Some of those hardest hit by the economic crisis this year are retirees who have seen 401(k) and other retirement accounts depleted.
Cameron Graham, 62, is a volunteer at the Colorado chapter of the American Association of Retired People, or AARP — and said he hears horror stories all the time from fellow retirees.
"It’s a very serious problem for all of us and particularly a serious problem for people who are retired or within probably 10 years of retiring," he said.
"Savings and participating in 401(k)s and other things to prepare for retirement — they’ve seen it seriously depleted and it’s going to change their plans for retirement, or if they are retired may make them actually have to re-enter the workforce."
The retired attorney, speaking in front of the state capitol building in Denver, said the country must "change the direction we have gone over the last 25 years."
Don’t Miss
"A lot of the problems that we’re facing now are the result of a philosophy of allowing financial institutions to do anything they wanted based fundamentally on greed. And it has led to a situation of government having to step in in ways I would prefer not to see, but is absolutely necessary," the Greenwood Village, Colorado, resident said.
While he declined to disclose his choice for president, Graham said the next president must focus on creating jobs and helping homeowners deal with crippling foreclosures.
"No one wins in a foreclosure. Everyone loses, everyone’s values go down. And real estate is such a big part of our economy," he said. "I’m focused on a candidate and positions that will begin to take us back from the direction we’ve taken."
– CNN’s Ed Hornick
JACKSONVILLE, Florida: ‘The American dream has gone’
Linwood Mundy lives next door to two vacant properties in Jacksonville, Florida.
When it comes to dealing with lean economic times, Linwood Mundy takes the long view.
The 65-year-old spent his childhood sleeping under a roof so ramshackle "you could see moon in the night sky," inside walls with gaps so wide "you could pass something over to your neighbor right through them."
Now, the retired grandfather of 10 ("and one deceased") lives in a small, immaculately kept condo just a few miles away. But the economic anxiety of decades ago has followed him to his new home, in the form of dire national headlines, family financial pressures, and his own mortgage debt.
He lives next to two vacant properties: a home that has been in foreclosure for nearly a year — "You can’t sell it — it makes my property go down, too" — and a rental property priced too high to find any takers. "No one can afford it anymore. The American dream has gone," he said.
"People are sick, people are hungry, people are losing houses," said Mundy. "I mean, they’re not eating no Ritz-Carlton food, it’s not gourmet … [just] enough to carry them until the next day."
But Mundy says he’s lived through tougher times — and despite disabilities that have him taking more than two dozen medications daily, he’s determ
Related posts: Blue bombers, Greta wire, Martha ross, Chelsea v liverpool live, Madonna
Subscribe to the feed
