'I would have nothing': Low-income older people fear debt default that stops Social Security
The consequences of a U.S. debt default for low-income older people could be "absolutely disastrous," one expert said. The threat to Social Security payments posed by a debt ceiling impasse keeps Linda Stanberry, 76, dwelling on her worst fear: the loss of the home she has lived in for 48 years. Stanberry, who depends entirely on about $1,800 she receives in federal benefits each month, said she hardly saves anything after expenses like food, utilities, prescription drugs and supplemental insurance for cancer coverage. The federal government could fail to pay some of its bills as soon as June 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned this week. If that shortfall interrupts Social Security, Stanberry would need emergency cash, she said. "I would have nothing," Stanberry, who lives in Southwest Virginia, told ABC News. "There's no way I could keep my home." Stanberry is one of millions of low- income older Americans who rely on Social Security for almo...