Financial Information
My mother is 52, with little savings. What advice can I give her to invest for retirement?
Question : My mother is 52, with little savings. What advice can I give her to invest for retirement?
My mother is 52, and has very little savings if any. She recently ended up empty handed after a bitter divorce. She currently makes about $ 1200 – $ 1500 bi-weekly. What advice can I give her to pave the way to retirement this late in the game? The more specific, the better. Please give me some references if you can! Thanks!!
retirement advice
Best answer:
Answer by Randall Parker, MBA
It is very hard to give specific advice without having access to the full story, and all of your mother’s financial information, as well as knowing her personal goals, dreams, and responsibilities.
At this point, she needs to save every dime possible, if she wants any chance of retiring at a fairly young age. The first step in this process is to drive her expenses to the absolute minimum. I don’t mean that she has to eat Top Ramen for the rest of her life, but she should do her best to minimize her fixed expenses, in order to be able to save the maximum amount of money possible. You will need to be careful on your method and manner of saving/investing this money, since she has a short time horizon, but a need for fast growth. This can be a challenge, because she is not really in a position to take huge risks, but she needs an above-average return.
You should speak to a financial planner in your area. If you want more specific advice, please provide more information.
I wish you and her the best of luck!
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#2 written by hanora 1 year ago
I agree with Randall, it is hard to be specific without more info. One thing she should check on is her entitlement to social security through ex-husband(s). I gather this can be significant.
Your mother’s income is pretty good and if she is frugal she ought to be able to save at least 20% of that. If that whole income has been her “pocket money” in the past it might be quite a shock for her. Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace” might be helpful.
52 is not really that old, she has time yet.
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Because of her age, she should pay close attention to her Social Security benefits.
Tell her to work as long as possible. The longer a person’s work history, the larger the monthly benefits Social Security will pay. If she can work until 70, that would be ideal because the boost in benefits for people who wait until 70 is pretty significant, compared to what she could get at her normal full Social Security age (which is probably 66 or so). Even if she collects Social Security based on her ex-husband’s Social Security record (which she may be able to do under some circumstances–she should check with the Social Security Administration about this), waiting as long as possible is still advantageous.
Tell her to participate in any 401(k) plan that is available to her, especially if there is an employer matching contribution.
Tell her to save as much as she can through IRAs, or taxable accounts. Even a few dollars a week is better than nothing, because over the years, it will add up. While she’s starting out her retirement planning kind of late, starting now is better than never starting, and she still has time to build up a decent amount of savings.