For many seniors, a peaceful, work-free retirement is simply not an option. However, this means seniors are often left struggling with the balancing act of earning additional income.

This balancing act requires retirees to consider many things, including:

• How much can the individual give up and still be happy?
• Will the additional income threshold be enough to help cover all of their bills?
• If the threshold is not enough, how much after the threshold is needed? How much will their benefits then be taxed? How much more will the individual need to make up for that?

It’s easy to see how the last bullet point can become a never-ending cycle of calculations and balancing.

Benefits Aren’t Enough?

The biggest question surrounding this is, why aren’t benefits enough for most retirees?

And, unfortunately, it comes down to the ballooning debt. The current generation of retirees has taken on a lot more debt than previous generations.

In fact, CNBC reports that this burden increased 543% for Americans age 70 and older from 1999 to 2019, totaling $1.1 trillion.

Why is there so much debt among older Americans? CNBC reports that two leading causes are the skyrocketing costs of higher education and healthcare.

What Does This Mean?

With this in mind, we can understand why many senior citizens are earning additional income after retirement.

Social Security benefits are meant to keep retirees from relying on the government, so why are we punishing those who take on extra work to ensure they can make their payments?

Our Bill & How You Can Help

It is for these reasons, and more, that Senior Security Alliance is acting now. We created – and are working to pass – The Senior Citizen Bill of Rights. It contains 7 rights that will help guarantee senior citizens a more financially secure future.

Included in this legislation is the right for retirees to earn as much additional income as they need, without getting their benefits taxed.

It is unreasonable to punish those who need more than their benefits can give. And although we are continuing to urge the politicians in Washington to take a stand, we need your help.

By signing our petition, you can help to change history for the better. Help us create a beneficial change for retirees.