I’m a personal care assistant in Falls Church, Virginia who cares for a client in her mid twenties with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. It’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I love making sure that Marissa can lead a full and engaged life.

I make $12 an hour with no healthcare benefits, retirement benefits, sick time or vacation. 

My husband works as well. But like most Americans these days, we’re barely getting by. 

We spend our entire paychecks to pay the mortgage, keep the electricity on, put gas in the cars, and buy groceries. There’s definitely no money left over at the end of the month to stash away for retirement. 

My husband and I have about $100,000 saved for retirement between his 401(k) and a 401(k) I had through a previous job. 

But that’s definitely not enough for us to live on for the rest of our lives. Even with Social Security benefits added in. 

There’s no way I can keep doing such physically demanding work for another 10 or 20 years. It’s scary not knowing how we’re going to afford to retire without being a burden to our children. 

I’m here today to send a message to the politicians down the street. We need to get serious about the retirement crisis in our country.

We need to strengthen Social Security. And we need to ensure that after a lifetime of hard work, every American is able to retire with dignity.