How is "poverty" defined? When someone is considered to have "retired in poverty" what are the conditions?

Answer 1

Not being able to pay medical bills. Trying to decide what was more important, medicine, food, or heat in the dead of winter. Can't afford a car or auto insurance. It's too expensive to live in Florida or California.

Here are the poverty thresholds for 2004 for the US: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh04.html

The phone numbers at the bottom are for various parts of the US. It differs greatly.

Answer 2

It depends on were you live. In developed nations it is usually set by the government either as a fraction of the median income of the amount needed to have a minimally acceptable standard of living (food, shelter,clothing etc) The UN looks at people with incomes less than $1 or $2 a day. A single person in the US with an income at the poverty level cut off has a higher income than than 85% of the people in the world. A college student living on $10,000 a year would not be seen as living in poverty in most parts of the US, but a 75 year old person would.