At 61, Alexander Remus has pared his life down to the essentials. He lives on a modest pension, avoids restaurants, and allows himself just one visit to a movie theater a month “to stay sane.” Even his prescriptions for a chronic health condition aren’t guaranteed — some months, he skips doses to stretch his budget.
The sacrifices are painful, but he said they’re the only way to keep up with the cost of living as a retired highway maintenance worker who resides in a San Jose senior living complex.
“At the end of the month, there’s just not enough left over to cover all my bills,” Remus said.
A new poll finds many of the Bay Area’s older residents are feeling the pinch. A third of the retired respondents, like Remus, say they are just making ends meet, one in six is struggling to pay the bills, and 6% report being in serious financial trouble. The 2025 poll by Bay Area News Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a regional economic think tank, surveyed 1,743 adults across the core five-county Bay Area in August…