergers with the usual resulting downsizings/layoffs, causing him 5 JOB LAYOFFS (through no fault of his own) with long sieges of unemployment during his career. That is why we moved across the country three times for new jobs. That has dramatically affected the two of us and our children.

• Due to our UNEMPLOYMENT, we had to give up home ownership and have been renting since 1997.

• I spent 24 years employed as a secretary, executive secretary and administrative assistant. In 1994, I began suffering from a medical condition called Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a highly misunderstood disorder. In 1997, at the age of 51, due to having developed a debilitating medical condition that turned out to be a long-term DISABILITY, unbeknownst to me in the beginning, I had to give up my employment, so I suddenly had no income from a job.

• After applying for Social Security DISABILITY in 2005 at the age of 60, it took me two long agonizing years and two appeals for my DISABILITY CASE to be approved in 2007…and without the benefit of a lawyer. That only provided me with minimal income over the next four years, after which I was switched to retirement benefits. I felt CHEATED out of 10 additional years of income benefits because the Social Security Administration did not previously recognize Fibromyalgia as an official disability in 1994, which prevented me from applying then, and retroactive payments could not be made that far back. The Administrative Law Judge who heard my case was even apologetic for not being able to award retroactive benefits so far back.

• Since I have to be on a RESTRICTED/LIMITED DIET due to food allergies or sensitivities, etc., the COST OF FOOD can often be more expensive. I must read ingredient labels carefully and can only eat certain types of foods and brands.

• I did not have a highly paid profession. I worked hard in my challenging secretarial jobs, sometimes being treated with unfairness, not taken seriously, and as a “second-class citizen.” In addition, I was DISCRIMINATED against as a woman or a mother, etc. At times, bosses gave me false promises and lost out on promotions; however, the secretarial profession is filled with dead-end jobs. Therefore, I have nothing to show for all my years of hard work, and I am in a difficult financial situation today, feeling cheated out of what could have been.

• I haven’t had an easy life by any means. I’ve had numerous personal responsibilities in addition to those from my employment, especially juggling the care of three daughters so close in age when they were young and while we had many huge expenses coming so close, one on top of another. I interrupted my career after I got married and had children to be a stay-at-home mom until they were 5, 7 and 8 years old before returning to work as a secretary. I have worked full-time, part-time and temp jobs—whatever was necessary to accommodate my three children and manage my life.

• My husband has a severe and worsening hearing impairment which makes it difficult for him to communicate with people in person and over the phone despite having expensive digital hearing aids, which don’t help enough. Therefore, I must be present to step in and assist, taking over certain things for him.

My husband and I sympathize with the many other people struggling with problems even worse than ours, especially after the long pandemic and rising inflation. I am very uncomfortable asking for help because I was raised to work hard for everything in my life, and I’ve always been the one to help others at work and in my personal life. I want to live our lives a little easier now in the years we have left. We need relief from our constant state of worry. We would be eternally grateful to anyone who can provide us with some help. Many thanks for considering our request.