One of the main ideas behind the Social Security Act was to ensure the fiscal welfare of the elderly and provide for them post-retirement.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the act into law on Aug. 14, 1935. He believed that Social Security would help aging Americans transition into retirement with a degree of financial security independent of their pensions and savings.

Some classes of the elderly — women and many minorities — were not eligible for pensions. Social Security helped level the playing field for those individuals and give them something to bank upon once they were unable to continue working.

But Social Security alone has not proven the key to eliminating poverty among the older generation, as was once hoped. Instead, a study released by the Washington-based nonprofit Wider Opportunities for Women, or WOW, revealed that many Americans still live in less than ideal financial conditions.

In a state-by-state breakdown, the analysis shows that nearly half of older Americans (classified as individuals who are age 65 or more) cannot afford to meet their basic living expenses. As anyone who works with the elderly will attest, older individuals who live on severely limited incomes usually neglect their health, medications or nutritional needs. A staggering 9 million Americans fall into this classification.

Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, New York, Hawaii and Connecticut placed one through five in the analysis as the states with the highest gaps between income and cost of living.

No state posted a perfect record: From Alaska to Florida, each one had a gap between the income reality of its senior populations and their income requirements.

What's the answer? No study can provide a foolproof solution to the combination of a rising cost of living and constant underfunding, but the message is starkly presented: If America's upcoming seniors want a better quality of life, they will need to work longer, save more and be more frugal than their predecessors.

Otherwise, history will continue to repeat itself, leaving more and more of the elderly struggling to catch up with costs.

REPRINTED FROM THE KINSTON FREE PRESS