You’ve Been Told to Save for Retirement...Now What?

0:28What is retirement planning? the After 40 podcast, the show for Gen X women and couples who are ready to ditch financial stress and feel confident about retirement. I'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.

1:15Retirement and what to plan for. It is bothering me all the time. This was a statement made on one of my free calls. and I can fully relate and understand. Her struggle was she wasn't clear on what is retirement planning. Now we dove into a lot. If you're wanting help on your retirement plan, what to do, what to do next, you can do this on a confidence kickstart call, just like she did. Jump on 30 minutes. Let's review all areas of retirement planning. I'll cover exactly the areas you need to know, help you know what you've done, what you want to happen, and then what you should be doing now. That's easily what we do in 30 minutes on that call, giving you some clarity around what is retirement planning.

2:11Back to the individual on this call and me reflecting with that after the fact, I realize the problem. wrong. You're told to save for retirement and then retire. Okay, that gives me an action plan. There are a lot of elements missing. And if you've been a listener of this podcast for a while, you know a few of those. We have to start realizing there is so much more to retirement than just that number. I've said it many a times. Now that number is important, but to have control over that number, to enjoy the spending of that number, you know, you could talk about it in many different ways. But that lack of clarity around save so you can retire just leaves us kind of lackluster.

3:15Well, what can I do? What am I going to do? How does that relate to all of the things? The bigger issue of why retirement planning is blank and nobody's sharing, I guess, or why it's bothering you and you don't know what to do is because there is a disconnect between what actions can I take now to help me achieve retirement, you know, help me get to my goal of retirement while saving. We've got to save. We've got to set it aside. We've got to wait for it to grow. We've got to wait for it to be, you know, the timing. 401s, you have to be 59 and a half. There are some stipulations at 55. Just going to throw that in there.

4:05But while that is happening, right, they kind of leave you hanging. And I think that's the bigger problem is we are unsure what is retirement planning and what can I do now to help me get closer to my goal? You desire this really good retirement. I hope you do. And you deserve it after all of the years you've worked. And really you're just like, I wish I knew what steps to take. what can I do what can I do while I'm waiting for that savings to grow you know we're told to you got to do the work you got to put in the work to get the reward and so leaving us just saving is really not allowing us to do any work this episode I have three steps to start your retirement planning process.

5:05Step one, get your current finances in order so you know how much you spend, which helps you know how much you'll need. You have got to understand what is going on with your money in your current financial situation, knowing how much you spend, where you spend it, how you spend it, why you like to spend it, all of those things will help you calculate how much you're going to need. Knowing what it takes to run your household for the month, for the year, is definitely one number you're going to need to be able to calculate that overall savings number. That's what we're talking about, is while that savings number is growing, I am working on the backside to better give me an understanding of that number.

6:02Knowing, you know, knowing how you spend, knowing what that looks like, and really just thinking about those expenses as you're heading into retirement, which leads me to step two. I'll tie these together in a bigger, more nicely bow in just a minute. But number, step number two, why do you want to retire? and when do you want to retire? This will help you know what to plan for, how soon, and how much more money you'll need. So if we backtrack in step one, I kind of mentioned a 401k, 59 and a half. So when do you want to retire? Those two pieces kind of go together. What does that look like? Sometimes we want to retire because we want to go after a different career or a side hustle that has become something greater, right?

7:04Knowing these things help us again to start piecing together what our money situation will look like in retirement and understanding what it's going to look like that way. You know, maybe we want to retire at 55 and some stipulations do allow you to jump into your 401. However, you know, 59 and a half is what is usually the age for any retirement account. Being able to plan and see how you can support your savings, maybe somewhere else. But unless you know what you're going to do, when you're going to do it, Maybe there's different phases in doing this, you know, so that you know how much money, more money you'll need or not need.

7:56That's crucial too. Step one was understanding our current finances. Step two is understanding our future the best you can. I know some of you are like, well, I don't even know what that's going to be. I talked about it even in the last episode. most of your expenses are carrying forward. You've got to believe in those expenses. In this episode with retirement planning, I've really got to know how these factor in moving ahead. What does that look like? So that I know how much more I'll need. And then step three, we've really got to lean into budgeting. And I know that is such a topic, such a word that a lot of people don't love.

8:44But budgeting both of these scenarios will help you see how much money you need in retirement, affecting that overall number, which is your savings that is growing right now. And how can I look at them through this framework to know if I'm on the right track? really understanding the elements of what makes up retirement planning. Now these are just three steps to start your retirement planning process. There are some other factors that you can do that you can see, but this is the foundational. This is where you want to start and really get solid because once you have these in place, the rest of them can be maneuvered.

9:28and as I like to say, massaged in such a way to number one, maybe you want to retire sooner or maybe you want to have an alternative option and you want to see what that looks like. The budget is going to help you script those scenarios. It's going to help you script what that's going to look like. If you're going to go out in phases, maybe you have the opportunity at your job to go part-time. Your retirement is still growing. You're still watching that. However that works, what does that look like? Or maybe you're going to retire and then they're like, yeah, you can come work here for part-time and you love your job.

10:07There is that. But at some point we are going to be done with working full-time and we've got to be prepared for it. We've got to be prepared for it. And to me, that is what retirement planning is. Yes, it's about numbers. And I am a numbers nerd. That's what we talk about a lot on this podcast. But honestly, it's also what you're creating. What do you want to create? What do you want to see? What are you creating now that is going to affect that? We've really, really got to lean into that. If you're ready to dive deeper, I invite you to jump on a confidence kickstart call with me. And let's review all areas of retirement planning.

10:58Let's review those together. What have you done? What do you really want to happen with retirement? Let me hear that out loud from you so that you can get clarity around that. And what should you do now? the impact of the steps you're doing now can be important in a priority for some they may need to lean into paying off debt or that's where their heart desires for others is going to be in creating a side hustle of income or something or just riding the wave whatever it is but until i can talk with you and we review all of those areas i can give you that impactful you know momentum step to get you moving towards your retirement goal.

11:44And that is what I want for all listeners here. We all deserve to reach retirement. We all deserve to be happy in retirement. I don't want people to go in not sure what they're going to do, not sure how they're going to pay for it, and wonder why they weren't better prepared. So answer me this question. What is retirement planning to you? What do you know about it? And what more do you need to learn? I'd love if you can bring those answers to the call as well. And so I can support you. 30 minutes. Let's work together and get you closer to your retirement goal. But I hope this episode helped you understand how you or what you can do to take action while you're waiting for that savings to grow.

12:37different things that are going to give you control, that are going to give you momentum, that are going to help you feel a part of your retirement planning and help you create that vision that you so truly deserve. Thank you for listening and till next episode.

12:57Thank 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.