The fastest-growing homeless population? Seniors.

[Auggie]

Summary (from the link): Some seniors have been homeless for years and are now growing older. But the increasing numbers also reflect another trend: those experiencing homelessness for the first time after age 50.

California accounts for about a third of the nation’s homeless people, and among this population, seniors are estimated to be the fastest-growing group. One key indicator is the state’s tally of people accessing homelessness services. From 2017 to 2021, California’s overall senior population grew by 7% but the number of people 55 and over who sought homelessness services increased 84% — more than any other age group — according to the state’s Homeless Data Integration System.

For comparison, the number of people accessing homelessness services across all ages increased 43% during this time period.

Elderly people who are homeless include those who have been unhoused for a long time and are getting older. But they also include those who are part of a growing trend, research shows: people experiencing homelessness for the first time after age 50.

Those at increased risk of losing shelter tend to be older adults who live alone and on fixed incomes, with little to no savings. A main contributor, experts say, is that as California rents soar, seniors’ income streams, including Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income, have not kept up.

FULL STORY: https://calmatters.org/health/2023/02/california-homeless-seniors/

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35 years ago a financial advisor asked me what I'd want to receive in retirement income. After I told her, she said I would need to double that.

It was among the best advice I ever got. It's also why I'm not retiring at age 66 1/2.

[keithbvadu2]

1. A vast, teeming retirement community called skid row

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-04/column-skid-row-is-the-largest-retirement-center-in-the-country

from::: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217616903

[Auggie]

3. Thanks for sharing

[Marthe48]

2. My house is paid off

Property taxes went up $300.00 since last year. House insurance went up. I paid $4500.00 to get the trees trimmed, and $2100.00 for a hot water tank and new faucets in the bathroom.

I got an LOC loan, which I can draw on for 10 years, and I'm using that to cover some of the costs. I think the roof needs a repair and there are other things that need to be done, if I can find a contractor who will do the work.

Anyway, even if the house is paid off, it is still my biggest expense. If I sold it, I couldn't afford something as decent. I can see why others in my age group are having trouble, whether they were homeless a long time, or just can't afford housing since they retired. It is a pretty good bet if you see a house with a yard full of cars, that the house is used by several families, or a group of people--the only way they can keep a roof over their heads.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Singles tax just by living alone

https://www.bing.com/search?q=singles+tax&form=ANNTH1&refig=c53b620d406441fe9eee17b8201b81fc&sp=1&qs=UT&pq=singles+tax&sc=8-11&cvid=c53b620d406441fe9eee17b8201b81fc

[Marthe48]

6. Is this about the renters?

I don't rent, just pay through the nose on property tax :/

[keithbvadu2]

7. Renters/owners both being hammered by higher expenses.

[Marthe48]

9. The county auditor raised property taxes

across the board. Whether we work, or are retired, or between jobs, it bit every property owner. We didn't benefit from tax collection before the raise, and I doubt we benefit now.

TG for President Biden's relief programs. I know I got some benefit, and people worse off than did too. Now, we need some kind of relief for renters and homeless.

[Retrograde]

12. That was the impetus behind Prop. 13

Back in the late 1970s (it was passed in 1978) house prices in California were going through the roof. The rationale behind the proposition was that it would put a 2% cap on how much house assessments could be raised each year, and set the property tax at 1% of the assessed value. Yeah, I bitched when we bought this house and saw that my neighbors were paying a fraction of what we were. Now that we're retired and in my 70s, it lets us stay in the house: the assessment and hence taxes go up every year (and there are the "extras" such as water district assessments and parcel taxes) but the rise is capped and predictable.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. LOC Line Of Credit (fyi for those didn't know what this stood for). Thanks Marthat48

for this information. Most of us in the senior bracket would not be able to afford another place should we sell or move from our primary residence (like you said, more and more people have to cram themselves into a place that has multiple family units living there, it would be the only way they would be able to afford the place).

One note, residences usually do have a limit of how many persons can live at a place. We have such an ordinance in the city of STLMO.

One thing about this issue, is that I feel that NIMBY (not in my back yard) is rearing its ugly head, where you'll see seniors in upscale neighborhoods unable to find affordable housing in neighborhoods that they may have lived in for decades (can't maintain their original home any longer so thus are downsizing). There was an article in DU some time ago (over a year or so ago) that went into some length on the issues that seniors faced when they downsize or lost their homes.

[Marthe48]

8. I know of a few people who did the reverse mortgage

they don't have anyone to leave their property to. I think someone on DU just wrote about their experience.

I worried that people would sell their homes during the last bubble, and then be unable to find another place to live. We bought this house in 1989. When we bought it, we were the kids on the block, now I am the old lady up the street :/

[SWBTATTReg]

10. That is a danger, indeed. There is also a concern that seniors, owning their homes outright,

Last edited Fri Feb 17, 2023, 04:42 AM - Edit history (1)

would get caught into escalating property taxes (as well as constantly increasing insurance premiums too), and thus have to rely more and more on reverse mortgages to keep up. A dangerous trend.

UPDATE: On YouTube, I heard that landlords/property owners are facing a disaster as they continue to fail in selling their properties, and then decide to rent out their properties that failed to sell, or AIRBNB their properties.

Apparently now there is a huge glut of properties w/ no tenants. Ha ha heh...they helped to end a formerly good thing by overdoing it, flooding the rental markets w/ way too many rental properties. Rents (not in all parts of the Country yet, but getting there from what I hear) are dropping.

There are some good YOUTUBE videos out there detailing this info. If I happened to remember it, I'll jot down their names so I can pass along this information. Michael B below is the one reference I grabbed, but there are tons of other YOUTUBE videos that are pretty good. The overall trend is that the rental market is flooded w/ extra properties that failed to sell (higher interest rates). And the guy is pretty interesting, not too long in his videos.

Michael Bordenaro
@MichaelBordenaro

[SheltieLover]

11. Keep allowing investors to gobble up properties & raise rents & it will only get worse