![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RS66300_230613-SFMarinFoodPantry-11-BL-KQED.jpg\")
Volunteers distribute food items at a San Francisco-Marin Food Bank pop-up pantry in the Richmond District of San Francisco on June 13, 2023. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\nLast year, Chan moved from San Francisco to an apartment in Contra Costa County to save on housing costs. And she doesn\u2019t plan to ever stop working. It\u2019s her best way to support herself and hopefully save enough to one day visit her mother \u2014 who is now in her 90s \u2014 in Hong Kong, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I can still have the job, then I want to work,\u201d Chan said, although she said that she wishes she had another option. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll quit if I win the lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteers distribute food items at a San Francisco-Marin Food Bank pop-up pantry in the Richmond District of San Francisco on June 13, 2023. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n
Chan is not alone. According to federal data from the Government Accountability Office<\/a> (GAO), about half of households nationwide with a worker aged 55 or older had no retirement savings. And like her, more seniors are staying in the workforce longer<\/a>, downsizing and depending more than ever on family and social services to meet essential needs.<\/p>\n But if you\u2019re already approaching your 60s and don\u2019t have much saved, what options are available for potentially changing that?<\/p>\n KQED reached out to financial advisers and groups that serve seniors to better understand what older adults with fewer savings in the Bay Area are doing to make retirement possible.<\/p>\n In the Bay Area, inequalities before and after retirement<\/p>\n Planning for retirement is even more difficult for low-income older adults \u2014 only 15%<\/a> of this group report having anything saved at all.<\/p>\n The GAO also found that lower-income workers are effectively shut out<\/a> from workplace retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s. By contrast, higher earners consistently have greater access to these kinds of accounts and usually receive larger employer contributions.<\/p>\n And the Bay Area\u2019s high cost of living makes preparing for retirement even more complicated, said Vanessa Merlano Sittauer, director of Santa Clara County\u2019s Department of Aging and Adult Services. \u201cWe need to talk about retirement [in] the greater context of what it\u2019s like to live in a place like the Bay Area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sittauer points to data from the research publication Silicon Valley Index<\/a> that shows that more that 40% of renters ages 18-64 across the South Bay and the Peninsula are severely rent burdened \u2014 meaning that at least half of their monthly income pays housing costs. For residents older than 65, that number climbs to 67%.<\/p>\n But if living in the Bay Area means spending more on housing \u2014 along with childcare<\/a>, transportation<\/a>, healthcare<\/a> and almost everything else \u2014 younger people are asking<\/a> if it\u2019s even possible to retire here when not much is left over at the end of every month.<\/p>\n What does retirement planning with less time look like?<\/p>\n Starting to plan for retirement in your 50s can feel overwhelming, said Matt Gellene, head of Specialized Consumer Client Solutions for Bank of America. \u201cBut the first and most important step is to be honest about your full financial picture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTake a full inventory: what you have saved, what you owe, what you expect from Social Security, and what you want retirement to look like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Plan out your spending \u2014 and debt payments<\/p>\n Think carefully about the debt you have now, Gellene said. \u201cHigh-interest debt can erode retirement readiness faster than many people realize,\u201d he said. \u201cPaying down that debt in the years before retirement reduces the monthly income you\u2019ll need to cover fixed costs once you stop working.\u201d<\/p>\n Even setting a realistic monthly budget now that limits lifestyle expenses can help down the road. Many Bay Area public libraries offer free workshops with financial advisers<\/a> who can help you figure out what you can start cutting back on now.<\/p>\n United Way Bay Area, known by many in the region for its free tax filing services<\/a>, also runs a network of free financial coaching centers known as SparkPoint<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are centers in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin counties, where financial coaches can help with making plans to achieve long-term goals like reducing debt and growing savings.<\/p>\n Know your options if you need to continue working<\/p>\n Seniors who feel they are not ready to leave the workforce but are looking for a job with more flexibility can also contact Self-Help for the Elderly<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that provides seniors in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with housing, food and other social services.<\/p>\n \u201cWe train older workers as home health aides, housekeepers and restaurant workers,\u201d CEO Anni Chung said. Seniors who are trained as housekeepers, for example, can work a few hours a week for several different clients. Multiple trainings for this older worker program<\/a> are held throughout the year.<\/p>\n Remember healthcare costs<\/p>\n Another huge retirement expense to consider is healthcare costs. Seniors with Medicare may still have to pay monthly premiums and deductibles, depending on what coverage plan they sign up for. Medicare Part A, which does not charge monthly premiums and covers major hospital bills, still comes with deductibles<\/a> that beneficiaries pay if they are admitted to the hospital.<\/p>\n Other Medicare options can cover additional medical expenses, like lab tests and medication, but those plans come with monthly premiums. And researchers have found that out-of-pocket healthcare expenses increase significantly for Medicare recipients<\/a> in the last years of life, and most individuals are considered high-need, high-cost patients<\/a> prior to death.<\/p>\n You can start preparing for medical expenses now with a health savings account, or HSA. This kind of savings account \u201coffers what we call triple tax savings,\u201d said Gellene from Bank of America. \u201cYour money goes in pre-tax, it can grow tax-free if you invest it and you can withdraw it tax-free for qualified medical expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n And if you can save a little more in the next few years, there may still be some options to make what you have grow. If you have one, Gellene recommends maxing out your 401(k) \u2014 that is, contributing as much as the IRS allows you to \u2014 especially if your employer offers a match.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s essentially free money, and you don\u2019t want to leave any of it on the table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Think about where you\u2019ll live<\/p>\n At a recent affordable housing fair<\/a> in San Francisco, several seniors had the same question for Anni Chung, from Self-Help for the Elderly. \u201cEither their spouse or other family members have passed away, and they can\u2019t keep up with the rent just on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n When the biggest expense is housing, Chung and her team help seniors apply for affordable housing via San Francisco\u2019s Dahlia portal<\/a>, where eligible residents can enter different lotteries for affordable apartments or studios. The available units listed can sometimes be smaller than where seniors lived when they had a full-time job, Chung said.<\/p>\n Some financial advisers shared with KQED that often, clients are able to bring their living expenses way down when they plan for retirement far from California. The state consistently ranks as one of the most expensive places for long-term care services. For example, the median monthly price<\/a> for a private room in a nursing home in California is about $15,000 \u2014 compared to roughly $10,000 in Ohio and $7,600 in Texas.<\/p>\n Another option for some seniors is moving in with their adult children. In many circumstances, this is an ideal arrangement for all parties. \u201cThey take care of each other, and it\u2019s one big happy family,\u201d Chung said. But even in these cases, she said it\u2019s important to set up clear expectations about living together \u2014 especially if a family is already living in a smaller Bay Area apartment.<\/p>\n And even if actual cohabitation isn\u2019t on the table, it\u2019s still important to maintain family connections and support, Chung said. \u201cIf living with family is complicated, then the seniors would rather have their own place but still have a good relationship with the family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If someone has little savings in the bank but was able to buy a home earlier in their life, they can also look into home-sharing programs like Home Match<\/a>. This program in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties connects homeowners with folks looking to rent a room or an accessory dwelling unit on their property.<\/p>\n As they figure out next steps, Bay Area seniors should remember they can consult \u2014 and lean on \u2014 groups like Self-Help for the Elderly, Chung said. \u201cWe need our seniors. We don\u2019t want to see them have to move,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey worked hard here. They should enjoy their golden years here.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PXL_20240520_185856861_qut.jpg\")
People gathered at a rally on May 20, 2024, in support of a San Francisco proposal to expand funding for affordable housing for seniors and others with low incomes. (Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez\/KQED)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1400799758-scaled-e1779405949186.jpg\")
According to federal data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), about half of households nationwide with a worker aged 55 or older had no retirement savings. (MoMo Productions\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/125841436_qed.jpg\")
Protestors carry signs as they demonstrate against proposed cuts to Medi-Cal and Medicare outside San Francisco city hall on Sept. 21, 2011, in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n