Best Expert Money Advice for Boomers
Baby boomers currently range in age from 57 to 75, which means some are on the cusp of retiring, some are newly retired and others have been retired for a decade or more. This phase of life requires thoughtful money moves to ensure that those who have not retired yet are ready to do so, and those that have are doing all they can to ensure they’ll be able to live out their golden years with financial security.
Read: Surprising Ways Gen X and Boomers Are Worlds Apart Financially
Here’s what top money experts say baby boomers should be doing to live their best financial lives.
Last updated: April 19, 2021
Ensure Your Portfolio Has Some Risk, But Not Too Much
“Aim for a ‘Goldilocks scenario’ with risk in your portfolio: not too much, not too little,” Jill Schlesinger, founder of the personal finance website Jill on Money, told CBS News.
Learn: 17 Clever Ways To Save More for Retirement
Understand Your Social Security Benefits
“Go to SSA.gov to familiarize yourself with your benefits through Social Security,” Schlesinger told CBS News.
Find Out: 27 Best Strategies To Get the Most Out of Your 401(k)
Run Your Retirement Numbers
Before you leave the workforce, you should have a good idea of how much money you will need in retirement to ensure you have met that goal.
“Run your numbers with the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Choose to Save calculator to determine how much money you should be putting away,” Schlesinger told CBS News.
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Consider Downsizing
Selling your home can be a huge source of income leading up to or during retirement.
“I want you to downsize right now so that you can start saving more money right now,” Suze Orman, author of “Women & Money,” told CNBC.
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Bulk Up Your Emergency Fund
Orman recommends that boomers have two to three years’ worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund to protect them in the event of a market downswing, which can drastically affect retirement accounts.
“If you have cash, you can live on that cash for two or three years until the market recovers,” Orman told CNBC.
Related: 26 Smartest Ways To Invest Your Money Right Now
If You're Still Contributing To a Retirement Account, Contribute to a Roth IRA
If you are still contributing to a 401(k) plan, make the switch and put your funds into a Roth IRA instead.
“Later on in life, you want to be able to take that money out tax-free,” Orman told CNBC.
Ask Yourself: If You Plan To Retire in the Next 5 Years, Should You Just Do It Now?
Consider an 'Unretirement'
In his book “Unretirement,” author Chris Farrell argues that retirement in the traditional sense may not be for everyone.
“The unretirement movement builds on the insight that a better-educated, healthier workforce can continue to earn an income well into the traditional retirement years,” he said in an interview with Workforce.com. “Continuing to earn a paycheck in the traditional retirement years — even a slim one — offers a number of financial advantages. For most of us what we can make at work, including part-time work, contract work and temp jobs, dwarfs whatever we might earn from our retirement savings. Continuing to earn an income lets us defer tapping into our tax-sheltered retirement savings. Our money compounds longer.”
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