Money Lessons From Older Americans Who Learned The Hard Way | Business Insider

dear younger self huh that's how you want me to start which part the beginning no read this first and then skip to that dear younger self dear younger self uh dear younger self make sure you are paid what you're worth save for retirement as much as possible don't cash out all your 401k at once I only have about 3 months worth of Bill payments in my savings account we make very little own Social Security I still have to work to pay my bills I'm worried that my investments won't last me I don't have any retirement

funds put away at [Music] all okay are you ready now y dear younger self open up a Roth IRA and learn how to invest don't pile up debt I would tell myself to hold on to my Investment Portfolio save more and give less your home is one of your biggest assets protect it after I retired I cashed out my entire 401K deposited $110,000 for a down payment on the house I also paid a 45% income tax bill by taking all the money at once I opened a Roth IRA when I was 54 finally and I

put $6,000 in it and let it sit there uh because I didn't know how that you were supposed to invest it I think if I were to just leave my money alone not move it around then it would be worth a lot more today a financial adviser explained to me that I had to invest it and I did and uh now it's over $41,000 I would definitely advise younger people to put a maximum amount in their 401k or I match because that money grows over time just imagine if I had knew how to do that

and when I was 25 instead of 55 that would be quite a bit more it's way way better if you plan plan something way ahead of time than wait till the end like we we have up we go there you go there you go this is where he likes to see we didn't realize that Social Security would be so little most of my debt has accumulated with things Beyond my control it's not like we go to Vegas and have a great time and run our credit card up but we've always needed him as well when

we fell on hard times I missed one payment on the credit card and uh it just ballooned within 6 months um it completely doubled the federal housing Administration gave us a loan the interest rate back then was 13 and 34s and it just it just grew so fast eventually uh our loan was was so big we couldn't manage it and uh we ended up moving off of the farm now we've had to go into thousands of dollars of credit card debt to pay our bills we don't have a savings account anymore and our credit scores

are tank yes okay will it do will it go off if I put on air pant mode will it ding ding I've have learned that in matters of fin you have to make decisions without being overly emotional I I don't even drive by my old Farm it's uh really a very negative part of my life when I see what we could have had I have always offered financial help to friends to help them get through a difficult time not realizing I was less fortunate too when you get to our age it's a little late in

the game to try to fix it because it the damage is already done so if you if you're young and you're working don't be afraid to put back an extra 20 bucks a week or whatever and don't touch it I'm currently an over the road trucker my current financial situation is probably the reason I keep uh Trucking at my age I haven't seen too many 80-year-olds out there it's okay to care about people however you have to look at what it is costing you mentally and financially you only have so many years to prepare for

retirement dear younger self prioritize your health to avoid financial and physical hardships be prepared for unexpected expenses things change circumstances change I didn't plan on pancreatic cancer at the age of 62 but even with good insurance chemo surgery radiation and a second round of treatment when the cancer came back caused me to meet my annual $2500 out-of-pocket maximum for the past three years my wife had her heart issue um her income changed immediately my jobs were physically taxing and I feel that contributed to some of the medical conditions on a scale of 1 to 10

my health is probably a six she was making over 50,000 a year plus benefits and suddenly she couldn't work my savings have been spent on medical bills I only have enough left to cover my bills for a few months I can no longer work so I survive on disability benefits I can't afford any Financial missteps I don't know if I can retire anytime soon it depends on if my health holds up dear younger self don't retire early continue working as long as you can I just wish I could have worked longer it really would have

helped us I lost my job I was sort of forced into retirement when I was 58 I had more than $500,000 saved for retirement I turned in my retirement paperwork what a mistake that was you sit around and get bored and and it's retirement's boring it really is I I have no desire just to lay on the couch and eat brownies every day and I just think I have to stay active and do something all of a sudden I had no important decisions to make and no Social Network anymore I went from hoping I live

a really long time to being worried that I will outlive my savings it's not a great way to feel I tried to uh return to part-time work recently no one's hiring or if they are they're not looking for people my age it's challenging to get a job when you're in your 60s I don't know if it's my age but I rarely ever get hear back from anybody I tried my best to look as young as possible I don't feel very marketable at this point honestly I think they really don't want an old guy who's going

to have to take a day off to go to the doctor I had a college degree in great office skills but employers wanted a cute 20s something at the front desk I mean for the most part even as sick as I am I can probably outwork anybody in this neighborhood in February 2023 I finally started a full-time job with the state agency employer who was willing to give me a chance I was 63 I got my first freelance writing gig last week so there's a new chapter to write just when I thought it was time

for the epilogue I'm also doing uh polymer clay sculptures when I get stressed out that's what I do if I sell it I feel even better you're good at I'm good well thank you I'm I I I'm good at it I guess I'm working on becoming a content creator I want to Give opinions on various things in society also traveling camping that kind of thing I am happy right now because I have a great job people say they have to go to work I say I get to go to work don't retire don't retire work

as long as you can no I I would do in a New York minute man I'd go I'd go back to work and and and love every minute of it see say dear younger self pursue a career you're passionate about dear younger self don't wait to embrace change dear younger self pursue a career that you're passionate about find a passion even if it's just a hobby when I was younger I also knew deep down that my teaching career didn't suit me I was a selftaught musician in my early career I was playing clubs bringing home

150 to 200 dollar a week and that was back in the early to mid 7s I started playing guitar when I was about 11 years old instead of jumping ship then I dug in and pursued a higher degree in the same field thinking the promotion would make up for the lack of personal satisfaction I moved away from music uh and got into jobs uh that offered a regular paycheck when I became a librarian I did take take a pay cut from my teaching career but it was well worth it to me because I loved going

to work so much every day my biggest regret is not having followed through with my music I still love it I just just can't do it as well as I used to but I still love it though that part will never die when you're playing and singing and it just it just makes you feel good in general and my wife likes to hear me sing and I guess that's the reason I do [Music] it [Music] through the one thing I think both Steve and I did right was we made sure that we took care of

our parents one thing I know I did right was staying connected with people my financial choices allowed me to raise and support my children while teaching them to be independent and socially responsible unexpected changes make living in the moment a good skill to have and I'm always ready to shift gears when needed I live on my Farmland I am fortunate to own the land and live mortgage free I 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 my greatest accomplishment

is having three beautiful daughters who are educ educated caring and productive members of society that is worth more than all the money in the world mostly we just want to get somewhere where at least there's Community where people seem to care for each other I can't waste time looking back at what might have been my choices good or bad are my responsibility somewhere along the way I learn to approach life with curiosity instead of Despair and that's when everything became Adventure instead of trepidation that's when life got really good I hope you start earlier than

I did but first open up that Roth IRA love your much older self Nancy Seeker beauti I love your voice oh all that reading to kids no okay might have to do take two on this one dear younger self but then M but mine yeah mine's not yeah just skip to the next page then see it's highlighted okay I got it I could never be an actress