A Third of Older Latinos Have Tapped Into Retirement Savings
Suddenly jobless and with small children to support, Jose Victor Camargo without hesitation cashed out a retirement account he had with his former employer.
That was more than a decade ago, and the father of three used the money to pay for rent and stay afloat until he found another job. “We are always in need, so I used the money,” he said in Spanish. “We were struggling. We tried to make the money stretch.”
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that older Latinos are more likely than older whites or older blacks to say they’ve had to withdraw or borrow money from a retirement account — 34 percent for Latinos compared with 24 percent for whites and 25 percent for blacks.
A third of all respondents who said they withdrew money from a retirement account indicated they used the money to pay monthly bills including rent and utilities, the poll found.
Camargo, 60, is now working in a restaurant earning California’s minimum wage. While it’s difficult for him to save for retirement, he is making an effort to keep his new 401(k) account intact. But more than half of his income goes to pay for rent and the rest goes to cover basic expenses, making it almost impossible to plan for retirement.
Full Content: US News
Remember to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter for more news or subscribe to our service to get unlimited access.
