- If you’re in your 40s or 50s and haven’t saved a penny for retirement, don’t panic.
- There’s still time to build a small nest egg, but you have to hurry and be realistic, experts say.
- You should first take a look at what you have and what you need, create a plan and stick to it.
“Better late than never” applies to many things in life, including and maybe especially saving for retirement.
Even if you’re past the halfway mark to your retirement and haven’t yet started saving, there are steps you can take to make up for lost time so you can live out your golden years comfortably.
Among non-retired adults in 2021, a quarter didn’t have any retirement savings, the Federal Reserve says. So, you’re not alone in not having started saving, and there’s no need to panic, advisers say.
“Homelessness is out of the question if you do something about it right away, but you have to be realistic,” said Brian Severin, senior executive vice president at Mutual of America Financial Group. “The biggest takeaway is setting a realistic expectation. Likely, if you’re 55 and have debt and haven’t saved, you’re not going to spend your retirement traveling the world.”
Since you’re starting later, consider pushing your retirement date later to give yourself extra time to build your nest egg.
“By waiting till you are 70 years old to file, you can also maximize your (social security) benefits,” Dan Simon, retirement planning adviser with Daniel A. White &…
