58 and no savings and no pension

[Anonymous]

I need advice but no kick in the behind, please. I have done enough of that myself. Been working as a contractor for years with no benefits. Tuition, credit card expenses, etc, have put a serious dent in the savings department. Other than social security, I have no retirement monies and getting scared. I know I will have to work forever but, fortunately, I am in the medical field making roughly $100,000 but lots of debt.

I would appreciate any sound advice for such a late start. Again, I know I blew it but wouldn't mind a glass of wine with my cat foid.

[Anonymous]

Oops, that's cat food.

[Anonymous]

Stop paying for tuition if you still are, you can't afford it. Not even a little bit! Open an IRA and start maxxing. If you have a mortgage, focus on paying it off as soon as possible.

You're fortunate enough that you will likely receive 100% of SS benefits. You are not alone, many Americans are in the same boat. No need to beat yourself, it won't do you any good today.

What is your debt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop paying for tuition if you still are, you can't afford it. Not even a little bit! Open an IRA and start maxxing. If you have a mortgage, focus on paying it off as soon as possible.

You're fortunate enough that you will likely receive 100% of SS benefits. You are not alone, many Americans are in the same boat. No need to beat yourself, it won't do you any good today.

What is your debt?

OP here. I'm about $80,000 in debt which includes some IRS debt. One child paying private secondary tuition with 3 years left. I don't thing I can change schools as my teen would be crushed. I'd like to try and put $100 a week away in savings right off the top. I am paid weekly but my salary varies week to week so it's hard to nail now a concrete budget. No way can the mortgage be paid off but would like to sell iin 4 years.

You see what time I posted. Too many sleepless nights.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but it's a little crazy to me to be paying private school tuition if you are in debt with no savings. In 20 years your kid might be happier if you aren't financially dependent on them, even if it means they have to go to public school.

[Anonymous]

I think your 30 year old child will be more crushed when you announce that you have to live with him/her for the next 30 years. Kids are resilient. Put that money into your retirement/debt paydown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, but it's a little crazy to me to be paying private school tuition if you are in debt with no savings. In 20 years your kid might be happier if you aren't financially dependent on them, even if it means they have to go to public school.

ITA. It's crazy for you to have a child in private school given your family's financial situation.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry for your situation OP. A lot of people are in the same boat and it will do no good to beat youself up over it. I understand why you want to keep your kid in private school, but if your kid has friends in public school maybe he/she would be willing to go. You could take that tuition money and use part of it to pay down your debt and and some to put into an IRA. I wish you luck.

[Anonymous]

There's not enough information here on OP's finances and situation to provide any useful practical advice. And I understand the reluctance to yank a teen out of school. The rest of his/her life will be decided in large part over choices made in these next three years.

[Anonymous]

Get a government job asap for the retirement. You can owe the IRS and work for the feds as long as you are in a payment plan. After 6 years, you are entitled to a retirement with the feds. If you worked till 70, you might get about 10% or so of your pay for the rest of your life, plus SSA. It's better than nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a government job asap for the retirement. You can owe the IRS and work for the feds as long as you are in a payment plan. After 6 years, you are entitled to a retirement with the feds. If you worked till 70, you might get about 10% or so of your pay for the rest of your life, plus SSA. It's better than nothing.

You can also put 15% of salary with 5% match in the fed retirement savings plan. Ten years @ 100k salary = 200 grand plus any return on investment. All is not lost here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop paying for tuition if you still are, you can't afford it. Not even a little bit! Open an IRA and start maxxing. If you have a mortgage, focus on paying it off as soon as possible.

You're fortunate enough that you will likely receive 100% of SS benefits. You are not alone, many Americans are in the same boat. No need to beat yourself, it won't do you any good today.

What is your debt?

OP here. I'm about $80,000 in debt which includes some IRS debt. One child paying private secondary tuition with 3 years left. I don't thing I can change schools as my teen would be crushed. I'd like to try and put $100 a week away in savings right off the top. I am paid weekly but my salary varies week to week so it's hard to nail now a concrete budget. No way can the mortgage be paid off but would like to sell iin 4 years.

You see what time I posted. Too many sleepless nights.

I wont lie. Telling your teen they need to change school is going to be hard. But you need to do that. Its probably your #1 expense is it not? This alone could fund several hundred thousand dollars down the line. I can tell you this, if my dad came to me and told me that he couldn't afford to send me to private school anymore because he needs money for retirement, I'd probably get pissed off / sad for about a minute, then I'd break down crying because I want to help. Right now your kid will feel 10 minutes of anger and maybe a day of sadness - compare that to the eventual realization - and the kid will eventually realize - that dad put him through private school at the cost of his own retirement. The weight of that knowledge will be far far heavier than the weight of one uncomfortable conversation and a tense afternoon. Kids love their parents, and they will love you just as much tomorrow as they did today.

Moreover, doing this now is 1000x easier than dealing with it in 10 or 15 years when it really starts to come to a head. My mother in law, as far as I can tell, doesnt have two sticks to rub together, but continues to buy lots of really really really useless stuff. She's not a hoarder or even a shopaholic, she's just kind of daft about how she spends her money. We've had to "loan" (gift) her money before, and I fully anticipate that its only a matter of time before I get the call she has to move in or we need to fund a retirement home. If you ever want to put strain on a marriage, this is a surefire way to do it. In 10 or 20 years you may well find yourself in a similar boat, needing to lean on your son or daughter. Will they be in a position to help or will you just have passed on your hardship to the next generation, if they are married, what will this do their marriage? This brings me to my final point -If you cant bring yourself to get out of private school for your own retirement, do it for theirs. This isn't a tradeoff where you win and your child looses - you both win. Its the right choice. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or bad, you shouldn't, I'm just trying to get you to see that the cost you incur now by pulling out of private is so much smaller than the cost you will incur if you don't. And I know how parents think, they want the best for their kids, so its hard to do this. I get it. But you need to.

I'm going to go out on a limb and presume that the private school is in the ballpark of $20K or $25K a year? If so, you could be contributing that to a 401K and IRA instead. By the time you are 70, which I appreciate is perhaps not so enticing a thought, assuming 6% growth, you'd have close to $330,000 saved. It may not stop you from having to work completely, but it damn sure would put a good dent in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a government job asap for the retirement. You can owe the IRS and work for the feds as long as you are in a payment plan. After 6 years, you are entitled to a retirement with the feds. If you worked till 70, you might get about 10% or so of your pay for the rest of your life, plus SSA. It's better than nothing.

That's easier said than done. I'm a NP in my 50s with some retirement savings but not enough and a DD about to go to college and would love a fed job. I've applied to numerous fed jobs only to hear nothing or get an interview and many months later hear they decided not to hire anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a government job asap for the retirement. You can owe the IRS and work for the feds as long as you are in a payment plan. After 6 years, you are entitled to a retirement with the feds. If you worked till 70, you might get about 10% or so of your pay for the rest of your life, plus SSA. It's better than nothing.

good luck getting a clearance with all the debt specifically IRS

[Anonymous]

Get a government job asap for the retirement. You can owe the IRS and work for the feds as long as you are in a payment plan. After 6 years, you are entitled to a retirement with the feds. If you worked till 70, you might get about 10% or so of your pay for the rest of your life, plus SSA. It's better than nothing.

Would not count on the feds having a pension option in a few years. The political wind is blowing hard against it.