As a retiree and a pensioner, my wife and I are living at subsistence level.  The small pension that I receive
every month is below poverty level but somehow we manage OK. There are redeeming features though -
for when you are old - your wants and needs are few.  Also, there is no more house payment, car payment
and children's education to pay for.  The small pension is sufficient for our food, gas and electricity.  For
medical treatment, the government hospitals provide free service to pensioners and their wives.  What more
do the souls want?  And we have this piece of wisdom:

                            "Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary
                              is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable,
                              and bear the intolerable."

                               Kathleen Norris, American author (1880 - 1960)