Rising prices hammer seniors on fixed incomes - USATODAY.com

Rising prices hammer seniors on fixed incomes - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/2008-07-01-retiree-fixed-income_N.htm
Long before workers at the San Diego Food Bank began distributing cardboard food cartons from the back of a truck on a recent day, elderly men and women, many needing walkers and metal canes, formed a line in a church parking lot. The free food amounts to a lifeline for these seniors, who have seen inflation wring much of the value out of their fixed incomes. For these retirees, the prices of essentials -- notably, gas and food -- have galloped beyond reach. Perhaps most of all, they're straining under the weight of crushing medical costs. Nearly all Americans have felt the sting of inflation in recent months. But when you're retired and your sole means of support is a fixed amount that arrives each month -- from Social Security and, for the lucky ones, a pension -- the pain is especially severe.