š
60 Years Old and Nothing Saved for Retirement - Top 12 Recommendations - YouTube
Channel: Financial Fast Lane
[0]
What should you do if you are over 55 and
have nothing saved for retirement? In this
[6]
episode of the Financial Fast Lane I will
give you my top 12 recommendations.
[15]
Welcome to the Financial Fast Lane, My name
is Lane Martinsen.
[20]
Today, we are talking about what you can do
if you are getting a late start, if you are
[28]
over 50, or maybe over 55, or maybe you are
already in your 60s and you have little to
[34]
nothing saved for Retirement.
Iām going to give you 12 specific things
[40]
you can do or should at least consider.
[43]
First,
#1 Know that you are not alone, and that it
[47]
is never too late. Many people approaching
retirement age find themselves in this situation,
[53]
wondering where the time went, so donāt
be too hard on yourself.
[57]
In the beginning of your career, you were
young just trying to get by and make ends
[61]
meet, maybe you started a family and bought
your first house, you raised kids, and maybe
[66]
even helped them with collegeā¦ and now you
find yourself 50 something or 60 something
[72]
wondering where the time went, and you find
yourself with little or nothing saved for
[77]
retirement.
Of course, starting early is better than starting
[80]
late but you can make up for lost ground.
I realize everyoneās situation is unique.
[87]
And what works for one person may not work
for another, for a host of reasons. The purpose
[93]
of this video is to give you some practical
ideas and strategies to consider, ideas that
[98]
can make a very big difference to you in your
golden retirement yearsā¦
[104]
#2 Take inventory of your situationā¦ Identify,
your timeline and evaluate all the possibilities.
[110]
For example, if you are 55 and in good health
you have 10 years before you are 65 and 15
[119]
years before 70.
You can accomplish a lot in 15 years or 10
[124]
years or even 5 years but youāve got to
get intensely focused, and have a real plan
[129]
of action.
Your greatest asset is your ability to earn
[133]
an income.
If you have an income or the ability to earn
[137]
an income that is your golden goose.
[140]
Itās not about how much you earn, itās
what you keep that matters.
[145]
You would be surprised with how many people
with high incomes even super high incomes
[151]
that have very little to nothing saved. And
on the flip side, you would be surprised with
[156]
how many people with very modest, lower incomes
that have a surprisingly sizable amount of
[162]
money set aside for retirement. As a financial
planner I see both ends of the spectrum and
[169]
everything in between. When we earn more,
the natural tendency is to spend more.
[175]
A great quote from George Clason:
āThat what each of us calls our necessary
[181]
expenses will always grow to equal our incomes
unless we protest to the contrary.ā
[187]
ā George S. Clason
You cannot effectively protest without a plan
[191]
and without a clear goal.
[194]
#3 Know your numbers
[197]
You need to know where your money is going.
You need to know your cash Inflow and out
[203]
flow. The income and expenses. Itās call
a budget. The word Budget is not a very popular
[209]
word. Many people feel like following budget
is difficult. If that is you, I would suggest
[216]
you change the way you think of budget. Even
give it a different name if that helps. In
[222]
itās simplest form, It is
A. Knowing where your money is going,
[227]
B. Controlling where your money is going.
You cannot manage what you do not measure.
[235]
A budget does not hold you back. It sets you
free.
[240]
#4 Complete a 30-Day Spending Audit.
Make a commitment to track all spending for
[247]
30 days or for the next full month. I mean
track every penny. You can simply do it with
[254]
a piece of paper. Donāt over complicate
it.
[257]
Or if you would like you can download our
Spending Audit. It is an Excel spreadsheet
[267]
that we designed for this purpose. It is a
free download, There is a link in the description
[272]
below. You want it to be simple but effective.
[276]
#5 Keep more of your own money.
When you have clarity on how much income is
[281]
coming in and where it is going every month,
you will be empowered to make some changes.
[288]
Imagine for a minute, what it would be like
if you could keep all of your income. In other
[294]
words if you had no expenses and you could
save all of your income every month. I know
[299]
thatās not at all realistic but just do
that math. If you could save and wisely invest
[305]
all of your income every month for the next
5, 10, or 15 years, how much of a nest egg
[311]
could you accumulate? It would be a significant
amount of money.
[318]
#6 Get creative and think outside the box!
Let me share a personal story with you.
[327]
My wife, Tara and I met in college. We were
poor college students. But the lack of money
[332]
did not prevent us from getting married. And
we did not wait long before we started our
[337]
family.
We didnāt know how we were going to make
[339]
ends meet and we knew it would be challenging
but we wanted, and were determined, to face
[345]
lifeās challenges together.
A few years later, I was still trying to finish
[351]
up my schooling and I was working full time.
We were renting an apartment and we very much
[357]
wanted to save enough to buy our first house.
As we took inventory of our income and expenses,
[365]
saving any money seem completely impossible.
And this is where we started to get creative.
[371]
Our biggest expense was the rent payment.
We started to think of ways we could possibly
[377]
live for at least one year without a rent
payment. Moving in with parents with a wife
[385]
and two small children was not a viable option
for us at the time. But we were determined
[391]
to find a way to drastically lower our expenses.
We started brainstorming.
[398]
My wife had previously volunteered at a care
center. She is very nurturing, and she loved
[403]
to visit and care for elderly people. I had
the thoughtā¦ I wonder how many elderly people
[409]
there are in our city, that are living in
their large home alone but have reached a
[415]
point where they need assisted living, and
would love to have a live-in assisted care
[421]
provider. Then I wondered if we could find
someone that would be okay if the care providers
[428]
came as a husband and wife team with two small
children.
[431]
We had never heard of anyone doing that before
but we decided to test the waters and see
[438]
if there were any takers. Of course, this
was back before the Internet and so we ran
[444]
an ad in the classified section of the local
newspaper. We were surprised to receive calls
[449]
from about a half a dozen people, looking
for live-in care givers for their aging parents.
[457]
We had more than one solid offer. We met with
the first interested family. We fell in love
[464]
with them and they with us.
It was an elderly man in his 90s. He had recovered
[470]
from a stoke but had some paralysis. He was
a very kind and sweet man that absolutely
[479]
loved children. He lived in a two-story home.
His adult children offered us room and board,
[485]
(we had the full basement to our selves) including
all utilities and as my wife was able to do
[494]
the shopping and prepare all of his meals
and provide the needed care they also paid
[500]
her $600 per month additional.
The commitment was for a minimum of one year,
[507]
and a little before the year was completeā¦
grandpa Joe, as we lovingly called him, passed
[513]
away in my wifeās arms when I was away at
work.
[518]
This experience was a miracle to us on many
levels. We were able to drastically reduce
[522]
our expenses and even increase our income,
and after one year we had saved enough for
[528]
a down payment on our first house. Which we
would have never been able to do otherwise.
[531]
Let me tell you another creative, out of the
box story of a couple at age 61 they had very
[537]
little saved for retirement. But the Husbandās
job was going well and his income was at the
[544]
highest level of his entire career.
They got creative and created an aggressive
[550]
plan that would allow them to reduce their
expenses by nearly 70% for 3 years. They sold
[557]
their large two-story home with the plan of
downsizing to something less expensive to
[562]
maintain.
They moved in with their adult daughter who
[567]
was working part time and go to school and
taking care of her 2 year old son. They offered
[574]
to rent a bedroom from her, share utilities
expenses and help care for their grandson
[580]
for a 3-year period until their daughter graduated
college.
[584]
Their plan helped their daughter immensely,
it saved her from paying for childcare. And
[589]
They were able to save 70% of their income
for 3 years. This was a big win win for both
[595]
parties.
After three years they moved into a comfortable
[599]
one level condo with very low maintenance
costs.
[603]
#7 Work longer
For decades, the age of 65 has been the arbitrary
[612]
assumed age of retirement. In the past this
was the full retirement age for Social Security.
[623]
And 65 is the age when you can start Medicare,
but I believe outdated. We live significantly
[630]
longer nowadays and 70 is the new 65. We really
do live longer and the odds that you or your
[639]
spouse will live into your 90s and beyond
is statistically high. Higher than many people
[645]
think. You should plan to live to 100 because
many of you will!
[650]
I know may people in their 70ās still working,
some because they need the income and others
[656]
because they enjoy working. Itās not uncommon
for a person to retire only to get bored and
[664]
to go back to work, even if only part time.
If you are tired of your job then maybe you
[670]
could retire from that one and find a completely
different type of job, something that you
[676]
would enjoy better.
Maybe you can start a side hustle. A small
[679]
business of some sort. There are many opportunities
out there. In future episodes of the Financial
[686]
Fast Lane, I plan to explore many of the possibilities
you could consider, which is another reason
[693]
why you may consider subscribing to the channel
if you have not.
[699]
#8 Delay staring Social Security
If you work longer you are able to delay Social
[706]
Security benefits. This can increase the size
for your future SSB in a couple of ways. One,
[714]
is a longer and better earnings history. They
use your best 35 years. When you delay Social
[726]
Security, you also earn DRCs delayed credits.
The size of your SSB can be much larger with
[740]
a good Social Security strategy.
To better understand how Social Security DRCās
[746]
work, and for a customized strategy report
go to SocialSecurityLane.com
[758]
9# Improve your physical and mental health.
A sedentary lifestyle leads to disease and
[766]
disease brings with it huge financial costs.
Getting physically and mentally fit may be
[772]
the most important thing you can do for your
retirement.
[776]
When you are fit, you will have more energy,
and you will enhance your ability to work
[783]
and earn longer.
[785]
The benefits of exercise and healthy eating
are huge.
[790]
#10 Have Faith
Faith in yourself, faith in the future, and
[796]
most importantly faith in God.
Great and amazing things can be accomplished.
[801]
Although it may feel overwhelming and even
impossible, nothing is not impossible!
[807]
You are more capable than you think, you are
stronger than you think, you are more creative
[813]
than you think, and you can do hard things.
You can overcome any challenge when you put
[819]
your mind to it.
Quote:
[824]
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that
can circumvent or hinder or control the firm
[831]
resolve of a determined soul. - Ella Wheeler
Wilcox
[834]
I would memorize that quote and recite it
every day. Put that on your fridge door or
[840]
on your bathroom mirror so you can see it
every day!
[848]
#11 Never stop learning.
Be informedā¦Read good books. Richest man
[861]
in Babylon. Think and Grow Rich, motivational
and inspiring book.
[871]
But also, you need to learn about the best
ways to save and invest your money. There
[875]
are important tax strategies. IRAās Roth
IRAs 401k, catchup contributions. What about
[884]
savings in non-retirement account.
I have put links to some of the books that
[899]
I recommend in the description below.
[902]
#12 Donāt over look a HECM strategy
A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is a type
[912]
of reverse mortgage.
Laws have changed. New types of reverse mortgages
[919]
have more options and flexibility.
If you have about 50% equity in your home
[926]
and you are at least 62 you could put an end
to your mortgage payment. How would that feel.
[934]
No more mortgage payments. You may also be
able to establish a tax free income to supplement
[941]
your retirement income.
I canāt take the time in this video to go
[945]
into detail. You could learn more from my
book. In chapter 9 I outline the advantages
[951]
of a HECM.
This one strategy could be a complete game
[956]
changer for you and your retirement. If you
are interested my book it is available on
[960]
Amazon. The book is titledā The Holistic
Retirement Planning Revolution. You can also
[965]
just go to Amazon and search on my name. Lane
Martinsen and you will find the book. There
[972]
is also a direct link in the description below.
[976]
So there you have my top 12 recommendations
if you are over 55 and have nothing saved
[982]
for retirement.
If you found any part of this video beneficial,
[986]
I would love to know. Please add a comment
and let me know what stood out to you.
[993]
And I look forward to seeing you in the next
episode of the Financial Fast Lane.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage