Retirement Planning for Gen X: 4 Things to Map Out Now

0:05Hey there and welcome to Wealthy After 40. I'm Daylene 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.

0:46You make good money, have a goal of retiring, and it's important that you maintain your lifestyle, but you have no idea what you need to do to make that happen. We're going to start off in this episode and helping you bridge that gap. Where you are and the goal of retiring, there is a path between those two points. And right now, that path is a blur. And in this episode, I'm going to help you understand what may be on your path, why it's important to define your path. And we'll jump into some questions that will help you begin to see what you need to plan and prepare for. Because as long as you don't address the what's in between, you're going to continue to have uncertainty.

1:40Because it's the thoughts in your brain of, okay, between now and then, and as a responsible human being, okay, there's other things. There's other, that's a long time. Even if you're five years, it's still what's going on. And so between now and retirement, there can be a multitude of things as you're thinking about it and looking at them as the next milestones. And that will help you better understand what you need to plan and prepare for. Also defining it, you're going to see the connection between now and retirement. And that piece alone is going to be huge. Knowing where we are and knowing where we want to go is important.

2:29And I've talked about that a lot, which if you need support on calculating those two things, I talk about that more in episode 139. The specific topic is four things to know about retirement planning, and that is important. But today's episode, we are going to dive into the in-between. between. Recently, I was working with a client and she knows when she wants to retire. She had taken my workshop, done all of that work, knew her beginning point, her ending point. And so we were working on getting her system into place. And then I'm like, okay, it's time to start clearing this path. And as we did, as we dove into what's going to happen for her between the next 15 to 20 years, she has about a few of the things that she's, yes, these are what we're desiring, what we're possibly dealing with.

3:26And one of them is a home purchase. There's circumstances with the home they're living in. And so they need to make a home purchase. They need to look at college plans for one more child. And she says, we just want to try and enjoy the next years and not just work for retirement. It is essential to understand what is in between that, okay? But the first step is, yes, you need to know what your vision is for retirement. That can be effective too. Knowing where you are is also important. Then this would be the third step of, okay, what's in between. So everyone's path will be different. We discussed a client of mine, yours may not have those same things.

4:17So it's important that you see the path from starting to ending with you. And as you do, this is going to help you move forward on your way to retirement, because now you've just made a clear line from beginning to end. You're just, it's going to go, oh, that was what my mind was saying. Ah, there's other things. Ah, there's other concerns. And as you then put them into place, you now have that plan. It's like saying, okay, you're going to run a race. Here's where you're starting. Here's where you're ending. And they don't give you anything in between. And then your mind's going, I can't do that.

5:02I can't do that. No, you can't. And this is the same. So as you think about your path, you might already have some things that you know of. Some people have those down. And so start there, write those down before you dive into the questions, because we're going to dive into some questions that are going to help make your path less blurry. You're going to see other things that you need to be concerned about that are going to, yes, support you on your path to retirement. Okay, so the first question that I want you to dive into on this path is most people want to maintain their lifestyle. And as you think about that, and I've shared this before, most people are like, yep, I want to maintain my lifestyle.

5:57And I'm like, great. What is that? And then they look at me, they're like, I just like the way I'm living. And that is okay. But you have to define that. What things are specific about the way you're living your life now that is important for you to carry into retirement? And as you think about that, what specific expenses are going to contribute to that. That's important, especially if that's so important to you that you want to maintain that lifestyle. And again, this is different for everybody. And really, if you're living this already, it's going to be super easy to carry it forward. You just need to plan with that correct number.

6:43All right, next question. If retirement is, you've probably got 5, 10, 15, maybe you're lucky, and you still have 20 years away. Now that is important to know, how long. But I want you to think about what needs to happen between now and then. And as you think about that, does that stretch of time feel blank? This may take some time to start putting pieces together because we spend a lot of time, especially with money, worried about the now. We're putting out the fires, we're saving for the immediate. And honestly, I don't think most of us know how to look ahead. Even if you are saving for retirement, we don't know how to look ahead five or plus years.

7:40So as you think about the time between where you're at now and when you want to retire, here are some possible things for you to start thinking that would be on your path. And hopefully this will help you think of the things that are most important to you? Do you plan on supporting your kids in college? I know some of you are still raising young kids and you're like, I need to get them through college. Maybe you don't, but that's important, number one, for you to know and for them to know. Okay. And then as you think about it, I know a lot of people are like, I want to buy a second home where we can vacation at, and that's as part of retirement.

8:25Are you waiting until retirement to buy it? Or are you going to buy it before? Again, important. As you think of yes, these are the things you're going to make that list. Another one for you to consider is do you want or need to do a home remodel in those number of years? Homes get old. Homes need not only maintenance, but do you have a desire of changing it as kids move out. As you are moving into your older age, there might be some things where you can actually move and relocate. Those are things that are important to think about. And is that happening in that path between here and now? Or would that happen later?

9:11Ideally, it is so important to start beginning to think about these things. Do you have a big family vacation that you want to take one last time before your kids have grown up, moved on, and that opportunity isn't there anymore? Maybe it still could be, but you want to make sure that's going to happen. So with each thing you identify, you need to write it down. Okay. So we're just going to make a list and then we're going to make that list into a better, clearer path, meaning when are they going to happen? Which one is first? Which one is second? Which one is third? How do these outline along the path?

10:00As you begin to do that, your brain is going to go, I can do this because we're not just starting about this, not just talking about the starting point and the ending point, but we're talking about everything in between. Now here's the one thing I don't want you to do at this point. I don't want you to think about, I don't know that I can afford all of this. These are steps on your path. And then as you focus on one step at a time, that is where you make your system work for you. Collectively, we've got to start looking at all of these future things. I think so many people are so unhappy with money because they're constantly living and surviving in the now.

10:49This may be individuals who make great money, but because they're so worried about, and we talked about it in the last episode, that paycheck to paycheck and that progress they're trying to make, that they really have this myopic vision, this closed off vision. And if that's you're like, yeah, I don't look beyond, I want you to identify what that is. So as you begin to look beyond, the next thing that's going to come up is I can't afford this. That's not what you're solving right now. You're solving what does my path look like? What are the steps I need to do, the things I need to do, to go from now until retirement.

11:36Because just like my client, you want to enjoy the now. It's not just about retirement, but we need to not ignore that as well. And putting all these things together on a path helps you begin to see how it can all come together. Once you see that path, it's like once the light is turned on, hopefully you can tell that little voice in your head to stop telling you that you can't do this in whatever way, shape, or form that comes in. And that is most likely going to say you can't afford it. We don't know that yet. We don't know that yet. We've got to figure that out. But for this episode only, I want you to lay out your path.

12:21I want you to know what is happening in five years. And that might be one or two things. Maybe you're like, nope, I'm good for five years. And your next one out is eight or 10. but you need to see that path. You need to fill that path and your brain will be like, this is where we're going. And then tell it, yes, we're going to do this. So if you're still feeling like, okay, I'm not sure how all of these things are going to come together. We talked about clearing out the path and avoiding that question of, I can't afford this. I would love to have you join my free webinar, Hold in July, from guessing to knowing your retirement diagnosis.

13:05So I mentioned one topic last episode. This episode, I'm telling you this topic, is the one question that reveals whether your current money system is actually working for your future or just keeping you busy. So once you identify this path, it's important that your system help you get down that path. Those things work hand in hand. So if you're curious and want to learn more about this webinar, head over to elevatefinances.us backslash webinar. All of the details are there. You can get registered. It is a live webinar, but I will be having limited replay videos be sent out. So if you're interested, read through all, there's five bullet points we're going to be covering and helping you understand like what it is that you need to do to make retirement happen.

14:01And if that's defining the path, that's one thing, but if it's getting your system in a place, that's another. So head over there, read those details, get yourself registered. This monthly training, not this one specifically will be held, but there will be a monthly training every month. So if you're listening to this after July 21st, you can still head over to that website and find out the most recent training and what it is we're going to be talking about. They're 60 minutes long. They'll support you on your retirement journey. And I would love to have you join me. So today's action step, make a clearer path that you can see from where you are to retirement, Not just identifying those two pieces, but what does that path look like?

14:51And what do you need to do or want to do before you get to retirement? Because it's not only about now and later, it's also about the journey in between. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next week.

15:07Thank you for spending this time with me. If you're not already following the show, be sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. and I'd love to stay connected with you between episodes. So come join me inside my Facebook community, Retirement Ready Hub for Gen Xers. It's where we're having real conversations about money, sharing wins, working through challenges and building a clear path toward retirement. And remember, retirement isn't just a dream, it's a plan and you get to make it possible.