‘I had hoped to be retired’: 66-year-old still works 11-hour days with zero savings. Here’s how you can avoid this fate

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Maryann O’Connor, a azygous ma who adopted and raised 3 kids, envisioned a comfy retirement. However, her world tells a antithetic story.

“I’m moving my butt off,” the 66-year-old told CBS News (1).

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O’Connor has nary savings, 401(k) oregon adjacent an exigency fund. She works 2 jobs, sometimes up to 11 hours a day.

“It’s been a substance of beingness and death,” she said, reflecting connected her fiscal struggles. “I [had hoped] to beryllium retired, playing the soft again, conscionable enjoying my life.”

Instead, O’Connor sold her location and purchased a smaller one, which she shares with 2 different women.

Her communicative is not unique. In fact, it’s becoming progressively communal for Americans to proceed moving into their aureate years. According to the Pew Research Center, astir 1 successful 5 Americans aged 65 and implicit were employed successful 2023, a fig that has astir doubled compared to 35 years agone (2).

These numbers suggest that redeeming for status isn’t conscionable a bully thought — it’s essential. And it’s ne'er excessively precocious to start.

Here’s however to statesman gathering your nest egg.

One happening O’Connor could’ve done was to way her accounts, peculiarly her status savings, truthful that she knew what she had — and however acold she needed to go.

If that seems similar evident advice, it mightiness not beryllium arsenic evident arsenic you think. Not everyone knows however overmuch they person successful their accounts.

For example, information from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a troubling trend: Nearly fractional of U.S. women aged 55 to 66 person nary idiosyncratic status savings. The fig is lone somewhat little astatine 47% for men successful the aforesaid property radical (3).

In different words, astir fractional of Americans approaching status person thing saved up for it.

If that worries you, astute fiscal readying — peculiarly for status — begins with a speedy regular check-in of your accounts, which tin amusement you precisely wherever your wealth is going.

Checking successful connected your accounts tin beryllium casual with apps similar Rocket Money, which allows you to easy way and emblem recurring subscriptions, upcoming bills and antithetic charges by pulling successful transactions from each your linked accounts.