Lisa Beaty and Kim Hilton prepared to sell most of their possessions before leaving their home in this little village near Glacier National Park.

"The only thing that's not for sale is the house — everything else has to go," Hilton, who is retired told NPR as he checked his blood sugar. 

Hilton has been unable to work for years due to his disability, brought on by Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other medical conditions. While Medicare covered him, his only source of income is from government disability benefits.

Beaty, 64, also depends on disability benefits due to a shoulder injury and fibromyalgia. Their combined monthly salary is approximately $1,500, a number that is no longer sufficient for their survival.

Earlier this year, investors purchased the home they rented and increased the rent from $1,000 all-inclusive to $1,800 not including utilities.

"They're not evicting me — on a fixed income, I can't do it," Beaty explained.

They were without a place to go, and above that, the stress of the situation led them to break up with one another in addition to losing their house. 

Living out of his vehicle

While Beaty had the plan to relocate into her daughter's studio apartment, Hilton intended to live out of his vehicle while he waited for an opening at one of the few assisted living facilities in Flathead County which could take days or even months.

Many senior citizens in America are on the verge of bankruptcy due to inflation and increased rent. According to Ramsey Alwin, president and CEO of the National Council on Aging, the poverty rate for those 65 and over increased from 8.9% in 2020 to reach 10.3% in 2021.

According to Alwin, those who rely on traditional income in retirement, such as Social Security, have problems paying for essentials. People frequently fall short of their necessities, he said, by roughly $1,000 each month.

As a result, a lot of elderly individuals are forced to choose between paying for basic expenses like food and medicine and their rent. While others are forced to leave their houses because they can't afford to stay there.

Social Security payouts will see a cost-of-living rise of 8.7% in the near future, reducing the impacts of inflation, which was 8.2% for the fiscal year that ended in September. Alwin, however, thinks it won't be sufficient to stop the stream of elderly losing their homes due to growing inflation.

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