Could you retire on $15,000 a year in Vermont?
In 2015, 110,000 Vermonters, nearly one in six of us, were over 65 years old. As recently as 2000, only 77,500 Vermonters were seniors. By 2020, only four years from now, one in five will be over 65.
In 2030, 167,000 Vermonters will have reached 65, that’s twice as many as in 2000 and more than one out of every four people living in the Green Mountain State.
Social Security plays a significant role in the financial well-being of older Vermonters, adding $1.8 billion to their income. Social Security doesn’t just provide payments to retirees. People too young to receive Social Security retirement benefits but who can’t work due to a disability also receive money from Social Security.
The 27,600 Vermonters who receive Social Security disability benefits make up 4.4 percent of the state’s population, ranking us ninth highest in the nation up there with states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. In most state rankings, we’re not usually aligned with poor southern states, although New Hampshire and Maine have the dubious honor of joining us in the top tier of states with large numbers of people on Social Security’s disability rolls.
