A peak boomer fears she won't be able to retire with $2,000 Social Security payments — and may have to move in with her sons

• Becky Davenport, 61, fears she may never retire and may need to move in with her children.
• She works full time, but high living costs and medical expenses have hurt her ability to save.
• Many peak boomers like Davenport face financial insecurity and struggle to save for retirement.

Becky Davenport, 61, has worked in the medical and nonprofit fields her whole life and raised two sons, mostly as a single mom . Still, the Alaska resident fears she may never retire — and may have to move in with her children.

Davenport lives in Chugiak, a community northeast of Anchorage, where she works as a disability and education lead at a nonprofit. Her two sons have moved out, but she said she struggles to pay her bills and save for the future . Frequent medical expenses have hurt her ability to save, and the high cost of living has eaten away at her earnings.

She fears that the $2,000 a month in Social Security she expects to receive when she retires won't be nearly enough to live on.

"There hasn't been a time that I felt secure because I'm always one car repair away from being in debt," Davenport said. "As a single mom for many years, I'll just be blunt: It's been horrible."

Davenport is one of many boomers who will reach retirement age in the next few years, otherwise known as " peak boomers ," who may not be able to retire . Many in this demographic haven't been able to save much after accounting for daily expenses.

Struggling to save for retirement

Davenport was raised by an upper-class family "in the lower 48" and grew up in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. After her father died when she was 13, she and her mother temporarily moved to Alaska to be closer to family. She permanently settled in Alaska around the time she was in college.

Davenport got married shortly after and had a son, though she got a divorce after five years. She had a second son a few years later while in another relationship that ultimately didn't work out.

She said she got her start in nursing but had to leave the career after her first marriage faltered. At one point, she qualified for welfare assistance .

She stayed in the medical field for a few years, working in medical transcription and records — which paid her about $12 an hour when her kids were young. She eventually transitioned into human services and social work and has worked with adults and children with disabilities and mental-health problems.

Davenport now works as a disability and education lead at a Head Start program, helping improve the quality of life for children in Alaska from rural and low-income areas. She said this has been her highest-paying position so far.

"My career path has finally gotten to be decent pay, but it's not great, and I'm still single," Davenport said. "The cost of living is pretty high here, and it's just really hard to make it on your own."

Though she's worked her whole life, her income as a single parent over the past four decades hasn't been enough to save for her future. She said she hasn't received much financial support from her family.

She said she learned over the years to pay her bills strategically so she wouldn't fall too behind on any payments.

"I usually had more money going out than coming in," Davenport said. "I was kind of a master at juggling bills. I had some credit cards that I used for emergencies and ended up defaulting on all of those. I just managed to scratch out a living and keep a roof over my kids' heads."

Just squeezing by

Davenport said that for much of her life, more than half her income went toward rent, and she never had enough to purchase a house on her own. Between child support payments and her salary, her income ended up slightly above the housing-assistance cutoff when her kids were growing up. Once her kids got older and moved out, she could more comfortably afford her daily expenses for herself and her dog, though she said it's still a stretch.

Her current position pays between $28 and $29 an hour, plus a longevity bonus, though she works 10 months a year and doesn't get a paycheck during the summer months. She said she values the flexibility of her job, as there aren't many options to work remotely in her area.

Her rent is $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, though she's worried she'd struggle if it increased. She said she's paid between $3.50 and $4.50 a gallon on gas, more than the national average , but she mostly works remotely. She keeps her food costs low by buying in bulk, making her own bread, and getting food from friends, but utility costs like electricity increase during the cold and snowy winters.

"When your sons make way more than you do, it's like, wow, I'm supposed to be making more than them," Davenport said. "It hits home a little that my choices in the field have been not so great financially."

She has good insurance through her work, which gives her peace of mind since she has chronic health problems . But with a high deductible, she said she has to "play a game" of deciding what treatments to get. She said her migraine treatments can cost $2,000 and she's had to put her chiropractic treatments on hold.

She said she gets ill if she breathes in fragrances or fumes, so she's limited on where she can live. She hopes her rent will stay reasonable for the next few years, though she's already nervous about going into senior housing.

Davenport has tried to minimize her expenses over the years. She drives a 25-year-old car that's paid off, though she knows it may not last much longer.

"I'm not exactly a spender, but I'm not exactly a saver," she said, adding that she's made withdrawals from her 401(k) to cover some emergency bills, leaving about $40,000 in her account.

Like nearly everyone else in the state, she receives dividends from the Alaska Permanent Fund , which provides residents with payments from oil and mining revenues. Davenport said she used the payments — $3,284 in 2022 and $1,312 in 2023 — to get new snow tires, catch up on bills, and stock up on food.

"For those of us who have had to rely on it for things that we've been needing, not just wanting, it's a godsend," Davenport said, adding that she's also used the money for her dog's teeth cleaning.

Preparing for the future

Davenport plans to wait until she's 67 to claim her Social Security benefits, which she anticipates will be about $2,000 a month. But she doesn't think that will be enough to live on and might have to find part-time work. She's considered applying for disability benefits, though she said she wouldn't be able to live on those payments, either.

"I am not physically able to have a second job right now; it's just not in the cards for me," Davenport said. "It would exhaust me too much, and I have sleep issues."

To maintain her income stream for the next decade or so, she's hoping to get trained in medical coding. But she's considered asking one of her sons if she can move in with him or finding a roommate to cut back on housing costs.

"It would be nice not to have to worry so much about money and the bottom line," Davenport said. "Sometimes, I get overwhelmed with trying to plan. If I really worked as hard as I need to on this, I don't think I would do anything but work and plan."

Are you worried about retirement? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com .