BALTIMORE -- The economic crisis is affecting everyone, and one group that's closely following what's going is the retirees, many of whom are at risk of losing their health coverage and pensions.

John Sherman Reports

WBAL TV 11 News reporter John Sherman spoke with a half-dozen General Motors retirees on Friday, many of whom said even though they are losing benefits, they still have faith in their company and country. One said he went out and bought GM stock Friday morning.

"I guess one of the old sayings is, 'Is this a great country or what?'" said Leo Heid, who worked for 30 years at the GM plant on Broening Highway in Baltimore.

"I remember what they would say when I was a kid was that what's good for GM is good for the country, and where GM goes, the country is going to go. It's looking that way now. The prophecy is coming true," Heid said.

The GM plant on Broening Highway is currently closed and locked. The health care Heid and his co-workers were promised will be gone Jan. 1, 2009, and the global economic crisis is threatening the only thing he has left -- his GM pension.

But with GM's stock falling to the point of nearly being declared as junk, Heid said he'll survive in part because his trust was broken long ago.

"I came from a family where you shook a hand, you had a commitment. I'm not that bitter. They did it because they knew it was coming," Heid said.

"What we're really worried about is that those who are in retirement and nearing retirement are really the hardest hit," said Tiffany Lundquist of AARP Maryland.

She said the loss of an institution like GM would devastate an already vulnerable group.

"Nearly half of all equities are owned by investors who are 60 and older. These are people who don't have the working years left to ride out the volatility in the market. They don't have time to make up those losses in the same way a younger working person would," Lundquist said.

Another retiree said there's no way GM could go under and take his pension. He said he doesn't think the government would allow it.