retirement - Surviving and Thriving

Get free retirement advice from the pros.

February 15, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Have you thought about how you’ll manage after you stop working? Get some free advice at “Jump-Start Your Retirement Plan,” a day-long online chat on Feb. 20.

Sponsored by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors, the event is designed to help consumers make the smartest possible money moves.

Given some of the comments from my recent Mary Hunt book giveaway, I’m hoping that readers will make time to attend. You can submit specific questions, such as “I’m in my 40s – how do I get started?” or “We’re on a really tight budget – what are your suggestions?”

A book that could change your life.

October 26, 2019February 9, 2014 by Donna Freedman

Ladies: How’s your retirement planning going? Have you even started? Do you fear you’ll never be able to stop working?

Have I got a book for you.

Mary Hunt’s “The Smart Woman’s Guide to Planning For Retirement” is designed for women of all ages. Yes, I’m looking at the 40- and 50-somethings who don’t really have a clear plan except, “I hope Social Security isn’t gutted by the time I retire.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 55 percent of women have no savings at all and thus depend entirely on Social Security. Since the average monthly check is $1,130, that would be like working for $6.40 an hour, the author notes: “Could you live on that?”

Those who retire with some savings don’t fare much better. The average account has less than $30,000 in it; assuming you live to 85, it works out to just an additional $125 a month.

Want to take charge of your own finances? Enter for a chance to win a copy of this book.

Is it ever too late to start saving?

October 15, 2015May 15, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Last week I participated in a Tweetchat with Liz Weston, J.D. Roth, MP Dunleavey and other personal finance geeks. One of the questions was, “I’m in my 40s and just started saving. What advice would you give beginners to make the most and try to catch up?”

A flood of 140-character advice poured in, but J.D. Roth summed it up best of all: “The best thing when starting to save late in life is to just DO it. Don’t worry about lost time. Just save.”

Easier said than done, to be sure. But necessary nonetheless.

5 ways saving for retirement is like a marathon.

March 4, 2022November 2, 2012 by Donna Freedman

Recently ING Direct did a survey asking about saving for retirement vs. training for a marathon. (The company sponsors the New York City Marathon.)

More than half the respondents think retirement is harder. I disagree, mostly because I do not choose to run.

Actually, I hate running. Walking is fine. Walking fast is OK. I even plan to learn cross-country skiing when enough snow falls to permit it. (Which could happen any minute: The sky is fluffy and gray and the temperature is inching into the high 20s.)

I’ve automated my retirement, living carefully so that I can save as much as possible. My work history does include an 18-year stretch of full-time employment, but I’ve spent about 14 years working only part-time (and earning very little indeed during five of those years).

But frugal living is a lot easier for me than running. I just don’t have the inclination. The only way I could ensure that I would run for health would be to hire someone to chase me.