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Maureen used to have a tradition with her third-grade class. Every year, she and her students would read Patricia Polacco's "The Keeping Quilt" and spend the afternoon working on a craft themed to the story. The students would decorate their own fabric square — and Maureen would sew them together. She kept each quilt long after each class graduated.
The 66-year-old taught elementary and middle school for over four decades.
"It didn't pay much, but it was it was a wonderful job," she told Business Insider. "I was very blessed to have it."
Maureen — who chose to go by her first name for privacy — lost her teaching job in 2020 when the Catholic school she worked at closed because it ran out of funding. She felt "blindsided," she said.
Maureen now lives on $1,601 monthly Social Security payments in northeast Pennsylvania, according to bank documents viewed by BI. She's living check to check and struggling to pay bills. And, despite being a few months shy of the federal retirement age, which is 67, she's wondering if she needs to find a new job.
She estimates that she has $180,000 in the 401(k) account she built over her long career, which she said will be about $144,000 once it's taxed upon withdrawal. She could use the money now, but she hasn't spent any of it because she's worried about making it last the rest of her life.
Americans like Maureen are facing tough retirement choices. For some, strong savings and savvy investments mean they have the over $1.5 million Northwestern Mutual found most Americans need to retire comfortably. For others, fixed Social Security incomes aren't enough to afford basic necessities.
Over half of baby boomers have $250,000 or less in retirement assets, per a 2024 report from the Retirement Income Institute. It leaves many older adults wondering when is the right time to start using their savings or benefits — and whether the wealth they've built will be enough to live on.
"I'm trying to hold off," Maureen said about her 401(k) savings. "I'm figuring: if I start using it now, what if I live to be 90? Then I'm going to be in trouble."
Maureen feels like she has struggled with money for most of her adult life. Her husband died unexpectedly 22 years ago, leaving her as the sole income earner for her two young daughters.
Although she said her teacher salary was often around $42,000 a year, Maureen frequently had to work two or three part-time tutoring jobs each summer to make ends meet. It made her sad to spend less time with her children as they grew up, but she had to put food on the table, she said.
Maureen has received other benefits and income throughout the years, but nothing steady.
Her husband's Social Security money primarily went to her daughters when they were young, she said, but she recently learned his employer is closing their pension system. Maureen expects to receive a small amount of money, but not enough to make a major difference on bills.
She doesn't have her own teacher's pension because her private school stopped offering them in the 90s in favor of a 401(k), she said. And, she only received unemployment money for about a year during the pandemic.
With $1,601 monthly Social Security as her only source of reliable income, Maureen is on a tight budget. And her list of expenses feels long: cell phone, WiFi, Medicare fees, car, gas, and any unexpected house or medical bills.
She and her husband bought their home in the 1980s, and the mortgage is paid off. However, Maureen said paying utilities and insurance on the house is costly.
Her electricity bill can be $500 or more each month, she said. She tries to keep her heat below 55 or 60 degrees, even in the freezing Pennsylvania winters.
For food, Maureen said she receives $23 a month from SNAP — which doesn't go very far. She will frequently make big-batch soups that she can eat for multiple days, and buy items like pasta and tomato sauce in bulk when they are on sale.
She doesn't tell most people in her life that she receives any form of government assistance. Her finances can feel isolating: she frequently has to turn down concerts and restaurant dinner invitations with friends because she can't afford them.
While Maureen knows she needs money, she's "afraid" to touch her 401(k) account. She plans to wait a few more years before touching her savings, around the time she turns 70.
"Unless I have to do it before that," she said, "And I might have to."
Are living on a fixed income in retirement? Have you experienced stigma or loneliness attached to receiving government aid? If you're open to sharing your story, reach out to allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.
