📋 Women 50+ Weigh in on Health Care, Retirement, Costs (AARP Article/Advocacy)

[Winter2025VA]

FROM THE ARTICLE.

Republican and Democratic female voters weighed in as part of AARP’s ‘She’s the Difference’ research.

By Miriam Cross, AARP. Published October 30, 2025.

Women in their 50s, 60s and 70s are strategizing on how to stretch their savings into retirement, are caring for family members of different generations and are dealing with medical costs that health insurance does not always cover.

They’re also considering the possibility that Social Security won’t pay out as promised.

A series of focus groups organized by AARP asked women 50 and older about their concerns, their priorities and the state of the country. The discussions took place in October as part of “She’s the Difference,” AARP’s research series gauging older women’s perspectives. Women 50-plus make up a large share of registered voters, turn out to the polls at a high rate and are often a key swing voting bloc in elections.

About 30 participants were divided into four focus groups based on their age and political leanings. The focus groups were led by a bipartisan team of pollsters: GBAO Strategies, a Democratic research firm, and Republican research firm Echelon Insights. Many of the women noted that life rarely pans out the way you expect. One participant is still living paycheck to paycheck after 40 years in the workforce. Another is helping raise her late daughter’s five children. Others thought they would travel more, retire earlier or plan a future with a partner rather than alone.

USE THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/advocacy/shes-the-difference-focus-group/

[GailL1]

Anybody read anything new here?  I didn’t.  

There was one universal truth regardless of age or any other differences between us  - “ Many of the women noted that life rarely pans out the way you expect.“  

Expect is one thing - Planning for whatever life may happen is another thing altogether; especially financially.

I guess being self-employed during the vast majority of my working days taught me the basics of the old adage “ If it is to be, then it is up to me” - set priorities in necessities - food, housing, transportation, child care, bought our own health insurance (private policy) based on our needs- saved as much as we could,  partly because there were some really lean times that we had to use saving to make it thru - that was the nature of being self-employed.  Feast or Famine - sometimes.

Health insurance wasn’t a choice to have - it was a necessity.  A policy that met one’s needs - health-wise and financially.  Same for auto insurance as well as house insurance.  

There was another comment in the article that said as a negative “dig into savings to cover health care expenses” - isn’t that the way it is supposed to be?  I always thought so - never had dental, vision or hearing coverage - just pay out of pocket - always paid out of pocket for our part of the health expenses.

Exactly what do people expect to pay for themselves once they retire?  . . . . With cost going up continuously, of course.  

I read an article the other day about some widow that was staying in her home after the death of her beloved - thing is, she could not afford it - especially the HOA fees that were connected to the home by legal documentation and she wanted some legislation to protect her from these cost - 

Should people who are older still be responsible for the public education part of their property taxes?  I see a lot of older homeowners lobbying for their removal from this type of taxation.  Some get it, some don’t.  Now I see nothing wrong with giving perhaps an extra exemption on property taxes because of age that reduces the tax bill somewhat, but removing this education part altogether seems like a cop out because they are still living in the community.  I liken this to those who are younger, working and paying into Social Security and Medicare for us older folks saying NOPE not paying for them anymore.    

Where is the balance?  We live in a society, we should participate in the society until we can’t any longer.  Right?  What is your view?