Overwhelmed by Debt? Uncover What's Really Keeping You from Retirement

0:00Are you telling yourself, I can't even think about retirement until my debt is gone? Credit cards, a mortgage, maybe a HELOC, they all feel like barriers, right? But here's the truth. The problem isn't the debt itself. It's the cycle that keeps you from feeling stable enough to plan for retirement. Today's episode, we're going to talk about what's really standing between you and retirement and how to start finding peace with your debt and your future.

0:33Hey there and welcome to Wealthy After 40. I'm Dalene Higgins, your podcast host and financial coach. If you're a Gen X woman or couple who's worried about retirement, maybe you feel like you're starting late or don't have enough saved, you're in the right place. This show is all about ditching the financial stress and creating a retirement plan that works for your life now and later. So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let's figure this out together.

1:13Welcome to the Wealthy After 40 podcast where I help you enjoy your money now and later. I also help you find solutions of managing that money for now and later, which we are specifically talking about in today's episode. So whether you have credit cards, mortgage, HELOC, student loans, whatever else I may or may not have mentioned, whatever shape of debt you have, it might be a hindrance to retirement. But if you are thinking, I'm too overwhelmed by debt to even think about retirement, that is your obstacle, your challenge to reaching retirement. We all have debt in one way, shape, or form. Some of us have a lot.

2:08Some of us have a little. You know, there's a whole bunch of different scenarios and circumstances that I could talk about. But you believing you can't retire because of the debt you have may or may not be true. So I want to ask you a question to start deciphering what debt problem you fill, what that actual challenge is, and why you can't think about retirement. So the first question is, do you need to have all of your debt paid off before retirement? I'm going to quickly answer this. No. And if you said yes, I want you to hang on to that for a minute. The better question you should be asking yourself, and I am going to ask you, do you want to pay off all of your debt before retirement?

3:03This is for you to decide. This is your yes or no. Do you want to pay off all of your debt before retirement? I've heard countless people have different ideas, varying ideas, really especially with a mortgage. Some feel like they have to have it paid off before retirement. Some people do not. And that is okay. It is for you, for that person to decide. So to better understand if debt should go with you or not, you really need to like dive into what is your relationship with debt? How does that feel? So the individual I know who is like, I will never pay off my mortgage. She had different means to an end.

3:53She had a different purpose. The other individual who said my mortgage has to be paid off before I retire, just didn't want that demand of debt in retirement. This is what you need to decide. This is what's very important. However, at this age, well into our 40s, if you are there, it is important to balance the now and later specifically with debt. You cannot ignore retirement, because you feel like you have too much debt, you really need to find what will work best for getting you to retirement and how much debt to go with you. It's a balance. Now and later, this is crucial. You cannot ignore retirement at this age.

4:46Now, I know debt is a huge concern. It's a huge concern of many. And debt is a concern because you can't seem to stop the accumulation. You get the balance on your credit cards paid down, only finding yourself to using those credit cards to cover this, that, or the other. This structure, this flow, down and up, down and up, has you believing that you don't have the ability to retire. And so immediately you're thinking, the solution is to pay off the debt first before I can plan for retirement. And I've already told you at this age, that is not an option. What I'm going to tell you in that scenario, debt isn't the problem.

5:39You do have debt. You do need to pay it off. But the debt balance fluctuating up and down is the problem, and it's actually a preparedness problem. That preparedness problem is your hindrance, is your challenge in reaching retirement. I can be honest with you, if you don't solve this problem now, it will follow you into retirement if you get there. So I dug into the archives, my podcast archives. Episode 45 is all about financial freedom levels. Basically going from step one up to full financial freedom, Grant Sabatier. I share all about that in that episode. So give it a listen for complete understanding how to define what level you are and what steps to take next.

6:32but what I'm going to share with you and why it's relating to this episode is that if you don't reach the financial freedom level of financial stability first you won't ever reach financial independence okay financial independence is retirement meaning you no longer have to exchange work for money. But if you don't solve the stability, financial independence, like even if I said you enter into retirement, it's going to be a struggle. It's going to be a challenge. So I've recently shared about this client before, but she was also experiencing the same thing that we're talking about with debt balance fluctuating up and down.

7:18And her specific words when she reached out. I need your help. My spending is not good and I'm creating too much debt. She's like, I've just got to figure out the debt. As we worked together, as I helped her solve the preparedness problem, not just paying down the debt, three months after working together, this is what she sent me. So glad I did my workup with you. I went from paycheck to paycheck, making minimum payments on my credit cards to paying off$5 ,000 of debt and saving$2 ,500 in three months. Now she's got the ability to save at least$10 ,000 a year with that amount. We solved her preparedness problem.

8:06She was ignoring expenses that were coming around the corner. Expenses that she had already committed to, such as her car registration, her car insurance, paying for the tax attorney, CPA, whatever you want to call them. Once we solved that preparedness problem, these are the results she got in three months. Not even accumulating anything more debt, paying it off, saving as well, because that was her goal. That was her balance of now and later. We structured that for her. So what is one step you can do today? You need to understand what is creating your debt. So when you reach for that credit card or when that balance goes back up, what are the items you are using it for?

9:00It may or may not be clear because sometimes the reaching for that comes one or two after. So exploring what has created that and then start creating a saving funds for those things. And I can almost guarantee you that the debt fluctuating will stop. So instead of staying in the cycle and thinking that debt is the problem, begin then understanding what is creating your debt. Once you identify those, just like I did for my client, creating a savings funds for those things, and your debt fluctuating should stop. So if you're struggling with debt and you're tired of the balance going up and down, I would love to chat with you about how to solve your problem.

9:53So book a Clarity Connection call at elevatefinances.us backslash connection. Let's chat, spend about 45 minutes together exploring how to best, number one, find what's wrong and prepare that solution. All right, so what have we talked about in this episode? We have covered the reluctance to think about retirement because of debt. And at this age, that cannot be the answer. We need to be tackling all problems, maybe not all at the same time, but we've got to figure out how to balance now and later. So explore what is causing your balance to go up. You're able to get it paid down so something is not happening all the time.

10:43And I know a lot of individuals think I just overspend. I want you to be more thoughtful, more give yourself more grace than that, because like I have said, 99 % of people are not just frivolously overspending. So think about what is causing that balance to go back up after you have got it paid down. And then find the solution to that. And if you need support, like I've said, book a Clarity Connection call with me at elevatefinances.usconnection. I'd love to help you solve that problem and share with you what more we could do if we work together. So find 45 minutes on your schedule. Schedule that.

11:28I would love to chat with you, especially as we're coming to the end of the year, to get yourself set up and prepared for a wonderful 2026, to get you started, to support you in being able to reach retirement and not fill all of this doubt. Last episode, we talked about, you know, even just believing that it's possible. And this one, we talked about ignoring it because of other issues. So let's solve those. Let's get you moving forward. I would love for you to be in the place where you're saying, what next? What next? And moving yourself closer and closer to retirement. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode.

12:11Again, head over to Instagram. Let's connect. Leave me your thoughts, your ideas, your questions that you want covered in that workshop I've been talking about. Or just come say, hey. Just come say, hey. I would love to hang out with you over there in those in that DM over there. Have a wonderful chat. And yeah, I get to know one another a little bit better. Thank you for tuning in again. And we'll see you next week. Thanks for tuning in. I hope today's episode helped you feel a little clearer and more confident about your money and reminded you that progress doesn't have to feel overwhelming.

12:47If this episode was helpful, I'd love it if you followed the show, left a quick review, or shared it with another Gen Xer who could use this kind of support. And if you're ready to stop guessing and want clarity around what to focus on next, I invite you to book a free financial clarity call at elevatefinances.us backslash clarity. And remember, retirement isn't just a dream, it's a plan. Let's make it possible together.