We all talk about getting out of debt. It’s a no-brainer, even if we find it hard to do. We need to reduce credit card use, stop excess purchases, and start whittling down those balances. There is a great offer from one of our partners to assist with this.
Building a New Nest Egg
Let’s talk about the other side of the equation, and let’s talk about it as seniors. We are so used to having saved for years to get to retirement, to live on a retirement income, that too often the idea of building a new nest egg doesn’t set in. I’m talking about a real, planned, new nest egg. Imagine it. I see the concept described differently with stock and IRA savings, but not the idea of (pretending) to start all over again and start the savings train. Taking some of the monthly Social Security and squirreling it away.
The benefits of this are of course having a little new nest egg. But there are other benefits as well. My first: enthusiasm. Enthusiasm for the unplanned, the hoped for, the I-can’t-think-of-that. We had that enthusiasm when we were dreaming of the first house, of the first car. Then life came along and we did the dutiful savings for retirement, and then….stopped.
So, after enthusiasm, the next emotion is comfort. Too many seniors live without psychological comfort. Th comfort that says well, if something bad happens, I have a nest egg. The comfort of building something new and knowing that it has the chance to grow because you are nurturing it each week or each month. The comfort of NOT SPENDING it.
Safety and Comfort
The sense of safety goes along with comfort. My husband had surgery a couple of years ago that required long drives to a hospital in another city, multiple times, plus numerous nights, for me, at a motel. Comfort was knowing we could afford the expenses that go with the surgery, the gas money, the motel, the boarding of our wonderful dogs. That’s the kind of comfort that doesn’t come when you have to take the money out of your monthly pension or Social Security. It is the kind of comfort that says, yes, we can do this even though it was a jolt and totally unexpected.
Care is the next feeling. Ability to care for others, to add a little more to what you are doing for others. When our families need a little more help than we can usually provide.
The Old Fashioned Change Jar
My approach to building the next egg is no different than it was the first time around. It might sound silly to you but here it goes. We have change jars and money envelopes and the excess, the we-can-save-this goes in those on a daily basis. Then it goes into the savings account. Liquid assets. There when you need it, without tapping into other things, or without depriving yourself of the routine that comes from those monthly fixed income checks.
Now, I strongly recommend getting to the point where you can enjoy doing this, so utilize our partner’s get out of debt program offer. But invest in a change jar at the same time. Just because you are getting out of debt doesn’t mean you can’t also, simultaneously, build that new nest egg. Heck, I wonder what it will add up to when I turn 85. Relax, you can do it too.
- Morningmountainview
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