Nearly half of Americans aged 60 and older can't afford their daily needs, the National Council on Aging estimates. Over 3,800 older Americans reached out to Business Insider to share their financial regrets and the lessons they wish they had learned earlier. Six shared advice on saving, investing, and preparing for retirement.
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00:00Dear Younger Self, that's how you want me to start?
00:03Which part, the beginning?
00:05No, read this first and then skip to that.
00:07Dear Younger Self.
00:09Dear Younger Self.
00:10Dear Younger Self.
00:11Make sure you are paid what you're worth.
00:15Save for retirement as much as possible.
00:18Don't cash out all your 401k at once.
00:22I only have about three months worth of bill payments in my savings account.
00:27We make very little on Social Security.
00:30I still have to work to pay my bills.
00:33I'm worried that my investments won't last me.
00:37I don't have any retirement funds put away at all.
00:46Okay.
00:47Are you ready now?
00:48Yep.
00:49Dear Younger Self.
00:51Open up a Roth IRA and learn how to invest.
00:54Don't pile up debt.
00:56I would tell myself to hold on to my investment portfolio.
01:00Save more and give less.
01:02Your home is one of your biggest assets.
01:04Protect it.
01:06After I retired, I cashed out my entire 401k,
01:10deposited $110,000 for a down payment on the house.
01:14I also paid a 45% income tax bill by taking all the money at once.
01:21I opened a Roth IRA when I was 54, finally,
01:26and I put $6,000 in it and let it sit there
01:30because I didn't know that you were supposed to invest it.
01:34I think if I were to just leave my money alone, not move it around,
01:38then it would be worth a lot more today.
01:40A financial advisor explained to me that I had to invest it, and I did.
01:46And now it's over $41,000.
01:51I would definitely advise younger people
01:54to put a maximum amount in their 401k or IRA match
01:59because that money grows over time.
02:02Just imagine if I had knew how to do that
02:05when I was 25 instead of 55.
02:08It would be quite a bit more.
02:10It's way, way better if you plan something way ahead of time
02:14than wait till the end like we have.
02:17Up we go. There you go.
02:19There you go. There you go.
02:21This is where he likes to sit.
02:23We didn't realize that Social Security would be so little.
02:26Most of my debt has accumulated with things beyond my control.
02:31It's not like we go to Vegas and have a great time
02:34and run our credit card up,
02:36but we've always needed to as well when we've fell on hard times.
02:40I missed one payment on the credit card, and it just ballooned.
02:45Within six months, it completely doubled.
02:49The Federal Housing Administration gave us a loan.
02:52The interest rate back then was 13 and 3 quarters,
02:55and it just grew so fast.
02:58Eventually our loan was so big we couldn't manage it,
03:03and we ended up moving off of the farm.
03:07Now we've had to go into thousands of dollars
03:10of credit card debt to pay our bills.
03:12We don't have a savings account anymore,
03:14and our credit scores are tanked.
03:17Yes.
03:19Okay.
03:20Will it go off if I put it on airplane mode?
03:23Will it ding-ding?
03:28I've learned that in matters of finance,
03:31you have to make decisions without being overly emotional.
03:35I don't even drive by my old farm.
03:38It's really a very negative part of my life
03:41to see what we could have had.
03:44I have always offered financial help to friends
03:47to help them get through a difficult time,
03:50not realizing I was less fortunate too.
03:52When you get to our age, it's a little late in the game
03:55to try to fix it because the damage is already done.
03:58So if you're young and you're working,
04:01don't be afraid to put back an extra $20 a week or whatever
04:05and don't touch it.
04:08I'm currently an over-the-road trucker.
04:11My current financial situation
04:14is probably the reason I keep trucking at my age.
04:19I haven't seen too many 80-year-olds out there.
04:23It's okay to care about people.
04:26However, you have to look at what it is
04:29costing you mentally and financially.
04:32You only have so many years to prepare for retirement.
04:39Dear Younger Self...
04:42Prioritize your health
04:45to avoid financial and physical hardships.
04:48Be prepared for unexpected expenses.
04:51Things change, circumstances change.
04:54I didn't plan on pancreatic cancer at the age of 62,
04:58but even with good insurance, chemo, surgery, radiation,
05:01and a second round of treatment when the cancer came back
05:05I lost my annual $2,500 out-of-pocket maximum
05:08for the past 3 years.
05:10My wife had her heart issue.
05:13Her income changed immediately.
05:16My jobs were physically taxing,
05:19and I feel that contributed to some of the medical conditions.
05:23On a scale of 1 to 10, my health is probably a 6.
05:27She was making over $50,000 a year plus benefits,
05:31and suddenly she couldn't work.
05:34My savings have been spent on medical bills.
05:37I only have enough left to cover my bills for a few months.
05:41I can no longer work, so I survive on disability benefits.
05:45I can't afford any financial missteps.
05:48I don't know if I can retire anytime soon.
05:51It depends on if my health holds up.
05:53Dear Younger Self...
05:55Don't retire early.
05:58Continue working as long as you can.
06:00I just wish I could have worked longer.
06:03I lost my job. I was sort of forced into retirement.
06:07When I was 58, I had more than $500,000 saved for retirement.
06:12I turned in my retirement paperwork.
06:14What a mistake that was.
06:16You sit around and get bored, and retirement's boring.
06:20It really is.
06:22I have no desire just to lay on the couch
06:25and eat brownies every day.
06:27I just think I have to stay active and do something.
06:30All of a sudden, I had no important decisions to make
06:34and no social network anymore.
06:38I went from hoping I'd live a really long time
06:42to being worried that I will outlive my savings.
06:45It's not a great way to feel.
06:48I tried to return to part-time work recently.
06:51No one's hiring, or if they are, they're not looking for people my age.
06:55It's challenging to get a job when you're in your 60s.
06:58I don't know if it's my age, but I rarely ever hear back from anybody.
07:03I tried my best to look as young as possible.
07:06I don't feel very marketable at this point.
07:09Honestly, I think they really don't want an old guy
07:12who's going to have to take a day off to go to the doctor.
07:14I had a college degree and great office skills,
07:17but employers wanted a cute 20-something at the front desk.
07:20I mean, for the most part, even as sick as I am,
07:23I could probably outwork anybody in this neighborhood.
07:28In February 2023, I finally started a full-time job
07:32with the state agency employer who was willing to give me a chance.
07:36I was 63.
07:38I got my first freelance writing gig last week,
07:41so there's a new chapter to write,
07:43just when I thought it was time for the epilogue.
07:45I'm also doing polymer clay sculptures.
07:48When I get stressed out, that's what I do.
07:50If I sell it, I feel even better.
07:52You're good at it.
07:54Well, thank you. I'm good at it, I guess.
07:58I'm working on becoming a content creator.
08:01I want to give opinions on various things in society,
08:06also traveling, camping, that kind of thing.
08:11I am happy right now because I have a great job.
08:15People say they have to go to work.
08:17I say I get to go to work.
08:19Don't retire. Don't retire. Work as long as you can.
08:22No, I would do it in a New York minute, man.
08:25I'd go back to work and love every minute of it.
08:32So you say, dear younger self, pursue a career you're passionate about.
08:36Dear younger self, don't wait to embrace change.
08:39Dear younger self, pursue a career that you're passionate about.
08:43Find a passion, even if it's just a hobby.
08:46When I was younger, I also knew deep down that my teaching career didn't suit me.
08:52I was a self-taught musician.
08:54In my early career, I was playing clubs, bringing home $150 to $200 a week.
09:00That was back in the early to mid-70s.
09:05I started playing guitar when I was about 11 years old.
09:08Instead of jumping ship then, I dug in and pursued a higher degree in the same field,
09:13thinking the promotion would make up for the lack of personal satisfaction.
09:19I moved away from music and got into jobs that offered a regular paycheck.
09:26When I became a librarian, I did take a pay cut from my teaching career.
09:33But it was well worth it to me because I loved going to work so much every day.
09:41My biggest regret is not having followed through with my music.
09:45I still love it. I just can't do it as well as I used to, but I still love it.
09:50That part will never die.
09:51When you're playing and singing, it just makes you feel good in general.
09:55And my wife likes to hear me sing, and I guess that's the reason I do it.
10:02Walk through this road with me.
10:10The one thing I think both Steve and I did right was we made sure that we took care of our parents.
10:17One thing I know I did right was staying connected with people.
10:22My financial choices allowed me to raise and support my children
10:28while teaching them to be independent and socially responsible.
10:34Unexpected changes make living in the moment a good skill to have,
10:38and I'm always ready to shift gears when needed.
10:41I live on my farmland. I am fortunate to own the land and live mortgage-free.
10:48I take it one day at a time. I'm thankful I made it through the day and get up the next day and do it again.
10:54My greatest accomplishment is having three beautiful daughters
10:58who are educated, caring, and productive members of society.
11:03That is worth more than all the money in the world.
11:08Mostly we just want to get somewhere where at least there's community,
11:11where people seem to care for each other.
11:13I can't waste time looking back at what might have been.
11:17My choices, good or bad, are my responsibility.
11:22Somewhere along the way, I learned to approach life with curiosity instead of despair.
11:28And that's when everything became adventure instead of trepidation.
11:32That's when life got really good. I hope you start earlier than I did.
11:37But first, open up that Roth IRA.
11:41Love, your much older self, Nancy Seeger.
11:46Beautiful. I love your voice.
11:49Oh, thanks. All that reading to kids.
11:52Yeah.
11:54Okay. Might have to do take two on this one.
11:58Dear younger self.
11:59But then mine, mine's not.
12:03Yeah, just skip to the next page, Nancy. It's highlighted.
12:06Okay, I got it. I could never be an actress.