Oh, this so resonates with me. My partner and I are in the throes of early retirement. He is still working a bit as he simply makes so much more than me. Once he is no longer working we will be poor but will get by as we live on a boat with minimal expenses. If one of us passes away the other will be in poverty, me a bit worse off than him. The two of us put together make it doable. I am also helping a single female friend with her retirement planning and it is simply grim. She does not own a home and at present we can't figure out where she will live when she stops working as there is nothing she will be able to afford to rent. There are waiting lists for subsidized housing for seniors. These are all stories we need to talk about more.