How do retirees live in New York

Pensioners in the US do not survive, but live. Photo: depositphotos.com

It is generally accepted that in the United States, with the arrival of retirement, life for older people is just beginning - they go traveling, live for their own pleasure, attend various classes, and many even move to warmer states. In fact, everything is not always so rosy, but there is some truth in it. ForumDaily figured out how retirees live in New York and what they can count on.

Drop everything and start a new life in 47 years

Irina Kuznetsova is just one of those pensioners who regularly go on cruises and enjoy life in retirement. She moved to America from Russia more than 20 years ago after winning a green card. Living in the USA was her cherished dream: even in her youth, she watched American films and imagined how she would walk around Manhattan in a flirty yellow coat. As a result, her dream came true. She quit her job as a school principal in Russia and started life from scratch in America. Irina lost her husband in Russia, the children were well settled and refused to go.

Arriving in New York, Irina worked as a housekeeper, taught Russian to children, in the evenings she played the piano in a bar, from time to time she worked as a nanny. And at some point, rallied and opened her own cleaning company. She worked honestly, regularly paid taxes, hoping to receive a pension from them later. But he says: not all do so, some prefer to show the minimum income and save more in cash.

Now 67-year-old Irina is already retired. She receives money from the state, and besides this, her company also generates income. A woman admits that she had just started walking around Manhattan, she dreamed before arriving, and was enjoying New York, and not running headlong to get to work.

Unlike many Russian-speaking immigrants, she does not live on Brighton Beach and communicates with Americans a lot. In her free time, Irina walks, goes to the gym, visits the theater, the conservatory, once a year goes on a cruise with her friends, periodically travels around the states by car.

Pensioners in the United States look much younger than their peers from Russia or Ukraine. Photo: depositphotos.com

“Of course, there is no need to wait for mountains of gold. You receive the pension you earned,” says Irina. — I get about $1400, everything else is my personal savings, which I put into a black box from my salary. Not all pensioners live the way I do because of small pensions. After all, by and large, everything in America is expensive. 10 years ago I was able to afford a one-bedroom apartment in New Jersey. I’m still paying off the mortgage, but it’s my property and I’ll be able to leave something for my children if they ever decide to come.”

When in the USA they retire

However, not everyone in America succeeds in securing such old age as Irina’s. In the US, by the way, there is no such thing as a normal retirement age. A person, given his financial and personal circumstances, can decide when to retire.

In general, today older people can receive a pension starting at age 62, although the official retirement age in America is considered to be 65. The later a person decides to receive a pension, the more substantial the amount will be. For example, if you start a pension payment program at the age of 65, the pensioner will receive 100% of the payments due to him, if from the age of 62 - only 75%. But if you leave at 70 years old, you can get 125-130%. How the size of the pension depends on age can be seen in Online Social Security Administration.

Former military personnel, pilots, and teachers receive the largest pensions. In addition, many social programs have been developed in America for older people - a disability pension, a project for partial payment of housing “Program 8”, food stamps Food Stamps and of course the national health insurance program Medicare. You can read more about these programs in our material.

Medical insurance for pensioners

"According to the law of the United States, every permanent resident who has worked for at least 10 years (40 quarters) on a check and paid an insurance tax all this time is eligible for state health insurance Medicare upon reaching 65 years of age, says a representative of the insurance company Fidelis care Leonid Kopeikin. — Consequently, people who came to the country over the age of 65 may find themselves in a difficult situation, because their ability to obtain health insurance will depend on the conditions under which they entered the country and how they plan their life in America in terms of material — in other words, what will they live on? This, in turn, requires an answer to the question: will they live separately or with one of their relatives and how will they fill out the income tax return - independently or as dependents (dependent)? In any case, people at the age of 65 + need to get the necessary information from relatives and friends living in America before arriving in the country. ”

Fidelis care offers free or low cost comprehensive health insurance, including Medicaid Managed Care, Medicare Advantage, Child Health Plusas well as products available through the program NY State of Health: Official Medical Insurance Plan Marketplace. In addition, among the services Fidelis care You can find plans for managed long-term care for an adult who is shown care in a nursing home, but who can also safely stay at home with appropriate care and support.

Fidelis care cooperates with many service providers to provide local residents with high-quality and low-cost health insurance.

Choosing the right for the pensioner health insurance is very important. Photo: depositphotos.com

Among other things, the company Fidelis care - the only organization in New York where a Russian-speaking team works. Thus, people from the former CIS countries can get all the necessary information about health insurance in an accessible form and in their native language.

The Russian-speaking Fidelis Care team will be happy to advise you on all insurance matters:

External Relations Specialist Leonid Kopeikin: (347) 642-2993

Entertainment for seniors

If the life of a person who retired in one of the countries of the former CIS most likely becomes boring and most often involves only raising grandchildren, visiting grocery stores and clinics, then in the USA everything is exactly the opposite - American pensioners after 65, having health and savings begin to live actively. Or, in any case, they begin to relax more and fulfill their desires.

They go to gyms (in fitness centers you will definitely meet older women on treadmills and older men with dumbbells), go on sea cruises (there are even special cruises for elderly people on the Internet), start going to dance clubs and centers to communicate with people of their own age. American pensioners do not consider themselves old and do not like when their grandchildren call them grandparents.

And in Arizona, there is even a whole city called Sun City, where only people who have turned 55 years old or more live. This is a kind of Disneyland for the elderly, where they dance, do yoga, watch movies, study and relax.

In America, there is a whole city where only pensioners live. Photo: depositphotos.com

However, it is not necessary to leave for another state in order to spend interesting time together with people of your age. In New York you can find a lot of different options for spending time. You can see what interesting events are being prepared at a special new york retirement portal.

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Another way of socialization, which most elderly but active pensioners resort to, is visiting day care homes for the elderly called Adult day care. In New York, a lot of them. With a bit of humor, such centers are lovingly and ironically called "kindergartens." Older people spend their time there, exercise, play board games, listen to lectures on art and watch movies.

In such centers, older people even fall in love and marry. Zinovy ​​Vatel and Raisa Rogova met at one of these “kindergartens” when they were both around 70.

68-year-old Zinovy ​​came to New York from Kyiv with his sons and wife after finishing his career as a psychiatrist. His adaptation to the new life was quite difficult - an unfamiliar language that the man did not know, and a new culture. According to Zinovy, in the first years he cooked borscht and looked after his grandchildren. He was eager to go to work, but he was more needed at home.

After the death of his wife, Zinovy ​​was very sad, and one of his sons advised him to go to a special center where he could communicate with people his age. Zinovy ​​agreed and went to the “kindergarten”, where he met his future wife Raisa. Since then they have not parted. The couple had a lot in common: they were both former doctors, they both adhere to a healthy lifestyle, and they both fled the Soviet regime.

Zinovy ​​and Raisa. Photo: from the personal archive of the center for the elderly

Raisa flew to New York at the same age as Zinovy. Together with her were two daughters. Raisa lost her husband before the move. A woman came to the center to recover from depression after the death of her spouse and make new acquaintances in order not to feel lonely in the city of the Big Apple.

After meeting, Raisa and Zinovy ​​moved to a new center, which was more convenient for them to visit - Adult Day Care Health Care Center Lehaim at the King Rehabilitation Center David Nursing and Reablition Center. There they played a small wedding.

“Kindergarten” revealed in the former psychiatrist a talent of the artist: Zinovy ​​began to make three-dimensional paintings. Together with Raisa, he also lectured in Russian for other retirees about healthy lifestyles. The man didn’t have a chance to learn English, even though he tried to master it, but Raisa, on the contrary, was able to learn English and speaks quite well on it.

Kindergarten for adults for the elderly is paid by the insurance company. The number of visiting hours is determined by a specialist from the company; for this, an individual medical assessment of a person’s condition is carried out.

For example, Zinovy ​​can only come to the “kindergarten” for 2 days due to his age and illness. Raisa no longer visits him at all - she cannot walk on her own. Instead, an assistant comes to her house (home attendant). And this service is also covered by insurance. Spouses use the services of a New York company Fidelis Care. The company, among other things, advises on obtaining insurance Medicare.

Note: get medical insurance Medicare can anyone over the age of 65 who meets the requirements of the program. Diseases in history do not interfere with getting insurance.

“The age we are talking about presupposes the presence of a whole “bouquet” of various health problems,” says a representative of the insurance company Fidelis care Leonid Kopeikin. - So physical condition is not an obstacle to obtaining health insurance. Moreover, in some cases this may be a serious reason for obtaining preferential insurance. In most cases, you can expect financial expenses. Almost all insurances operating under the Obamacare umbrella have plans MLTC - Managed Long Term Care. This plan is for older adults with chronic illnesses who are willing and able to stay at home or in nursing homes (called day care centers). The issue is that the level of service varies from company to company, so day homes for the elderly, in particular, do not work with all insurances. People who have and Medicare and Medicaid. This is possible with a low income. But you won’t have to pay for such a service as a housekeeper/home attendant or for visiting a “kindergarten.”

Like Zinovy ​​and Raisa, another visitor to the “kindergarten,” Nelly Suponytska, also hasrahovka from Fidelis care for more than 4 years now. Until recently, the woman led an active lifestyle for her 85 years - she went to badminton classes, went on a cruise at least once a year, and attended free concerts.

Nelly Suponitskaya Photo: from the personal archive of the center for the elderly

Everything changed when last year she rode in a bus, the driver braked sharply, the woman fell and broke her hip. Now Nelly is in the process of arranging transport in order to move around the city.

By the way, a woman could not only learn English well in the USA, but also learned how to use a computer and a smartphone. What is more likely an exception to the rule for local retirees than a common phenomenon. As a rule, people who have moved to the States in old age have difficulty with English. Therefore, in the "kindergartens" communication is conducted in Russian, although English classes are held there.

Nellie, like many other elderly people who came to America from the countries of the former CIS, is confident that old age with any level of wealth in the United States can not be compared with the life of a pensioner in the same Russia or Ukraine. After all, America is created primarily for people and cares about the comfort of everyone.

Read also on ForumDaily:

6 medical insurance facts that every New York State resident would like to know

How immigrant pensioners live in New York

10 life hacking for new immigrants in the US

20 Facts about US Social Security

Cities where pensioners can live on social security

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