Turn Reflection into Action for a Retirement Ready Year

0:00It's the end of the year. Well, almost. And it really depends on when you're listening to this episode. but I thought, what a great time to reflect, but with purpose. This episode will walk you through a simple year-end review to help you step into the new year with clarity. So let's do this, thinking about what's fueling your retirement and what's not.

0:28Hey 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.

1:06Welcome to the episode. I'm excited to take you through a reflection. I know sometimes people are like, oh, but I really hope this will help you see how far you've come and an area that you could actually get some momentum in as we move into the new year. So really thinking about your retirement and what's fueling it and what's not, meaning what is actually helping you find momentum, what's working for you, and really what's not. Honestly, the very first thing that I want anybody to do, so I'm just going to start off with it, is you need to have a clear vision, okay, or mostly a clear vision. If you're somebody who's more than 10 years away, you can still be a little foggy in some areas, but I really want you to define your revision.

2:05Define your vision for retirement. Knowing what you're headed to, knowing what you're going to do when you're punching the time clock or whatever it is you're doing is done. Maybe it's another venture. Maybe it's something completely different, or maybe it's just laid back, low key. It doesn't matter. It's yours. And I want you to lean into that. So starting there, that gives us our destination. So when I talk about what's fueling your retirement,

2:46environment. So my husband loves to buy older vehicles, fix them up, sell them, flipping. It's not that huge magical that you see like the real old classics and really bringing them up to a tee, but he loves to tinker, make them run again, paint them up, do different things. We've had trucks and bugs and rangers and jeeps. And we've got some S10s right now. I don't know. But my daughter, when she came along, has also joined in the fun. And her recent fixer-upper, as she always loves to have that extra vehicle, that one that's going to make it from point eight to point B most of the time, it's been throwing a code.

3:33And so she's throwing this code. They thought it was the gas cap because there's air in the system giving them this code. And she's still able to drive it, but get that check engine light and you don't want to ignore it. So you're addressing it. And it stopped it for a little bit. Let's come back again. And so through, I guess, Reddit, YouTube, I don't know where they go for their information. They've determined that really there's this really small gap in the neck of the tank from like a weld part going bad. So you're probably wondering why I'm sharing this with you, but talking about that is where her fuel is.

4:13This air is causing this problem and it's nothing big. And that is what I want you to take away from this story is that little crack is might be relative to what you're experiencing as we go through this review to what is not fueling your retirement. It might just be this little crack and waiting for that perfect time to fix it. may not be what you want to do. So let's dive in and get you through thinking about your retirement progress. So I want you to think about yourself January 1. I'm going to have you do a complete vision in just a minute. But I want you to think about the past year, back to January one.

5:03What has been working? And I'm going to give you a couple of ideas and then I'm going to read some questions. So maybe you've been consistently saving an amount, nothing big, nothing grand, but consistent. Maybe you've paid off high interest debt or half of it or a quarter of it. Maybe you have tried tracking spending and while it's been imperfect, it's been better than it has in the past. You've addressed your contributions this year, making them automatic, leaning into that. Or you are making more thoughtful financial choices based on values. Because Daylene keeps talking about value-based budgeting and spending.

5:50I don't know. But those are a couple of things that you might find are working. But I want you to think about yourself, your year, going back to January 1, what did I do this year that actually moved me forward? That actually had you go, man, I've done quite a bit. I don't care the size. I want you to acknowledge these things. Where did you show up for yourself financially? Meaning maybe there was a hard decision to make. Maybe you learned a new skill, whatever it was. Where did you show up for yourself financially? And last, what decision are you most proud of? Now it's important to acknowledge these things.

6:40It's important to make a list of the wins. So if you're driving, you can come back and do this. But really, I want you to think about what was it that I did this year that was great, that was good, that was amazing, any of those things. How are you different today than you were January 1? When my clients get struggling, I always say, okay, yeah, we haven't jumped leaps and bounds, but what have you done since this time period and this time period? Because I remember them sharing that with me on the free call or earlier in a session and reminding them. And it's important for you to learn to remind yourself.

7:29All right, so now we're going to move into the next section. And I don't want you to beat yourself up. This is just for awareness. We talked about that in last episode, learning this skill, getting this awareness. I want you to think about what is not fueling your retirement. What leaks do you have? Do you have that little gap on the fuel tank as it comes into it like my daughter does? And you're waiting for that perfect time? Or maybe you don't know what's there yet. Remember, she did the gas cap first and still had the problem. So what are your leaks? I'm going to give you, again, some ideas and then some prompts and questions.

8:11So are you not really using a budget system and you feel like money just disappears? Are you sporadic with your saving? Maybe you got a raise this year and it didn't go into savings. Or you're avoiding money decisions. Maybe there's things you're just like, I don't want to deal with it. I don't want to know the reality. I get that. or you're letting fear or confusion make decisions for you. So those are some ideas. Again, this isn't for shame and guilt. This is for awareness because as long as we are aware, we can make changes. So as I ask you these questions, where did you fall into old patterns?

8:58Meaning you tried to change something, but you reverted back. Our brains have us do that. Did you know your brain wants you to keep doing the same thing, even if it's not the best thing? Because it feels safe. It's normal. It's what you're used to. So where did you fall into old patterns? Or where did you avoid something because you felt overwhelmed? You approached it and you're like, yep, it's too much. I can't do it. And you didn't go back. And the last one, what has drained your progress emotionally and or financially? It's important to think about these things so that you really start understanding what you've done and what challenges and hurdles are standing in your way.

9:48Knowing what you're facing, then you can come to a solution. But until you get that awareness, it doesn't matter what you do. You're probably not going to solve the problem. All right. So then we've got to move into that hidden fuel thieves, meaning you tried the one thing, but it's still not working. So here are some ideas that might be not as clear. You don't have a clear retirement vision. setting that clarity about your vision and where you want to go is really going to steal away from your wanting to get better and doing things. Believing that you're behind and not actually addressing anything to find out if you are or not.

10:34You're assuming retirement planning is complicated. You're not knowing what number you're working toward, meaning how much do I need to have saved or even what year I'm going to retire. It can be that simple. Or you're acting from fear and not clarity. So these hidden things, we're covering a lot of this in my retirement ready planning workshop, January 24th. We're going to cover what your number is, if you're behind, what number you're working towards, getting you more and more clarity and knowing where you can actually take the next steps so we're doing away with that retirement planning is complicated.

11:20If that sounds like something you need, head over to elevatefinances.us backslash workshop and it's$35 until January 5th. It'll jump up to$55 or until there's 20 spots filled. I do plan on hosting this workshop again. So if you're hearing this late, please jump to that same website. See when the next date is. I'm excited to support you in this way, but I'm limiting it to 20 because it's an interactive workshop. You're getting things done that day. You're going to be clear. You're going to get rid of these hidden fuel thieves. We don't want them anymore. But today I'm going to help you do a 10 minute new year reset.

12:05So here are some things you can do today. You can review last year's spending categories. Now I don't want to do all of them. That's too overwhelming, especially if you're not a numbers person. But I want you to think which category or which retailer, which whatever, do I think I spend too much at or that I've really got to understand that better. Go review that. Go make sure there's any solid reasoning that's true. That's what I want you to do. Just explore those. One category. Choose one and start there. Okay, this next one, I want everybody doing this. January 1 or as soon as you can, I want you to increase retirement contributions by 1%.

12:56It's a new year. It's time to do this. And your budget is not going to fill 1%. I promise. I promise. So go do that, everyone. There's one quick win for everybody. Put that on your list. The next idea is I want you to list your top three values that are going to guide your spending this year. Not only your spending, but your financial decisions. Three values. Just type into Google a list of value ideas so you can see what's going on. It's going to be like family, experiences, environment, nature. There's a whole bunch. Just choose the top three that reflect who you want to be in 2026. And then use that as your guide.

13:44Use that as your beacon. Use that as your lighthouse. else. And the other thing you can do is choose one thing to stop doing. Although sometimes being restrictive is hard. And I don't really like to suggest that. But if you're like, yeah, there's one thing I need to, and it's clear, you can choose to do that. Or on the better side, choose one thing to start doing. Right? Get going with something. All right, that's the end of this episode, I hope you were able to reflect to understand how far you have come. If anything from this episode, just realizing that you are somebody different than you were on January 1, and that you can then find that progress this year as well.

14:31So you're doing amazing things. You have a lot into play, you know, a lot of things in place. A lot of things are working. but you're like, I'm not sure where I need to put the next best effort. And maybe the workshop isn't calling your name, but I really would love to invite you. And why not for the first of the year, book yourself a free retirement ready Q &A call. It's same place, elevatefinances.us backslash ready. Free 30 minute call. I'll help you identify your biggest leak, your biggest challenge, your biggest hurdle, whatever you're calling it. And let's find the simplest next step for you to fix it.

15:14Sometimes we're looking at our problems, we get very myopic, then we need to have somebody break through that to look at it better and understand that. So head over and book that call. Why not get your this year started off great? And I would love to be part of that. Thank you for being here for this episode. I'm excited to see what 2026 holds and I'm wishing you a happy new year. 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. If 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.

15:58And 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.