Worried About Retirement? The One Step To Change Everything

0:00Are you hoping your retirement will magically work out, even though you don't use a budget and you have no idea where your money is going? Let me be blunt. Hope is not a plan. I've seen the results of people waiting too long, and I've seen what happens when they don't. In today's episode, I'm going to share with you both sides of that story, and then also one step that can change everything for you. So if you're ready to stop holding your breath and finally take control, this episode's for you. Welcome to the Wealthy After 40 podcast, the show for Gen X women and couples who are ready to ditch financial stress and feel confident about retirement.

0:42I'm your host, Daylene Higgins, financial and retirement coach, helping Gen Xers master their money and create a personalized retirement plan so they can stop spinning their wheels and step boldly into their dream retirement. If you're feeling behind, don't worry. Continue listening to this podcast, as well as be sure to grab your free guide, 5 Must Do Steps to Start Retirement Planning Now. at elevatefinances.us backslash must do. And remember, let's make retirement possible together. Welcome to the episodes. I'm just going to start this out with, I am going to be very bold in this episode, if that is not your style.

1:26If you're new to me, welcome to the bold side of Daylene. but I really feel like this episode needs to be shared and be shared just as bluntly as I can because I have seen so much in so many financial situations in the last week that I wish I could help everybody. I wish I could wake everybody up but for those of you that are listening, I want this to be your wake-up call. As I begin to share, I will also give you an action step because that's what I do as a coach, but I am not going to mince words and be, you know, very warm and comforting about it, even though that is typically my style. I'm very compassionate, very helpful, but sometimes things just need to be said.

2:14Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to rattle off everything because I'm going to share two things with you that specifically spell it out. Well, the one does, the other side, the other one's the other side, but I just want you to understand that you, instead of just feeling like you're late to the game and you keep listening and you keep searching for something, you're late to the game at 45 or 50, you can take action. You can take action. The first quote story, it really was just a post in a financial planning Facebook group. And the person that was posting the information was a child of these individuals.

2:58I haven't worked with them. I don't know anything more than what was shared. But I have seen so many posts about children being worried about having to support their parents in retirement. Number one, I don't want that to be you. Number two, you know, it is happening. And I get that there's situations. These are not situations. They are honestly waiting too long. This post was, my parents are 67. They want to retire by 70. Their financial advisor sat down with them and said, you're$3 ,400 short every month of savings to be able to achieve that. Okay, they're still saving a chunk of change. $3 ,400 is a lot.

3:42I don't know anything else, but I do know that the individual said they are not even budgeting. I don't even know how to help them find this$3 ,400. And that's not a small gap. That's a wall. They're flying blind. There's no clarity. There's no plan. They have three years to figure it out. And I'm sure they will. You know my motto, I make retirement possible. But why are we waiting until 67 to start budgeting? To start taking action? To start realizing? That's why I say if you're 45, 50, 55, feeling quote late to the game, just realize you take action now, you're going to be just fine. Now, I want to contrast that.

4:36And the same time that I read that, I got a sweet message from some former clients of mine. They worked together with me as a couple. Obviously, the wife is the one handling all of the management and he supports her. You can see that. It was a great client opportunity for myself and I really enjoyed serving them. And I've talked about them on occasion, not into depth at all. They came to me because the financial advisor, their financial advisor, had a question of saying, how much do you need every single month? And she did not have an answer. She quickly got to work to find somebody to help her answer that question.

5:19Yeah, I'm glad she found me. It was such a joy to work with them. Now, they had paid off all their debt, but they were still lacking this one piece of advice. and to be able to have their financial advisor who asked such an amazing question. I love that he said that to help them define you're going to be okay or not. Her message to me, and I'm going to read you exactly her words. 10 months after we had our first session with you, we find ourselves in an amazing place with our finances. We have all of our big yearly payments set aside. Buckets for travel, medical, gifts, home repairs, car, etc.

6:00filling up very quickly. We're pleased with the method you educated us on to help us organize and feel ease and confidence with where our money is going. We are no longer holding our breath with pressure about our future finances, but taking deep cleansing breaths. Each month we gain more confidence. Now, these individuals are three to five years away from retirement, but they took action. They took action. And because of that, they're now sitting in a much better place to continue to move forward and reach, you know, and reach that goal. If you are waiting for that one thing that will fix it all, because you are feeling like you're late to the game.

6:49I got started late. I'm not going to have enough. I've got to find the one thing that is going to magically make it better. And I am here to tell you, the only one thing that is going to make it better right now is a budget. It is the B word nobody wants to talk about, and I get that. But what you need to think about is there are budgeting and tracking ways that are not restrictive. They're reflective. in that, you know, that reflection, it's telling you where your money is going. And you can then understand better, why is it going there? And do I want it to go there? And this situation, this quote, one thing that's going to fix it all, it's not sexy, it's not flashy.

7:38But I am going to tell you it is very, very effective. The first couple, they don't even have a budget to try and find the $3 ,400 or maybe even reach come close to that. And the others, they took action and the budget is just amassing amounts of stability and that confidence that they need to retire. Budgeting, as I have said before, it is not restrictive. It becomes a document that will help you make financial decisions that have power and from peace of mind. You better understand what the possibility of that outcome is going to be. Or when something blindsides you, you can quickly go to your budget to help answer that question or that, you know, solve that problem, whatever it is.

8:32It is the bridge between your wanting and having. Without your budget, your goals are just wishes. Way back when I talked about the budget is your control, it's your steering wheel. That is the control. It's not a control as far as, you know, when you were driving and you could, you know, you were limited because your parents would only let you go somewhere. No, a budget gives you the power to control your money to exactly where you want to go. I hope that you kind of understand that that is the starting point. And if you're not doing that, or if you haven't found a system that works, it's time.

9:18It's time to get to the solution, whether the solution is me or somebody else you need to get somebody to step in your court with you because having somebody else's eyes on what you're seeing frees up helps you support you as a coach I don't tell you what to do I'm not going to come in and fix it but I can help you see it in different ways I can help you talk through ideas you've had why they're not working maybe some little quick changes and shifts and then all of a sudden it just works for you. That is the power in coaching and allowing yourself to be coached is finding those things that work for you.

10:05As far as the episode coaching, here we go. What can you do if you find yourself in this situation? Well, the very first thing you want to do, whether you've been budgeting or not budgeting, you want to kind of do a little checkup, a financial reality checkup. Look at the last 30 days. List out what you spent, every category. And then ask yourself, get your reflection. Did I know this was going there? Did I want this to go there? And what does this say about my future? Remember, we talked about a budget that gives you reflection so that you can see this. If your budget isn't giving you that, your tracking system isn't giving you that, you've got to make a change.

10:52But as you look at your past 30 days, this is an awareness skill, the soft skill that I've talked about that is so crucial to money success. Besides saving, which is a hard skill, this is a soft skill of being aware at different moments, not obsessed. I'm not talking about being obsessed with it. I'm talking about just having it there on your mind. You're aware. You know what's going on. That financial reality check that I walked you through is very similar to what I do inside my retirement roadmap session. You provide me the numbers. I lay out the picture. I draw the picture of what is truly happening within your finances.

11:37And sometimes it's not what you think it is. And most of the time, it is not what you think it is. Sometimes it is. And sometimes you're like, yep, I knew that. These people are budgeting in a different way. They just need to strive to do something just slightly different. If you're looking for clarity and you're like, yeah, I need to start, the retirement roadmap session is your answer. I don't need you to commit two, three months like my clients. You can after one session to give you that clarity, to build you a budget, to help you begin seeing the possibilities of what you can do, what things you need to do, just that somebody else getting their eyes on your situation and supporting you in being able to reach your goals.

12:27That one session, you can learn who I am. We can learn how coaching is together. You can decide, it's not for me. Or you can be like, yeah, I'm all in. I'm ready to go forward. And you know, it's your choice, but I am going to tell you, it's time to stop waiting. It's time to stop searching. It's time to take action. So a budget, I'm sorry, is your answer. You've got to start there. If you're struggling with the way your budget is set up, it's not giving you the reflective piece, the feedback, then you need to just probably make a few tweaks. We can definitely do that in the two hours as well.

13:10That's the retirement roadmap session. We spend two hours together exploring your finances, exploring your goals, and what needs to happen in the middle? What needs to happen in the middle? Don't wait until you're 67 and want to retire at 70. If you're 45, 50, 55, maybe even 60, there's a lot you can do. It's a lot you can do, and it can be scary. It can be scary. I had one client, she waited five years. She was a whole lot younger, but she waited five years and she kicked herself for not starting sooner because the change for her was very easy. Write down your resistance, bring that to the session as well.

13:54We can help you solve what is going on so that you're more free to be able to take action on your own. That is the goal of coaching, to help you learn who you are and that you have the ability to make these changes, to figure it out. I'll give you the tools and you can go on and be just like my clients who are just elated with what is going on and keeping track. And that's less than a year later, less than a year. To sum up this episode, you are not behind unless you keep choosing to stay where you are. You're not too old. It's not too late, but it is time to take action. And I talked about clarity.

14:37Clarity leads to action. Action leads to results. And results upon results lead to peace. It starts with a budget. It starts with a choice. What are you waiting for? I would love for you to book a call. You can do that at elevatefinances.us backslash connection. Let's just chat about it. That's not a hard first step. Go ahead and do that. Take that as your action step and let's get going. Thank you for listening to this episode and I'll hope you turn into the next one.

15:25retirement ready hub for GenXers. 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.