What if you failed to prepare for retirement?

If you have the money, buy some time with a licensed financial planner to see what you can do from this point on. Hiding from the problem won't make it go away, and yes, you'll be a burden on your children if you don't take some steps now. I remember a friend whose parents foolishly thought Social Security would pay enough to live on, and when they retired they lost their house within a year and had to move into her basement. Not the ideal scenario for any of them.

This is your task to fix, and it is fixable, but you need to go full speed ahead on things from this point on.

Im not sure about the affordability of this option, I know my mom paid 500 per month for her policy,but it might be more affordable if your employer offers a group option, but her longterm care insurance has been immensely important to her options right now. Now she and my dad did plan pretty well for retirement, with an IRA and his pension, but even that money would be stretched without the policy. Mom original apt in Assisted Living was 5000 monthly, now in memory care its over 7000monthly, plus her meds and incontinence supplies. Her policy is paying 220 per day, so mostly covers it, and with the policy payout cap will last her about 5 years. After that she will have to pay out of retirement savings. She's 90. But that policy has been an important piece of her late in life puzzle. She retired and mostly lived on her SS, and dads pension, but continued to work at the schools as a substitute mostly for office staff. She enjoyed that because she could choose to work or not when they called, but could still have outside contact and be useful. A friends mom retired and worked as a crossing guard to supplement income, another worked pt in her church office and for an event planner who needed extra help for weddings. So when you are ready to retire from your current job, look around your work, church, and social networks, there may be opportunities to supplement your retirement with part time or temp work.

If you are a widow you can collect SS at 60 but its reduced. If not you can at 62 but I think thats 75%. Our age group is 66 for full SS at 100%. I know a number of people waiting till 70 to get, I think, 135%.

I was 62 when I started to collect. I received 700 a month. If I had waited till 66 I would have gotten 900. A 200 difference. In those 4 years I made approx 33,000. Divide that by the 200 difference of 700 at 62 and the 900 at 66...It would take me 16.5 years to make up that 33k that I had gotten. I would be 82. Would I still be here at 82? Whose to say, so I collected at 62.

I just posted a discussion about a friend of mine who never took advantage of the resources available. Find out what is available in your County. Office of Aging can help as can ur local Social Service office. Please don't berate yourself. Not all of us have a great paying job or someone to support us. A lot live from pay to pay. Raise kids alone. There just isn't that extra little bit.

PHorner, lots of great advice above.

For financial information, read Dave Ramsey on getting out of debt and living frugally, www.Bogleheads.org on investing and Jane Bryant Quinn, especially Making Your Money Last in Retirement. It is NOT too late.

Midkid58
Thank you so much for your response.
Having passed through the phase of materialism. I no longer, (after much prayer), need ‘things’ as an emotional crutch. I live modestly and focus on my children, grandchildren and creating good memories.
Saving and preparing for my retirement have been two of the things I never learned. Unfortunately, now, I realize how very important they were-and that I was ‘worth’ those considerations.
Monetary management has been the most difficult life lesson; ‘saving’ proves hardest. I think that may be a lingering ‘issue’.
I so appreciate the input of the people here.
Thank you. I will definitely be re-reading these responses and using the advice.

My mother started full-time work around age 55 as a new widow and worked until 75, then another 10 years part-time. She seemed to enjoy her work moreso than family life primarily because it provided a social network and friends and she only cared for herself. My sister and I were out on our own. She saved everything for herself and stayed healthy, mentally and physically.

Social Security will still exist for those your age. Of course no one can live on Social Security alone. What physical limitations are you experiencing at the young age of 60? You should have a good decade left to work and save. Being scared is a good place to be in that you are giving yourself a warning.
My brother had money, but it was his "choice" once to live in a mobile home park in So Cal. It was a historic little park with mostly 70s trailers and was limited to those over age 50. It was both beautiful and wonderful, many activities, kind people, Sunday get togethers, and etc. His space cost 600 a month with utilities and his unit had cost him 30,000 when he bought, sold for 100,000 when he left, that being about the most expensive in park due to decking and etc. he had put in, garden; just a beautiful little unit. Some in the park lived almost completely on their Social Security.
What I am saying here is that there IS lower cost housing; it's just gruesome hard to find.
Start saving NOW. It is a way of life, this coupon clipping thing in which every single cent counts. You would be amazed over the course of a decade what you can put away. At this point it is unlikely you can invest in real estate, buy, sell and slowly work up a big nest egg, but you can do the best you can.
I suspect, with the aging population, we are going to see more and more "village" and "roommate" options coming in the next decade.
Just make the best of the time you have left. You can do no more.
I am glad you are thinking of this now. Stay well. With your health you can do anything.

It's not too late to start saving what you can for retirement!

Start now looking into gov't subsidized housing. Pay off all debts, so you can go into retirement as financially sound as possible. Make and plan for 'low key living'...no huge purchases and no risky investments. Spend an hour with a financial consultant and you make be really surprised at what you can still tuck away and earn interest on, even though you're a little late to the party.

Surround yourself with positive friends and whatever family you feel will be a 'plus' in your life. You DESERVE a quiet, peaceful retirement.

You'll have SS. DH and I planned that we would not have it--so we saved and scrimped in a lot of areas..and lo and behold, SS is still around. It will be our primary income and actually, unbelievably to me--enough to support us fairly comfortably. We also have a large sum of money in an investment acct which we will draw from to supplement SS.

We do not spend unwisely and have no large ticket items (motor homes, 4 wheelers, etc). Living within our income for 45 years has paid off.

If you can work for 7 more years (maybe it's longer) you should get a decent monthly SS check. You can save enough to keep your from having to go to your kids.

The secret to happiness is to not compare yourself with others--and may I add, live within your means.

Bless you for not expecting your kids to step up. If they can see you are independent, they will more likely be around for you.

And bless you for having had a hard life and not sounding bitter about it. You're going to be OK!

((Hugs))