09/16/2026
I met with a woman yesterday, and I feel like I failed her.
She wants to quit her "real" job when she reaches age 66, find a "fun" job, and live her life. When we sat down and dug into what that looks like for her, it was bad. Not just "not good", but bad. She has very limited savings, a very small retirement account, and she doesn't have a large projection from social security. I advised her to look into assisted housing, and the potential for living with a roommate to reduce expenses now and in the future.
She is 65 years old. She came to me wanting to work one more year. Her savings will be completely depleted in 10 months, and she will have to survive on SSI that pays less than her rent alone costs.
I cannot fix this for her, I cannot make investments grow to make it all better. It was a hard thing to tell her. I am sure it was a harder thing to hear.
Please, please talk with an advisor now. We cannot create more time, but if we start today, we are creating the best opportunity to take advantage of what potential there is in front of us.
