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Question: “I am 70 with no emergency or retirement savings. Who do people like me turn to for advice at this stage? What can I do?”
Answer: Most certified financial planners and other financial pros work with people who have financial means — sometimes pretty hefty ones — so you’ll likely need to take a different path to get advice. The good news here is that we have a variety of ways for people to get quality, free (yes, you read that right) or very low-cost financial advice.
Know, too, that there are things you can do yourself to try to remedy your situation. “You should try to stay away from credit card debt and have an emergency fund even if it’s the equivalent of one month of your essential expenses. For as long as you can, find a job, even if it’s part-time, to supplement your Social Security income. Ask the adviser who serves you to explain if your additional income can cause your Social Security check to be taxed in any proportion so that you can get your numbers right,” says certified financial planner Alonso Rodriguez Segarra at Advise Financial.
If you’re open to part-time work, sites like FlexJobs, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and the AARP’s Job Board all list gigs with hiring opportunities. You can choose to focus on a specific area of interest or within your ZIP code, and some of the jobs are entirely remote, meaning you can work from anywhere.
At your age with no savings or retirement funds, it’s essential to explore all available options. “Connecting with an adviser can help you review potential income sources, such as maximizing your Social Security benefits and exploring options if you own equity in your primary residence,” says certified financial planner Ryan Haiss at Flynn Zito Capital Management.
Questions edited for brevity and clarity. By emailing your questions to The Advicer, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch; they may appear anonymously in other media and platforms.
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