The correct answer is Very few retired Americans had a guaranteed income.
During the 1930's, America suffered the worst economic depression in US history. Millions of people lost their job or life savings thanks to factors like bank closures and the Stock Market Crash of 1929. This financial downfall resulted in many Americans losing their life savings or retirement funding. This is why, during the early part of the 1930's, very few people had a guaranteed income when they retired. President Franklin D. Roosevelt hoped to change this by developing the Social Security Administration, which would give compensation to elderly individuals in order to support their cost of living when they retired.