When most gay and lesbian people are young and healthy they give little thought to the challenges of being a senior ... and alone.  And that is one of the many observations a new piece in Newsweek magazine covers: 90 percent of gay retirees have no children, and nearly 80 percent are single, according to some estimates.

Newsweek brings home the facts, typically lost on legislators and even other seniors who are heterosexual: 

Over the next 25 years, persons in America who are 65 and older are expected to grow from about 12 to 20 percent of the total population. Estimates indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals will comprise 7 to 10 percent of that senior population.

Moreover, gay seniors are twice as likely as straights to live alone, and 10 times less likely to have someone to care for them should they fall ill, according to SAGE, an advocacy group for elder gays. Ninety percent of gay retirees have no children, says SAGE, and nearly 80 percent are single, according to some estimates.

Detailing the challenges of not having access to the same perks straight married couples enjoy, the magazine profiles newly engaged, Jim Fetterman, 62, and Ilde Gonzalez-Rivera, 56, of Queens, N.Y.

Although they share a home and a car, the couple isn't sure if or when they'll be able to marry. Their house is in Rivera's name, but because the couple can't legally wed in New York, Fetterman won't automatically inherit it, should his partner die. And even though they are registered domestic partners in New York City, neither man will have access to the other's Social Security, because the federal government doesn't recognize their relationship.

"It's not something we like to think about, but there's a certain amount of anxiety that comes with not having those things," Fetterman tells the magazine.