For Middletown resident Michael Owens, 72, returning to work was a financial necessity.<\/p>\n
Owens took a part-time job at Menards in 2020 because of rising living costs, housing expenses and what he described as insufficient Social Security income.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first got this house, we paid a little over $500 a month for a house payment,\u201d Owens said. \u201cNow we\u2019re up to $983.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had retired a few years prior due to health issues.<\/p>\n
After three years working at Menards, however, his health issues worsened. Frequent standing contributed to plantar fasciitis, neuropathy and gout in his right ankle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hardly walk,\u201d he said. \u201cI never know in the morning what medical device I\u2019m going to use: my cane, crutches or the walker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before retiring, Owens worked 19 years at Tropicana on Princeton Glendale Road.<\/p>\n
Today, he and his wife, Bonnie, 75, largely rely on Social Security. Bonnie works a couple days a week despite having her own health challenges, while Owens can no longer work because of his medical conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the other bills, we don\u2019t have luxuries,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stories like Owens\u2019 have become increasingly common as retirees grapple with rising housing, food and health care costs.<\/p>\n
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Xenia resident Lynne Carroll said she returned to full-time work in October 2025 as a co-responder for police agencies in Oakwood, Moraine, Centerville, Miamisburg and West Carrollton.<\/p>\n
Nick Graham<\/a> For some retirees, however, financial concerns are only part of the equation.<\/p>\n Lynne Carroll, 68, works full time as a co-responder for several Montgomery County police departments, including Oakwood, Moraine, Centerville, Miamisburg and West Carrollton.<\/p>\n She accompanies officers on calls involving mental health crises, overdoses, suicides and other emergencies that require specialized support.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever is out there that they need some help with,\u201d Carroll said.<\/p>\n The Xenia resident spent 40 years as a social worker before retiring in 2019 at age 62. She left the workforce to care for her father, who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and took custody of her granddaughter, Gracie, who was 2 months old at the time.<\/p>\n For years, caregiving responsibilities prevented Carroll from working. About a year ago, she began receiving part-time assistance from a home health aide through the Area Agency on Aging, allowing her to return to the workforce. She started her current position in October 2025.<\/p>\n Carroll said her decision to return to work was driven by several factors, including finances, student loan debt and her own mental well-being.<\/p>\n \u201cHelping other people helped me keep my mind off what was going on here at home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lynne Carroll, 68, said her granddaughter, Gracie, 6, is one of the reasons she continues to work as a co-responder for police agencies in Montgomery County. Nick Graham \/ staff<\/p>\n Nick Graham<\/a><\/p>\n Each month, Carroll receives about $1,300 in Social Security benefits, $900 for caring for Gracie and a $500 pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she worked as a social worker.<\/p>\n Two weeks ago, her father died at the age of 89.<\/p>\n While he was alive, his Social Security check covered the family\u2019s mortgage payment but little else, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe struggled a lot,\u201d Carroll said, noting their combined income placed them just above the threshold for many assistance programs.<\/p>\n Without her job, Carroll said, most of her monthly income would go toward housing expenses, with the remainder stretched across utilities, groceries and other necessities. Food prices have climbed sharply, she said, and utility bills have nearly doubled in recent months.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to work,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I had to stop working, I could. It would just be very tight.\u201d<\/p>\n Carroll worries not only about paying the bills but also about providing opportunities for Gracie, now 6.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to live a little comfortably and get Gracie situated in life,\u201d she said. \u201cI want Gracie to go to school, to college. She\u2019s a very bright girl. She\u2019s fun. She was born into a lot of adversity, and I don\u2019t want that lifestyle for her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe deserves to have things that other kids have, and she probably wouldn\u2019t if I wasn\u2019t working,\u201d Carroll added.<\/p>\n Even with the financial pressures, Carroll said she considers herself fortunate compared with many retirees living solely on fixed incomes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how people do it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Quote<\/p>\n When you retire, it\u2019s supposed to be your fun time. But I think for a lot of retirees, it\u2019s not their fun time, because they worry so much about money and health care.<\/p>\n Stretching retirement dollars<\/p>\n For Dartnall, finances remain a significant consideration.<\/p>\n He supports his wife, who has ongoing medical problems and has never worked outside the home. Although both have Medicare, Dartnall said copays remain expensive and everyday costs continue to rise.<\/p>\n Food prices alone have increased 20.5% since January 2022, according to a CBS News price tracker.<\/p>\n Dartnall also worries about the future of Social Security and Medicare. The Ohio Capital Journal reported<\/a> in June that more than 2 million Ohioans could face Social Security benefit reductions beginning in 2032 if Congress fails to address the program\u2019s funding shortfall. Medicare Part A is projected to become insolvent by 2033.<\/p>\n The income he earns as a real estate agent serves as what he calls a \u201cnice supplement\u201d to his Social Security benefits, which total a little more than $3,000 a month.<\/p>\n The average Social Security recipient in Ohio receives about $1,900 a month, or roughly $23,000 a year, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this day and age, you read about people living on their Social Security,\u201d Dartnall said. \u201cI have no idea how they do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n Working for more than a paycheck<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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