JOJORABBIT:
Everything you say is true.
I came into the JW religion as a young working person in the later part of the ‘70s. Nobody ever mentioned a word about the mess you describe. It was all hidden from me and other new recruits. So, all the Witnesses who sold all their belongings, etc. after 1975 had to start all over again. They suffered in silence because it was never mentioned.
I ended up ‘Fading’ from the religion after the 1995 Generation teaching and in time I Retired from my full-time job. What you mention about elderly JWs today who have a small SS amount of income because they barely worked is an actual fact..These are the ones who pioneered years ago and hated me because I wouldn’t quit my full-time job.
Today there are far too many needy people in the JW religion with their hands out - and I’m Glad I’m not around any of them.