What if you could retire comfortably on a low income? In this episode of Low Income Rich Life, hosted by Kevin Bass, we go over five smart steps to retire on a low income. We uncover five essential strategies to ensure a secure and fulfilling retirement, even on a tight budget. We start with the critical importance of initiating a retirement savings account, focusing on employer-provided plans such as 401ks and Roth accounts. Kevin shares his personal experience and offers practical advice on maximizing these options to your advantage.
We then tackle the vital step of getting out of debt, drawing inspiration from financial experts like Dave Ramsey and Kevin's own journey. Reducing housing costs is another significant topic, with tips on managing mortgage expenses effectively. Throughout the episode, you'll find a mix of personal stories and actionable tips designed to guide you toward a brighter financial future. Whether you're just starting to plan or are close to retirement, join us to learn how to make the most out of your golden years without financial stress. Tune in and start taking steps today for a more secure tomorrow!
What if you could retire comfortably on a low income? In this episode of Low Income Rich Life, hosted by Kevin Bass, we go over five smart steps to retire on a low income. We uncover five essential strategies to ensure a secure and fulfilling retirement, even on a tight budget. We start with the critical importance of initiating a retirement savings account, focusing on employer-provided plans such as 401ks and Roth accounts. Kevin shares his personal experience and offers practical advice on maximizing these options to your advantage.
We then tackle the vital step of getting out of debt, drawing inspiration from financial experts like Dave Ramsey and Kevin's own journey. Reducing housing costs is another significant topic, with tips on managing mortgage expenses effectively. Throughout the episode, you'll find a mix of personal stories and actionable tips designed to guide you toward a brighter financial future. Whether you're just starting to plan or are close to retirement, join us to learn how to make the most out of your golden years without financial stress. Tune in and start taking steps today for a more secure tomorrow!
Today, we're going to look at five ways that you can prepare yourself for retirement on a low income. We will be discussing the five areas of your life that can make or break your retirement plans, and by the end of this podcast, you'll have a better idea of things that you can do today to prepare for tomorrow, even if you're like me, as of Americans, including myself, who live on a low to middle class income. Let's get started. Welcome to Low Income Rich Life, the podcast that helps you prepare for a secure and fulfilling retirement, even on a limited income. I'm your host, kevin Bass. Each week, we'll explore practical tips and strategies for getting out of debt, lowering expenses, living a simpler life and finding true contentment. Whether you're nearing retirement or just starting to plan, join me as we navigate the journey to a brighter future. Let's discover together how to make the most of our golden years without breaking the bank. Obviously, the number one step to retire on a low income has to be saving for retirement. If you're anything like me and statistics say that most likely you are you have very little in retirement savings. I understand, I get it. I'm there with you. So the first thing you and I can do is start a retirement savings account. What's the old saying? When's the best time to plant a tree? 10 years ago? When's the second best time to plant a tree Today? So if you haven't started a retirement savings account, do it now, do it today.
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I won't go into too much depth and detail about the various retirement accounts Not today, because I have future podcasts planned for diving deeper into those individually. I will say my advice is to probably start with your employer-provided retirement accounts. If they're available to you, be sure to ask your HR representatives about those and which ones you have. As for myself, I personally prefer to put my money into my employer's 401k plan. First, I put just enough into the traditional 401k in order to reach the max match, and if your employer offers a 401k match, you want to be sure to take advantage of that. First, my employer happens to offer to match half of my contribution up to 6%. In other words, if I put in 6%, my employer puts in 3%. After reaching my employer's maximum match, I put the rest of my paycheck deductions into. Secondly, my Roth account and, last but not least, my health savings account, or HSA. I love my HSA. I have an episode planned that's all about health savings accounts and why I love them so much. So look for that.
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Step number two should come as no surprise to any of us, and that is getting out of debt. If you've listened to Dave Ramsey or any of the financial advisors at least the good ones they'll all suggest to get out of debt and remain out of debt, and I understand that's a struggle for all of us. We unfortunately live in a culture that has taught us that debt is the norm, and if we want something, we shouldn't decide whether or not we can afford it, but only can we figure out if we can afford the payments. I'm guilty myself. Believe me, the problem with debt right now in our life is it's draining our resources. We could be putting that money towards our retirement plan, and then the issue with debt later on in retirement is it will obviously raise your cost of living, and the whole key to living comfortably in retirement with a low income is to keep your cost of living low. So what should we do to get out of debt? I know it's easier said than done. I know it sucks. Trust me, I'm going through the process right now myself. It's not fun, but it needs to be done. Write down all your debt that you currently have and make a plan. Figure out how you can slowly get out of debt. There's plenty of information on the net on how to do that. Imagine if you added up all of your current payments that are going towards your debt right now. Next, imagine taking that amount and putting it into a retirement account. That brings us to number three housing.
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Housing is the single largest expense for most households and it's really the key to making your retirement plans possible. I know what you're thinking how in the world do I lower my housing expenses? Well, for starters, do you owe a mortgage? If so, can you have it paid off by the time you retire? I hope so. If you have a mortgage, I would strongly suggest paying it off one way or the other before you retire. If you don't see a way that you can pay off your mortgage by retirement age, then maybe you could downsize into a smaller house or condo. Maybe you sell your house, buy a small piece of property in the country and put maybe a used mobile home on that property. Or maybe you get a small piece of land and you build a tiny home, like my wife and I did. It was a lot of work and took us almost two years to do it, but we were able to do it with no mortgage. So now we own our property and house free and clear, with no monthly mortgage payments. It's just a small place in the country, just our little hole in the world, and not really a big deal at all, but it's sure nice not having mortgage payments.
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The important thing, of course, is to reduce your housing expense as low as you can and keep it stable. Please, please, don't rent in your retirement, if you can help it. The costs are too unstable. With rent prices going up every year, chances are they will increase much faster than your retirement income. Go through all your bills, see what you can cut and do that now. It will not only get you ready to live on a lower income during retirement, but it'll also lower your bills now and help you with number two on our list, which was getting out of debt. Finally, we have number five on our list, which, well, it maybe should have been number one. It is definitely one of the most important parts of the plan of retiring on a low income, and that is living on less.
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Learning to live and be happy with less Money does not make you happy. Things do not make you happy. Only you can make you happy. So take a moment. Think about your retirement, what it looks like. What would make you happy in retirement? What kind of things would you enjoy? Maybe you won't be a world traveler, jet-setting across the globe on exotic vacations, and maybe you won't spend your days of leisure sipping champagne and eating caviar in some country club somewhere. Maybe you just decide to spend time doing things that you've always wanted to do. Maybe you have time to finally write that book that you've always wanted to do. Maybe you have time to finally write that book that you've always wanted to write. Then again, maybe you just wanted to read some books. You could just simply want to take the grandbabies and go to the zoo whenever you want. It's the simple things in life that can make you the happiest. There is plenty of life to be lived that doesn't require a lot of money, and hear this from me your life will be no less important or fulfilling if you're so. Learn to live on less today, and you may just find out that it's not only a better way to live in retirement, but it might be a better way to start living today.
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Thank you for joining us on this episode of Low Income Rich Life. I hope you found today's tips and strategies helpful. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, rate and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and improve the content we bring to you. Don't forget to visit our website at lowincomerichlifecom for additional resources, show notes and links to everything we discussed today. You can also join me on our Facebook page for more updates and retirement tips. Remember, a truly rich life is not about how you spend your money, but how you spend your time. I'm Kevin Bass, wishing you a prosperous and joyful retirement journey. Stay well and stay inspired Bye.
