• Gen X may be even less prepared for retirement than boomers, wealth advisors say.
• A large cohort of adults in their mid-50s have less than $50,000 in retirement savings.
• Many expect to work part-time or receive family help after retiring, a Prudential survey shows.

Jim Thomas, a 52-year-old who works in a lumber mill, is well aware of how far behind he's fallen in saving for retirement. His job pays "good money," he says, but he's still trying to plug the hole in his finances after a layoff, a divorce, and several legal disputes emptied his wallet in the last decade.

Those expenses have dug a hole so deep in his savings that Thomas is only now starting up his 401k from scratch. Currently, he estimates he has around $100,000 in savings, well below the goal that is traditionally recommended by financial advisors, who say you should have around eight times your annual salary saved by the time you're 60.

"I know I won't be able to retire at 65 unless I win the lottery," Thomas told Business Insider. "I expect that I will either need help from my daughter when I can no longer work, or I will need government assistance greater than Social Security."

He's not alone. Thomas is among what retirement experts are calling "silver squatters" — adults in their mid-50s who are even more woefully unprepared than some boomers, despite being about a decade away from retirement. "Squatters" refers to the possibility that many will have to rely on family for housing in later years.

As far as silver squatters go, Thomas's story is fairly common. According to surveys conducted by Prudential Financial, the median retirement savings for those in their mid-50s is just under $48,000, with 35% of 55-year-olds having less than $10,000 saved and 18% having saved nothing at all in 2023.

Two-thirds of 55-year-olds say they're afraid of outliving their savings. That's the highest level of fear among any age group of Prudential's 2024 survey, with 59% of 65-year-olds saying they worried they would outlive their savings.

"As a whole, they are not as prepared as the boomers and actually are doing less well than the millennials," Pete Welsh, managing director of retirement and wealth at Inspira Financial, told BI, though he noted that the youngest Gen Xers still had time to catch up on their savings.

The lack of preparation among the cohort could be due to late planning and the unique economic circumstances of the mid-50s crowd, in addition to less financial literacy among the generation, wealth advisors say.

René, a 50-year-old based in Austin, Texas, has anxiety over whether she and her husband will have enough to live comfortably once they retire. Their life savings — around $380,000 between the two of them — dwindled to next to nothing after a medical diagnosis put her out of work and through a string of surgeries over the course of two years, she told BI.

The couple, who have fallen behind on some of their bills, don't know if they'll be able to get extra financial assistance once they retire, besides their expected pension payments. They have no external family, and they don't want to rely on their daughter for help.

"I was like, oh God, how did we get here?" René said, describing a plea she made with their mortgage provider not to foreclose on their home. "We're just going to have to work and 401k-it, and that's just how it's going to have to be now."

A forgotten generation

Silver squatters share some common characteristics, despite the unique circumstances affecting their retirement readiness. This group of Gen Xers — the generation of Americans aged 43 to 59 — largely expects to postpone or work past their retirement. 47% of Gen Xers think they'll have to retire later than they initially expected, while 40% expect to work part-time after they retire, per Prudential's survey.

A majority also don't expect to receive any inheritance, despite their boomer predecessors holding onto trillions in wealth. Only 12% of the 55-year-old group expect to get money passed down from their family members, Prudential's survey found.

They do, however, largely expect to be reliant on family for support once they retire. Around 24% of 55-year-olds say they expect financial support from their family members, with 21% adding they also needing housing support, the report said.

That compares to just 12% of 65-year-olds who say they will need that kind of help from family.

The gap in retirement readiness could be due to the "unique" challenges of Gen Xers, according to Dylan Tyson, the head of retirement strategies at Prudential. He notes that all of the generation was in their prime working years during the 2008 financial crisis, which could have set them back financially.

Gen Xers could also be in a tenuous stage of life, where a number of surprise expenses have popped up to drain their savings. Think of those who have had to fund their child's college education or are paying for a living facility for their own parents, Inspira's Welsh said.

"You're trying to help out here, you're trying to help out there, and then at the end of the day, there's just not enough on the table to really think about what you're going to do for yourself," Welsh said, adding that some of Inspira's Gen X clients had expressed frustration over their financial responsibilities to their family. "They're just in a very tough, tough spot that, for whatever reason, I guess maybe the boomers didn't have to deal with."

Low rates of financial literacy — which is a widespread issue among every generation in the US, according to a study from the World Economic Forum — doesn't help the situation, Welsh and Tyson say. Around half of Gen Xers are saving without a general plan for retirement, Prudential found.

Most also don't appear to be accounting for major expenses into retirement, with 48% not factoring in healthcare costs and 75% not factoring in assisted living expenses.

Many Prudential clients don't even know how much they need to save, Tyson said, adding that many of the firm's Gen X clients are simply guessing how long they will live. He said he believes many of them are guessing incorrectly due to rising life expectancies in the US.

"If you don't have the cushion — again, this is the group we're talking about, the 60-year-old, undersaved — they really need to be watching every penny and thinking about that," Welsh said.

This article was originally published in August 2024.

• I had always been interested in retiring early.
• I left my job in 2023, years after having my son and publishing my first book.
• Then, at age 3, my son was diagnosed with cancer.

As an elder millennial, I graduated into the 2008 job market armed with a master's degree in creative writing and $20,000+ in student debt. It was a formative experience — that's putting it mildly.

Though I was able to find a job in copywriting, I was laid off within six months, and for better or for worse, the fear induced by that layoff has stayed with me ever since. It also gave me a lasting interest in money and economics.

I also knew I wanted to retire early, and I worked toward that goal. In 2023, at the age of 41, I retired. And then, my son was diagnosed with cancer, which changed all my plans.

Writing about stocks taught me a lot

By 2010, I'd joined an online financial services company, where I wrote about stock market trends. Soon after joining the company, I grew interested in investing, at least enough to begin buying "FAANG" stocks in a regular brokerage account — small amounts at first, then larger ones as I learned the ropes and grew more comfortable.

"FAANG" refers to Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. Like most people, I already knew those businesses. I used Facebook, owned Apple products, shopped on Amazon.com, subscribed to Netflix, and continually navigated to Google for research, so it seemed natural to buy shares. My investment thesis wasn't sophisticated: they were rapidly growing companies in monopoly-adjacent positions. What's not to like?

As their share prices rose, I kept buying more. ("Add to your winners" is an old saying in investing.) I also paid off my student debt. My parents had generously paid for my undergrad, but I'd borrowed around $20,000 for my master's. The interest rate was low, yet I still wanted that obligation gone.

Around 2012, a colleague forwarded me an article about the FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — movement. Suddenly, I had a name for what I was pursuing. I wasn't interested in the extreme frugality of Mr. Money Mustache — a major figure in FIRE circles — I simply wanted to get to a place where downturns wouldn't sink me, and my career fears were more emotional and existential than financial.

I wrote a book and had a baby

At the same time, I was writing creatively on the side, and my first book was published in 2021. By then, I had a full-time job, a baby boy, and a book to promote. The grind was endless, and burnout was inevitable. The enforced isolation of the pandemic didn't help. I felt joyless, used up, and the opposite of creative.

When the opportunity came to leave my job in 2023, I took it. I planned to spend more time with my son, especially since our longtime nanny was leaving, and finally drill down on my second book. But just a year into my "retirement," life took a devastating turn. At age 3, right out of the blue, my little boy was diagnosed with a gravely serious form of cancer.

Now, instead of pursuing my passions, I help manage his treatment — a grueling, yearlong regimen of chemotherapy that requires frequent hospitalizations. His immune system is severely compromised, so preschool and playdates are out of the question. Finding childcare is essentially impossible.

I'm basically on unpaid medical leave

Ironically, my early retirement has become a long, unpaid medical leave. I've barely cracked my second book. The days are a whirlwind of crises and appointments. I hate living this way myself, and there's nothing I wouldn't give to change it for my son. Now 4 years old, he should be running around a playground, perching on Santa's knee, and playing with his cousins — not sitting through yet another painful, hourslong chemo infusion. If the treatment weren't necessary to save his life, I'd bust us both out of the hospital, Bonnie and Clyde-style.

Of course, I never saw this coming, but I am deeply grateful to my younger self for planning on FIRE. Without that, I couldn't focus on my son's health now. It's an incredible privilege, one I don't take for granted. Far too many families are worrying about rent and groceries. At the same time, they're caring for gravely ill children. It's not right. I can confidently say that the stress is fully bad enough without money coming into it.

Perhaps even more ironically, I now dream of returning to work someday — to a "normal" life where I have the time and space to write again, and my son is healthy and happy.

• Older people, including homeowners, are increasingly facing housing insecurity.
• The phenomenon is in part due to housing shortages, inflation, and an aging population.
• Some homeowners told BI they live in fear of losing their properties.

Owning a home has long been a pillar of the American dream, but for many older homeowners, it's no longer providing the retirement security it once did.

Many baby boomers are struggling with rising home repair costs, insurance premiums, and property taxes while also facing a scarcity of affordable retirement housing options. And working all their lives isn't enough to prevent a growing number of older people from experiencing homelessness.

Rising rents and home prices, largely caused by a housing shortage and other cost-of-living spikes, are hitting older adults especially hard. Overall homelessness surged to its highest level on record last year, according to the federal government's most recent count conducted in January 2024. And older people make up a growing share of those losing their homes: The portion of homeless single adults 50 or older is estimated to have grown from about 10% to 50% over the past three decades.

"The cost of housing and the cost of everything, quite frankly, is getting more and more expensive," Marcy Thompson, vice president of programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told Business Insider. "And this is particularly true for older adults who are on fixed incomes."

Homeowners on the brink of homelessness

Valerie Miller, 67, has owned her mobile home in San Bernardino, California for almost 35 years, but she's still struggling to pay rent for the plot her home sits on and can't afford needed repairs and maintenance.

Miller, who never married or had children, is planning to wait until she's 70 to collect Social Security but has already begun dipping into her meager retirement savings and worries she'll never be able to leave her job at a truck-permitting company. Miller has considered selling her home, but she doesn't know where she could find more affordable housing.

"Sometimes I lie awake at night and I'm so worried," she said. "I don't want to use up all my savings, and then what do I do? Live off credit cards or go with the homeless people?"

The increase in homelessness among older Americans is a result both of demographic shifts — the baby boomer generation is getting older — and rising housing and other costs. The number of older homeowners and renters who spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs has surged in recent years.

Allison Nickerson, executive director of LiveOn NY, a nonprofit group focused on improving living conditions for aging people, argued that Americans tend to underestimate the number of older people suffering. A fifth of Americans 50 and older have no retirement savings.

"There's this feeling that baby boomers and older people are pretty comfortable," she said. "But when you actually look at the the amount of people who are struggling, and then looking at the cost of living that has gone up, inflation that's gone up, people are just getting left behind."

Barbara Willing, 69, an artist who's worked on and off at Walmart and Lowe's, has struggled to make a steady income in recent years as she suffers from an autoimmune disease. She bought her home in Victor, Montana — a small town 35 miles south of Missoula — more than twenty years ago and is still paying off her mortgage.

"I have to keep the place I'm in, even though it's inadequate in a lot of ways, because to move would cost me so much more," Willing said, noting that her home has electrical and plumbing issues. She said that the fear of losing her home "continues to loom and gnaw on my conscience and nerves."

Willing has been out of work since July and is looking for her next sales job, but she worries her aging car won't last long traveling the nearly two-hour roundtrip commute to Missoula should she find a job there. Without any retirement savings, she said she's relying largely on her small Social Security checks, a local food bank, SNAP, and disability benefits to make ends meet.

"I've gotten over the anguish, the humiliation of having to go to the food bank," she said. "I actually like going there now, and I tell them how great they're doing."

• Chris Curle, 77, does yoga and walks daily.
• She shared her tips for staying active and healthy into older age with Business Insider.
• These include going on field trips and not letting age hold you back.

A 77-year-old who does yoga and goes on daily walks shared three things that she believes have helped her stay healthy and active with Business Insider.

Chris Curle and her husband, Don Farmer, were anchors on CNN for a decade. When they retired in 1997, they moved from Atlanta to Florida to be close to her aging parents and nature. Farmer died in 2021, and Curle now lives at the Vi at Bentley Village senior living community in Naples, Florida.

Curle does yoga classes twice a week at the community's fitness center and walks at least a mile every day, she told Business Insider. Bentley Village is set over 150 acres of land, some of which is a reserve, so she sees all kinds of animals, including alligators, bears, coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons, on her walks.

Shai Efrati, a doctor specializing in longevity and an associate professor at Tel Aviv University, previously told BI that staying active is one key to healthy aging, alongside other basics of longevity such as limiting ultra-processed foods.

Here are Curle's other simple tips.

Go on field trips

"You have to have a lot of curiosity and maintain that your whole life," Curle said. To do this, she goes on lots of "field trips" — half or full-day excursions to local attractions similar to the ones she used to do at school.

"Every community has something interesting nearby or something to do or something to learn," she said. She's been to local botanical gardens, museums, nature reserves, ranches, and festivals. She often takes friends along with her — although she's never afraid to go alone, she said.

Staying curious was a common trait among centenarians who participated in a 2023 study by researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Stay mentally active

"Staying active and keeping your body and your brain working, that seems to be the formula the experts provide" for longevity, Curle said.

Curle learns new skills, including Tai Chi, and attends lectures at a local university on topics such as history, entertainment, and tech.

Keeping the mind active and learning new skills is thought to be one of the keys to longevity, Heidi Tissenbaum, a professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who researches healthspan, previously told BI. This is because doing new things creates pathways in the brain, which keeps it active and healthy.

You're only as old as you feel

"When you're 77, the mirror says something entirely different from how you feel inside," Curle said. "But go with whatever your brain thinks your age is. And celebrate every birthday because it's better than the alternative!"

A 2022 study published in JAMA Network Open found that adults over 50 who thought more positively about aging had a 43% lower risk of dying of any cause than people who were less satisfied by their aging. They were also more likely to do frequent physical activity and less likely to be lonely.

• An extra tax on home sale profits over $250,000 was designed to target wealthy homeowners.
• But as home values have soared, the tax is impacting middle-income people, too.
• Two older homeowners said they wanted to downsize but had been discouraged by the tax.

Many older homeowners have benefited from soaring home prices in recent years, but as they look to cash in and downsize, some are discouraged by a federal tax that applies to a growing number of home sales.

Since 1997, home sellers have had to pay federal capital-gains taxes on profits above $250,000 for a single person and $500,000 for a couple. The policy was designed to target the most affluent. But because the tax isn't indexed for inflation and home values have climbed so much, it's begun to impact middle-income people too.

Some older Americans who have retired or are near retirement told Business Insider that the tax had deterred them from downsizing and that they feared it would eat into crucial savings. The tax may be discouraging empty nesters from selling their larger homes to growing families, worsening a shortage of starter homes.

The share of home sales subject to the tax has more than doubled in the past few years. In 2023, 8% of US sellers made more than $500,000 in profit on the sale of their homes, the property data firm CoreLogic found. That's up from 1.3% in 2003 and 3% in 2019. If the threshold had been adjusted for inflation, the $250,000 cutoff for individual home sellers in 1997 dollars would be about twice as high — $496,000 — in 2024 dollars.

"What we know, anecdotally, is that people are feeling locked in," Selma Hepp, the chief economist at CoreLogic, told BI. "There are a good share of people for whom this is the only source of wealth savings."

Some retirees are reluctant to sell

David Levin, 71, has lived in Manhattan Beach, California, since 1978. Now retired, Levin and his wife want to sell their four-bedroom house and buy a smaller home in their neighborhood that they can grow old in.

Their housing investments have paid off — the couple paid $632,000 for their home in 1991, and it's now worth an estimated $2.8 million, according to a local real-estate agent Levin consulted. While they've benefited from their soaring home equity, selling at that price or higher would come with an extra-large tax bill.

Levin estimates that he and his wife will have to pay several hundred thousand dollars in capital-gains taxes when they sell their home. Because the couple is relying on cash from their home sale to support them through retirement, Levin doesn't think they can afford to stay in Manhattan Beach — or live anywhere close by.

"If we sell our house, pay the capital gains tax, with what we're left over with we can't find anything to buy that's anywhere as nice as the home we're in," he said.

Levin, who operated retail stores before he retired, and his wife, a homemaker, both volunteer at their local community college, and they live on Levin's Social Security checks and retirement savings. But they're relying on their home equity to help support them as they age. "Our house has been a piggy bank, so the house is what secures our retirement," he said.

Levin was quick to point out that he felt these were "rich people's problems," but they're indicative of how even well-off boomers are struggling to retire comfortably in the communities in which they've built their lives.

"How can you feel sorry for us? I mean, we have so much more than most people have," Levin said. "It's just the circumstances of our lives make us stuck in our home."

Relief may be on the horizon

Some Washington policymakers are taking note of the strain on some of their constituents. Democratic Rep. Jimmy Panetta, whose district includes several pricey coastal California housing markets, has introduced a bill that would double the tax exclusion to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for joint-filing couples and index it to inflation. The More Homes on the Market Act is designed to incentivize more homeowners to sell and boost the housing inventory.

"I firmly believe that such a simple, straightforward fix would allow homeowners to downsize, sell their homes, and secure their nest-eggs," Panetta said in a statement to BI. "It's also a commonsense way to help expand the housing market, tackle housing affordability issues in our communities, and better ensure that more families have access to owning a home."

Raising the threshold for the capital-gains tax on primary home sales and indexing the tax for inflation would be a boon for buyers and sellers alike, Hepp said.

"It would provide some velocity in the market and maybe release some inventory that's not efficiently utilized, like baby boomers living in a really large home when they would prefer a smaller home," she said. The real-estate company Redfin reported that as of 2022, empty-nest boomers owned twice as many homes with three or more bedrooms as millennials with kids.

Andrea S., a 60-year-old homeowner in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, hopes Congress will pass Panetta's bipartisan bill before she sells her home to pay for her retirement.

"I'm kind of hanging on for that, quite frankly, and hoping they get it through," she said.

The former agent and producer, who requested partial anonymity to protect her privacy, bought her two-bedroom bungalow in 1994 for $245,000. A Zillow estimate reviewed by BI says the home is now worth about $1.3 million. She's weighing a slew of different factors in deciding when to downsize, including rising home insurance premiums and mounting home maintenance costs.

"I'm gambling," she said. "Do I wait for that big write-off? What happens if they don't insure houses anymore? Is that going to make the cost of my house go down?"

• Vinay Hiremath, a co-founder of Loom, just wrote about finding purpose after selling the company.
• Software company Atlassian acquired Loom for $975 million in fall 2023.
• The 32-year-old has climbed mountains and joined DOGE. Now, he's in Hawaii.

Vinay Hiremath is grappling with one of success's unexpected downsides.

The 32-year-old cofounded Loom, a video communication company that was acquired by Australian software company Atlassian in October 2023 for about $975 million.

In a recent blog on his website, the former chief technology officer of Loom wrote about giving up $60 million in pay when he decided not to work for Atlassian. Instead, he said he briefly evaluated building a robotics company and climbed two Himalayan peaks. Hiremath also worked for Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency for a month.

"I started to realize that, although the mission of DOGE is extremely important, it wasn't the most important thing I needed to focus on with urgency for myself," he wrote. "I needed to get back to ambiguity, focus on my insecurities, and be ok with that for a while. DOGE wasn't going to fix that."

Hiremath, who broke up with his long-term girlfriend, also wrote about the challenges of tying his identity to his startup.

"When we went through our first round of layoffs, this company my ego was hitched to had suffered a massive blow, so I lost myself. This whole chapter of Loom has created a complex web of internalized insecurities I must now work hard to disentangle and free myself from."

His co-founder, Joe Thomas, remains CEO.

A Wednesday X post in which Hiremath shared a link to his blog has been viewed nearly 540,000 times. The post garnered over 500 comments, many from other tech enthusiasts and startup founders thanking Hiremath for opening up.

Hiremath wrote he is in Hawaii, learning physics and aiming to start another company "that manufactures real-world things" — even if he doesn't find as much success as he did at Loom.

And he's wrestling with philosophical questions about his identity and how he relates to others.

Hiremath did not respond to a request for further comment.

Purpose beyond the job

Hiremath is part of a wider community of suddenly wealthy people or early retirees who struggle to find purpose after decades of working. Experts in personal finance say the feeling is common.

"When we have more money than we could ever spend, most people quit their job — but the job provides many of us with structure, a sense of purpose, and a great deal of our social interaction. Remove this, and it leaves a big void," Robert Pagliarini, a financial advisor who wrote a book about sudden wealth, previously told Business Insider.

Clayton Christensen, an academic and business consultant best known for his theory of "disruptive innovation" and his views on purpose, long said that focusing on a purpose is essential for personal and professional success.

The Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Business School alumnus, who died in 2020, wrote that he had to "think long and hard" about his purpose.

"Over the years I've watched the fates of my HBS classmates from 1979 unfold; I've seen more and more of them come to reunions unhappy, divorced, and alienated from their children," Christensen wrote in a 2010 Harvard Business Review article. "They didn't keep the purpose of their lives front and center as they decided how to spend their time, talents, and energy."

• Kelly Benthall, 53, and her husband decided they wanted to retire early and travel the world.
• Part of the couple's plan for early retirement was not to leave an inheritance for their six kids.
• They've been traveling across Europe and Africa since August and are happy with the decision.

When I was in my 40s, if you had told me I'd be writing this from Mauritius after months of traveling across Europe, I would have laughed.

Back then, I had a more traditional view of retirement: I would work until 65, leave a nest egg for my kids, and settle into a quieter life.

But at 53, my husband, Nigel, and I quit our jobs in oil and gas, traded comfort for adventure, and hit the road.

To retire early and travel, we restructured our finances and mapped out a plan to spend every penny. Deciding not to leave an inheritance for our six kids was a crucial part of the plan.

We invested in their first 25 years, giving each of them a strong foundation to build their own futures.

Building confidence

We didn't want to tap into our retirement accounts, fearing early-withdrawal penalties, so we simplified our lifestyle.

We got engaged in 2017, shortly after Hurricane Harvey destroyed Nigel's house. He moved in with me, we married, and instead of upgrading to a bigger home, we agreed to make mine work. During COVID, we sold our second car and learned to share one.

We also paid off credit-card debt and committed to settling all bills in full every month. These choices made a difference, but we still needed help.

To turn our dream into reality, we hired a financial advisor who helped us devise a plan we could trust. Together, we grew our fixed-income resources for easy access, crafted a strategy to fully spend our savings during our lifetime, and transitioned to having our accounts managed by our advisor with asset-based fees. It helped us stop worrying about outliving our money.

Budgeting for life on the move

Now, our goal is to spend 20% less than we did during the last five years of work, gradually scaling back as we age and slow down. Careful budgeting and travel hacks have been helping.

Before leaving Texas in August, we had been living in Houston, where we still own a home. The choice between renting and selling felt too overwhelming before we left, so when we started our adventure in August, we held off on that decision. For now, it remains as we left it. The plan is to return in January to pack everything up and make those tough calls.

Instead, we kicked off the adventure by visiting family in England. Since then, we've had to rethink how we travel, prioritizing affordability without compromising our standards. This has influenced aspects such as where we stay and how we plan our itineraries.

For lodging, I use Airbnb and local real-estate agencies that offer discounts with a minimum stay of 30 days to cut down on costs. It gives us time to settle in and experience a place fully.

By following the sun during shoulder seasons, we've scored lower rates and balanced pricier destinations with more affordable ones. After England, we've established a rhythm we call "home bases" — places where we live like locals while exploring the area.

So far, we've spent a month in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with its stunning coastline; Lecce in Italy's Puglia region, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves; Seville, Spain, falling in love with Andalusia's laid-back charm; and now Mauritius, a small island nation just east of Madagascar where we're soaking up island vibes for the holidays.

Over the past five months, we've been spending an average of $6,000 a month, not including our house payment and related expenses back in Texas.

With slow travel, we shop at local markets, cook at home, and savor a relaxed pace.

Looking ahead

This journey isn't just about travel — it's about finding space to breathe. The endless US news cycle was wearing on me. Personally, I needed space to slow down. I keep up with international news, but the politics back home feel distant.

We don't know exactly where this journey will take us, and that's the beauty of it. With a long list of places to explore and regular trips home to see family, we may even find ourselves back where we started one day.

Our six children, who range in age from 23 to 37 and are spread across California, Utah, Texas, and England, were excited for us but also a little wistful when we set off. A few of them said it felt as if we were leaving for good — a shift that seemed more permanent, even though we'll see them just as often as when we lived in Houston.

Our plan to "spend it all" isn't about running out; it's about using what we have with the intention to explore, learn, and create memories we'll carry forever.

And for our kids? I hope we're showing them that there's no single way to live. Sometimes, you just have to leap and trust the net will appear — a reminder to live fully, in whatever way feels true to them.

Got a personal essay about retiring early to travel that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: [email protected].

"I wish I saved more for retirement." "I regret taking Social Security too early." "I should have had better health insurance." "I would tell my younger self to take that vacation."

These are among the common regrets described by the more than 3,800 older Americans who since mid-September have responded to Business Insider's informal, nonrepresentative surveys and emailed reporters. Reporters wrote 17 stories, including four in-depth profiles, and created a video detailing six Americans' regrets.

By mid-October, more than 1,000 people had completed the initial survey; that figure grew to more than 1,700 by the end of November. Now the survey has over 2,500 responses. By December, reporters had received roughly 1,000 emails in response to the coverage. We also used more than 300 responses from a survey that asked people over 50 about their regrets as they struggled to find work and interviewed more than 100 older Americans as well as financial planners and retirement researchers.

_{Article credits
Reporters: Noah Sheidlower, Allie Kelly
Editors: Bartie Scott, Emily Canal, Andy Kiersz, Jamie Heller
Copy Editors: Jonann Brady, Emma LeGault, Nick Siwek, Kevin Kaplan
Design and Art: Jenny Chang-Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, Derek French, Natalie Ammari, Bryan Erickson
Photographers: Laura McDermott, Rita Harper, Saul Martinez
Video credits
Producers: Sarah Andersen, Barbara Corbellini Duarte
Reporters: Noah Sheidlower, Allie Kelly
Videographers: Brian Hansen, Clancy Morgan, Austin Meyer, Gregory Neiser
Video Editors: Mark Adam Miller, Karim Islam
Motion Designer: Dorian Barranco
Copy Editors: Mark Abadi, Marisa Frey
Deputy Executive Producer: Havovi Cooper
Executive Producer: Barbara Corbellini Duarte
Head of Video: Erica Berenstein}

• Business Insider heard from more than 3,800 older Americans about their life regrets.
• In a video, six people shared their stories and described what they wished they'd done differently.
• Their regrets included retiring too early, not investing aggressively, and letting go of property.

What would you say to your younger self? Six older Americans asked themselves this question and wrote letters for a Business Insider video.

They're a small sampling of the more than 3,800 older Americans who have shared their life regrets in the past three months through reader surveys and emails to reporters. See our full list of stories.

Their letters highlight what they would have done differently and what they're proud of. A former healthcare worker said she wished she had advocated more for herself at work. A truck driver said he shouldn't have sold his home. A health librarian described letting investment opportunities pass. A manager said she retired too early. And a couple said they wished they had prioritized their passions and saved more cautiously.

Scroll down to meet each person and read their full letters.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets you'd be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Hank Faber, 77

Faber, a truck driver in Indiana, said he regretted leaving his farm, which he estimates is now worth over $1 million; piling up debt; not preparing financially for health challenges; and not building a large nest egg for retirement.

He said that while he doesn't expect to retire soon, he's thankful that he kept playing music and found a career he enjoys.

Anita Clemons Swanagan, 59

Swanagan, who held various positions in prisons and hospitals, said she regretted offering too much financial assistance to friends, not prioritizing her health earlier in life, and not advocating for herself to get paid more.

Still, the Illinois resident said she was proud of herself for returning to work after the first of her two strokes, raising her three daughters, and staying positive about the future.

Nancy Seeger, 64

Seeger, a health librarian in Ohio, said she wished she had taken the time to learn investment strategies earlier in life, opened a Roth IRA earlier in her career, and shifted careers sooner.

But she also said she made many smart decisions, including securing good health insurance before her cancer diagnosis and starting a freelance writing gig after navigating a recent layoff.

Misty Miller, 65

Miller, a staff services manager in California, said she regretted retiring too early, overspending in the first year of her retirement, and cashing out her 401(k). But she said that staying connected with many people in her life and continuing to work had kept her positive.

Steve Dacus, 67, and Mary Dacus, 69

Steve Dacus, a retired salesman, and Mary Dacus, a retired secretary, both said they wished they had pursued careers they were passionate about, worked longer before retiring, and been more cautious about saving.

The couple, who live in rural Illinois, said they were proud that they took care of their parents and were looking forward to getting out of their home and moving to a different community.

Nearly half of Americans aged 60 and older can't afford their daily needs, the National Council on Aging estimates. Over 3,800 older Americans reached out to Business Insider to share their financial regrets and the lessons they wish they had learned earlier. Six shared advice on saving, investing, and preparing for retirement.

• Misty Miller, 65, regretted retiring early because she thought she was well off.
• Miller found retirement isolating and financially challenging, so she returned to work.
• This story is part of an ongoing series on older Americans' regrets.

Misty Miller submitted her retirement paperwork seven years ago with over $500,000 saved. A week later, she asked for her job back.

Miller, 65, was a legal secretary in the private sector before working her way up to become a staff services manager for the California Housing Finance Agency. She paid off her mortgage and put as much money as possible into her 401(k). When she was in her late 50s, she determined she could retire early and live off her over $3,000 monthly pension checks.

However, she said retirement was "the biggest mistake" of her life. She said she overspent, and work gave her social connections and a purpose that she missed. She returned to work shortly after.

"I'm just terrified that within two or three years into retirement, I'll be broke again, that my money won't last, and I'm going to live until 100 years old," Miller said. "I lived through spiraling inflation in the 1970s. I'm just terrified of inflation."

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Miller is one of more than 3,800 older Americans between the ages of 48 and 96 who have shared their biggest life regrets with Business Insider since September. Common regrets include not saving enough for retirement, taking Social Security too early, not prioritizing education, or not preparing financially for an unexpected medical diagnosis.

Living frugally and working hard

Miller was born to upper-middle-class parents, and her father ran a law practice, she said. Her parents wanted her to major in business in college and become a CPA, though she wanted to become a writer. She pursued an English degree and, after college, lived paycheck to paycheck for a few years while working miscellaneous part-time jobs. She took out about $4,100 in student loans, which she paid off by the time she was 28.

She worked as a legal secretary for 11 years and was a claims-litigation paralegal for an insurance company, working as many as 60 hours a week. She wanted the more regular hours and benefits that can come with a public-sector job. She was hired by the California Housing Finance Agency, where she was promoted three times.

While working, Miller set aside much of her paycheck for retirement. After years of frugal living, she had enough money to buy a house in Sacramento for $93,500 in 1990; 28 years later, she sold it for about $350,000. She also began investing seriously in the stock market in the 1990s — something she wishes she'd started doing earlier.

By 2017, she had well over $500,000 in her retirement accounts. "This is when I thought, I am rich. I could retire," Miller said. "I also thought that I could collect a check every month from my 401(k) and be fine."

During her career, she said she was so focused on money that she missed out on family time. She said she rarely visited family or called important people in her life. She said her nieces and nephews grew up not knowing her, and she regrets not spending some of her paychecks on trips to see relatives, especially since she doesn't have children.

'House rich and cash poor'

Miller retired at 58, thinking she'd be set financially and emotionally. Before retiring, she drove a 26-year-old car, colored her own hair, and brought lunch to work every day. Miller said her finances would have been fine if she continued this frugal lifestyle into retirement. Her husband also held a high-paying job, though they kept their finances separate.

But two months after she retired in 2017, she said she started to overspend, especially on real estate. She withdrew much of her 401(k) that year to afford a $110,000 down payment on a $515,000 beach house in Sonoma County, plus $57,000 for a central heating system. She said she paid about $90,000 in taxes on that withdrawal.

She sold the Sacramento home, but Miller said she disliked the beach house because of the cold weather and wanted to move back. In 2019, she purchased a 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom house — about twice the size of her first Sacramento home — for $488,000 in a Sacramento suburb and sold the beach house in 2020 for $720,000. However, she said the property tax on her current home is five times as high as the first one.

"I'm house rich and cash poor, and so I had to go back to work for the state," Miller said, adding she didn't speak to a financial advisor about a long-term plan. "The master plan just didn't work out for me."

Returning to the office

Miller got a job at a local newspaper by the beach house that paid $19 an hour. She looked for other employment opportunities but suspected many employers wanted to hire younger talent.

"It's challenging to get a job when you're in your 60s," Miller said. "I tried my best to look as young as possible."

In 2019, she got a job at the California Department of Consumer Affairs and then switched to the Secretary of State's office. She now works as a staff services manager at the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

Miller now has about $450,000 saved. Now that she's working again, she plans to invest in her Roth 401(k) and put all her money into an S&P index fund, which she won't cash out early. She also hopes to rekindle her relationships with family and prioritize her friends.

"I'm back to saving money again, and I plan to never retire," Miller said, adding she wants to keep her private health insurance instead of going on Medicare. "It was a huge mistake to just think that I was rich and spend all that money just like that."

• Some Americans "oversave" for retirement and end up sacrificing during their working years.
• Financial planners advised balancing savings with enjoying life to avoid regrets in retirement.
• This is part of an ongoing series on older Americans' regrets.

Joshua Winston, 70, did a pretty good job preparing for retirement: He ran two successful veterinary clinics, made smart investments, and lived frugally.

But a week after he retired in May, he was diagnosed with cancer. Now, Winston said, he regrets working such long hours during his career, often missing out on trips and date nights.

Winston is one of a few dozen respondents to an informal Business Insider survey who said they worked too hard during their careers or focused too much on saving for retirement, sacrificing family time, travel, or other leisure activities when they were younger. They're among the more than 3,600 older Americans who shared their life regrets through surveys or direct emails to reporters. This story is part of an ongoing series.

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Some survey respondents thought they were behind on retirement goals and chose to bypass larger purchases, only to realize they were well-prepared and too cautious about getting there. A few said traumatic experiences, such as the death of a loved one or a catastrophic medical diagnosis, made them anxious about saving money in case of another emergency. Interviews with five Americans who thought they were too frugal point to the difficulties of knowing how to best prepare for retirement.

Dylan Tyson, the president of retirement strategies at Prudential Financial, described the mindset of an oversaver: "You're cutting back on living — not taking that extra trip or going to that concert or ball game with family and friends — because you're worried that you don't have enough saved."

Saving for an anticlimactic retirement

Winston, who lives in Arizona, spent much of his career in veterinary work. Throughout his life, he drove modest vehicles, lived in an upper-middle-class house, and was cautious about making larger purchases.

He retired with about $3 million but wished he'd spent some of that money on an assistant for his practice so he wouldn't need to work nights running an emergency vet helpline.

"That sucked up a lot of oxygen in my life. I never could watch a movie when I went out with my wife because I would get a dozen phone calls," Winston said, though he acknowledged the helpline helped make his practice successful.

He planned to spend some of his savings in retirement, but he was diagnosed with lung cancer in May and said life has "been hell" since then.

"I have enough money to live until 95 and go on vacations. I have a whole life ahead of me, and this is what happens," Winston said. "I have cancer, and I may not even enjoy the money I worked hard to save."

Tyson said that while a lot of retirement is "guesswork," people should try to determine how much lifetime income they'll need to achieve their retirement goals while balancing their spending needs, wants, and wishes.

"With millions of Americans facing uncertainty, we see the smartest of them taking action to create financial plans that focus squarely on the things that matter most," Tyson said. "Then they are protecting those goals by ensuring that they have secure, predictable income to fund their retirement needs and wants — freeing them to worry less and pursue their greatest wishes."

Working too hard and missing out on friends and family

Ruth Mills, 63, said she began saving later in life but amassed seven figures through frugal living and careful investing. The Minnesota resident had children in her early 20s and finances were tight. As a single mom, she held multiple jobs, working odd jobs as a part-time in-home personal care assistant in addition to full-time work. She worked her way up to a senior accounting officer for the state.

She said because she worked so much and cared for her children alone, she missed opportunities to go out with friends or travel more with family. She said a part of her wished she'd forgone some savings so she could have worked one less job or had hobbies.

"I did well saving for retirement, but so much so I was too frugal along the way and did not enjoy as much while younger as I worked too much," Mills said.

Mills said she pushed back a trip to Ireland that she's no longer physically equipped to take. She recently downsized her house and hopes to retire soon and use her retirement years to spoil her grandchildren and have an active lifestyle.

"Having all the money in the world is great, and I don't have that, but if you don't have the friends and people to spend it with at the end, it's a trade-off," Mills said. She added, "Having made the necessary sacrifices to save and invest earlier, I am looking forward to having the financial security to be able to afford the basic necessities and share adventures and experiences with the grandkids."

Ryan Viktorin, a financial consultant and CFP at Fidelity, said she sees three categories of "oversavers": people who experience an unfortunate event that keeps them from spending the money they've saved, people who worry they'll never have enough because of healthcare costs or market volatility, and people who continue working because they haven't mentally prepared for retirement, fearing it's monotonous or isolating.

She also said that baby boomers retiring now grew up hearing stories about their parents or grandparents going through the Great Depression.

"Sometimes I hear from my clients who have saved really well who say it's in their bones to continue to be frugal, and they feel like they can't really enjoy themselves or live their lives because they have to keep saving," she said.

Missing out on key family moments

Kirk, 75, said he didn't realize he was doing such a good job of preparing for retirement. The retired California attorney, who asked to use only his first name for privacy concerns, worked for various financial institutions and maxed out his 401(k). He amassed over $1.1 million in tax-deferred retirement savings. However, he feared an emergency or market crash would derail his plans for a comfortable retirement.

After retiring from his full-time job at 67, he realized there were opportunities he missed out on because he held back on spending. He regrets not going on a weekslong trip to France with his brother in his 60s; now, his brother has cognitive challenges that make travel difficult. On a trip to Hawaii, he signed his two children up for a helicopter tour but didn't go himself to save money.

"It would have been a great experience to have shared with them and talked about for years to come," Kirk said. "I could now pay for a dozen helicopter rides and not miss the money."

Viktorin said it's important to look at the gap between expenses and income and figure out where there's some wiggle room in your budget beyond saving for retirement, which may help alleviate some of these anxieties older Americans have.

"When you build out a financial plan, you can build out the 'what ifs' and see what it looks like," Viktorin said. "What if we took an extra trip and spent more money? What if we flew business class rather than coach or economy? What if we started to help our children more?"

Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

• More than 3,400 older Americans have shared their financial and other regrets with Business Insider.
• Some older adults reflected on how parenthood shaped their finances.
• This is part of an ongoing series about older Americans' regrets.

For many people, raising children is the most fulfilling aspect of their lives. But dozens of older US parents told Business Insider that knowing what they know now, they might have made different financial decisions.

Since mid-September, over 3,400 Americans ages 48 to 96 have responded to Business Insider reader surveys or emailed reporters about their life regrets. One survey included the question "What advice would you give someone trying to decide when — or if — they have children?"

Hundreds of respondents said they had children when they were too young and financially unstable, delayed their career to raise a family, or spent too much or too little on their kids. Many said their decisions as young parents had lasting effects. Though many more mothers shared their parenting regrets than fathers, both shared very similar parenting regrets.

It's not all bad, though. Many parents said their financial and professional sacrifices were worth it to build strong relationships with their children. Others said that they did the best they could but that some parenting costs were unavoidable.

All of them stressed that despite having some financial or professional regrets, they love their children and had few regrets about how they raised them.

BI identified five common financial parenting regrets and interviewed seven parents. This story is part of an ongoing series.

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Some parents wish they'd waited to have children until their careers were more established

Many respondents said they wished they had waited to have a baby until they were more financially stable. The high costs of childcare and housing made it difficult for some parents to set aside savings for emergencies or retirement, especially early in their careers. An analysis by Northwestern Mutual last year found that the average cost to raise a child until age 18 was about $300,000.

Judy Taylor, 72, told BI she loves her children but regretted having them in her early 20s. Taylor, who lives in Georgia, said she and her husband weren't established enough professionally to afford children and build savings for retirement. When they divorced after 16 years, Taylor shouldered additional costs as a single parent.

Taylor said she had little savings left and relied on slightly over $2,000 in monthly Social Security. If she missed a check, she'd be "dead in the water," she said.

"Babies are so precious," Taylor said. "But having another life to be responsible for can be overwhelming. Just be sure you're ready for that."

Jessica Douieb, the head of wealth partners at JPMorgan, advised that families build a wealth plan focused on short- and long-term goals that factors in education, tax planning, cash-flow management, investments, charitable giving, insurance, and estate planning.

"A frequent misstep is failing to plan for the long term," Douieb said. "In many cases, having children can delay retirement, requiring parents to work longer to support their children, which can affect financial security in later years."

Roxanne Lewis, 61, a mental-health case manager, relied on child support and food stamps to pay her bills as a single mother, though she later remarried and held stable jobs. She said she wished she'd had a nest egg and an established career before having the first of her seven children.

"When I was younger, I didn't think about retirement," Lewis said. "It was mainly about getting the bills paid, making sure the children had clothes and food. It wasn't even a thought in my mind, and nobody had ever mentioned it."

Lewis, who lives in East Texas, said she didn't often speak with them about retirement savings. She intends to work until 67, and while her finances improved after a raise in 2022, she's worried about how retirement may look with a few thousand dollars in the bank.

"I wish that I spent more time with my kids," Lewis said. "Money was a big thing for me, focusing on having enough money so they had what they needed, so I was always stressed."

Some said they spent too much on their children

A few dozen respondents said that while they felt that many of their financial investments in their children were worth it, they regretted spoiling their children — such as buying them a car when finances were tight — or not encouraging them to become financially independent. A few said they were burdened by letting their children live with them after college or stay on their insurance plans.

Douieb said parents who want to be generous with their children should prioritize nurturing their confidence and self-esteem over materially rewarding them.

"I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having ongoing, open discussions about money, reinforcing values like responsibility and self-sufficiency," Douieb said. "When they reach the right age, teaching children about saving, investing, and planning can help them become financially literate and independent, which will help them in the long run."

Some divorced parents described the financial toll of raising children alone or with limited support

Several respondents said divorce and single parenting affected their retirement plans. Some said they struggled to support a family without a second income or with limited child support, while others said being a stay-at-home parent meant they didn't have much savings after a divorce.

A BI analysis of 2023 individual-level census data found that divorced people had lower average 401(k) balances, less savings, and a more limited monthly retirement income than married people. It also found that just 38% of divorced people had a retirement account.

Nina Teasley, 65, lives on less than $2,000 in Social Security in Bethesda, Maryland. Teasley, a mom of four, was a stay-at-home mom for most of her adult life but divorced about 25 years ago. Though Teasley's children are now adults, she said she still felt the financial impact of her divorce.

Teasley said that while being so present in her children's lives was wonderful, she had no savings or retirement plan. When she and her husband split, Teasley took a customer-service job to support herself and her children, but the income wasn't enough to build a nest egg. Now Teasley isn't sure she can fully retire and worries about becoming a financial burden on her adult children.

"I thought I would be married forever," Teasley said. "I married a man who wanted to take care of me and the kids. But I wish I had not let that be. I wish I had decided to go to work and stay at work."

Michelle Patello, a vice president and wealth-management advisor at TIAA, said that there isn't one single approach to raising children after a divorce and that splitting expenses equally isn't always the answer.

"It's important to consider the different income levels when splitting costs," she said.

Some said they regretted being stay-at-home parents

The Pew Research Center found in 2023 that about four in five stay-at-home parents were women. Spending time outside the workforce to raise children meant many moms had less income to build savings and lower Social Security checks.

Older Americans' monthly Social Security income is based on the years they spent in the workforce. Stay-at-home parents' time spent raising children isn't counted toward their retirement benefit.

Wendy DeBord, 73, said she returned to work too late after having her children. DeBord, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, had her first child at 23 and had two more by 28. For 12 years she was a stay-at-home mom and ran a day care at her house. At 45, with little work experience, she took a job as a receptionist at an orthodontist's office. She worked her way up to becoming a public-relations coordinator.

"When I entered the workforce at age 45, I had to start on the bottom rung, so I barely made it to the middle of the ladder by age 70," DeBord said, adding she had a divorce at 50 that hurt her retirement planning.

She said that staying home with her children still felt like the right move, and she cherished watching them grow up. But she said that she started building her 401(k) late and that she reached $300,000 in savings, which she described as sufficient, at 70. She gets about $2,000 monthly in Social Security, which she claimed at 70.

Douieb stressed that stay-at-home-parenting considerations go beyond a parent's finances.

"A child's financial future will be more determined by instilling strong values around money management and savings from an early age," Douieb said. "Parents can create a nurturing environment where financial literacy is emphasized, teaching children the importance of budgeting, investing, and responsible spending."

Adults without children have regrets, too

Though many older parents said they regretted how they handled finances while raising a family, few said they regretted having children. "Every parent wants their child to have a better life than they did — he is the one thing I did right," one survey respondent wrote.

Others said they were happily child-free. "I have no children and no regrets," one person said.

Christopher Gilbert, 61, said he helped raise his nephew but might have been more fulfilled if he had raised children of his own, even with the financial burden. He said he couldn't start a family because of laws banning same-sex marriage, which became fully legal in the US in 2015.

Now gay people "can get married and have kids," Gilbert said, "but that came a little bit late for me."

Gilbert, who lives in Bradenton, Florida, said that while he had some retirement savings, he planned to work his job at a convenience store for as long as possible because it keeps him active and social.

Patello said that Americans should proactively plan for retirement regardless of whether they're parents. "The earlier, the better," Patello said. Even reducing your contributions but continuing to save can make all the difference for you and your family."

Are you an older American with any life regrets you'd be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

• There's increasing concern that American politicians are growing too old in office.
• One congresswoman, 68, says she's retiring in part to "set a better example."
• "I'm just not the best gladiator for it right now," said Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire.

As Americans grow increasingly concerned by the advanced age of top politicians, one retiring lawmaker is taking a different tack.

Rep. Annie Kuster, a 68-year-old Democrat who's represented a New Hampshire district for 12 years, told the Boston Globe that she's trying to make room for younger people in Congress.

"I'm trying to set a better example," Kuster said. "I think there are colleagues — and some of whom are still very successful and very productive — but others who just stay forever."

Kuster added that she's "not the best gladiator" to serve as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reassume office and Democrats gird for at least two years of full GOP control of Congress and the White House.

She's set to be replaced by Maggie Goodlander, a 38-year-old Democrat who most recently worked in the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden.

According to the 2024 MassMutual Retirement Happiness Study, the average American retires at age 62, which is when early Social Security benefits become available. Many Americans work past that age, either due to financial pressures or a sense of fulfillment from work.

It's different in Washington, where lawmakers tend to be personally wealthy and driven by a sense of mission. They also grow more powerful the longer they stick around, due to the seniority system.

In 2022, Business Insider reported that roughly a quarter of lawmakers were over the age of 70. But while age limits are popular with the general public, they're highly unlikely to happen, owing to the difficulty of enacting constitutional amendments.

Democrats in particular have been reckoning with the perils of aging in the wake of their 2024 losses, which many attribute to the 82-year-old Biden's decision to continue running for reelection until a disastrous debate performance forced him out of the race in July.

In recent weeks, the party has elevated younger leaders to assume top positions on a series of House committees, replacing older or ailing members in their mid- to late 70s.

Still, the perils of gerontocracy continue to emerge.

This month, retiring Republican Rep. Kay Granger, 81, was revealed to be living in a senior living facility in her home state of Texas. She had not cast any votes since July.

Until she stepped down in March, she was the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees the entirety of the federal government's spending.

• I'm 67 and am still working 5 days a week. Many of my friends have retired, but I can't afford to.
• I regret not investing in a pension offered to me earlier in life.
• Now I'm planning to move away from my grandchild so I can work less and enjoy a lower cost of living.

I am 67 years old and when people ask me if I've retired yet, my knee jerk response is, "No I haven't! What's retirement?"

I am a Psychologist, was formerly a teacher, and have worked and paid taxes all my life. I am well paid for the work that I do. I have paid my mortgage off and have no outstanding debts. In spite of this, I am now faced with the prospect of living on a state pension, which is just not possible, continuing to work or, as I have now decided, selling up and moving 200 miles away from my only granddaughter so I can live in a location where house prices are lower and I can afford to work less.

This wasn't the plan

It didn't start out this way. I once imagined that somehow I would make such a success of my life that I would be able to retire at 50 or younger, enjoying being a lady that lunches, going on cruises, and doing the odd spot of volunteer work. But I didn't actually have a plan.

I started my working life as a teacher, got married at 30 then found myself to be a lone parent when my children were 2 and 5, with no family support. I was not well advised and ended up with the children, the mortgage, no pension, and an ex-husband who tried his best not to pay anything at all.

Around that time I decided I needed a career change, and started to train as a Psychologist, a long and very expensive process. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I managed to work, study, and raise children — all on my own.

I was proud of what I accomplished, but had nothing at all in the way of savings; life was a constant struggle to make ends meet. I still did what I could and at 40 I started to pay £100 (about $127 USD) a month into a private pension. Now I know that I was badly advised and if I were to take it, this would only pay me around £1,500 (about $1,905 USD) per year —nowhere near what I would need to live on.

The thing I never did with my money still haunts me

The obvious question is, why didn't I pay into the teacher's pension offered to me earlier in my career? Why indeed.

Not taking advantage of this is one of my greatest regrets. But when I was in my early 20s we didn't have any financial education. Even the teachers' unions didn't send out advice about pensions. To me, it just seemed like a large monthly outgoing from an already meagre salary, so I opted out and didn't give it another thought. Now I know that money would have made a big difference. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I needed to make some tough decisions

I realized around 5 years ago that the only way I could even contemplate retirement would be to downsize and move to a cheaper area in order to have a reasonably substantial nest egg to help me eke out my twilight years. Most of the advice I have read claims that to have a comfortable retirement where I live, one needs a gross annual income of around £40,000 (around $50,802 USD). I have calculated that with my state pension, bits and pieces for my writing, and interest on the surplus when I move, to reach that £40,000 I will still need to work at least one day a week. Not perfect, but a lot better than the five days I have been working.

With this in mind, I put my house on the market. Then my eldest daughter, who lives nearby, announced that she was pregnant. Fantastic as that was, I could no longer imagine moving away, so I carried on working five days.

I'm now more than a year past the typical retirement age and most of my friends seem to be enjoying a fruitful, active retirement. Meanwhile, I'm becoming more and more exhausted, suffering from frequent low-level infections, and becoming increasingly resentful.

Change is coming

Now, my house is back on the market. I will be moving to Derbyshire, where my younger daughter lives and where house prices are around half of those where I live now.

It will be a massive wrench, especially leaving my granddaughter, but I need to do it while I'm still fit and healthy. I have lived in my current house for 38 years and expected to leave it in a box. I've worked out a solution, although not ideal. I will have enough income to work one day a week, more time to focus on my passions, I'll be able to travel and get involved in the local community and still be able to visit my granddaughter every 6 weeks or so.

My advice to young people now? However distant it seems, don't leave it to chance. Make a retirement plan and start paying as much as you can into a good pension. The years fly by and it will be here before you know it.

• Tamara Ponzo Brattoli's retirement plans changed after her son's sudden death in 2018.
• Brattoli took a job at Costco to pay her bills, but she worries about her financial future.
• Many older Americans face financial struggles after losing loved ones, which affects their retirement.

Tamara Ponzo Brattoli, 57, was set on retiring comfortably in her 60s. She raised three children with her husband and worked as a professor at a community college in a Chicago suburb.

However, when her son died suddenly, she said, in addition to the grief, she became much more worried about her retirement.

Her son Anthony was a college student who died after working abroad in the summer before his senior year. His death hit the family hard, and Brattoli struggled to return to work. After taking a leave of absence to grieve and returning for a few semesters, she retired from teaching, took her pension early, and got a job as a warehouse manager at Costco to help her make ends meet.

She's proud of herself for lessening her financial burden and for getting back to work in a role she could handle, even though it was in a completely different industry.

Though she makes enough to live comfortably, she said she's worried her pension won't keep up with inflation, which could make her finances tighter down the line. She wishes she had more resources and guidance to solidify her finances after Anthony's death and had saved more money earlier in life in case tragedy struck.

"I regret not maximizing my options during that awful time," she told Business Insider. "I needed better help to make decisions but did not know where to turn, and I do not feel like my former employer, or my union, or my therapists really knew how to help me."

We want to hear from you. Do you have any regrets in life that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Brattoli is one of a few dozen older Americans who told BI through interviews and a voluntary survey in recent months that losing a loved one affected their finances and retirement plans. Some respondents said losing a spouse, a parent, or a child made them panic and make poor financial decisions. Others said they had to quit working or take lower-stress jobs to cope with the pain.

Read a letter Brattoli wrote to her younger self about what she would have done differently or kept the same. Her story continues below.

Raising a family as a college professor

Brattoli grew up in a middle-class family in Sacramento, California, and was the first in her family to graduate from college. She got a master's degree in English and found work teaching at a community college outside Chicago in 1993, where she also ran its study-abroad program.

She and her husband had three children and invested much of their money in them. She taught extra classes to keep their finances stable and fund vacations.

Brattoli supported her children's musical passions, including financially. Anthony played the tuba and enrolled at Brown University. He won the Brown University Orchestra Concerto Competition and had a concentration in English and Slavic studies. In 2018, he got a job in Prague translating Russian legal documents into English.

"I had this job that allowed me to be flexible during the day, but then so I would run around, take the kids to their appointments," Brattoli said. "And then at night, I was up grading papers until really late."

Grieving and working

While in Prague, Anthony suffered a brain hemorrhage and was in a vegetative state for a month. Brattoli traveled there and stayed with Anthony for three weeks, and they flew him back to the US, where he lived the last days of his life. The university's insurance paid for the flight back, though she regretted not investing in good travel insurance as a backup in case Brown didn't cover it in full.

Brattoli went on leave after Anthony's death but returned to work starting in spring 2019 — including remote teaching before and during the pandemic — to pay her bills.

"I was completely incapable of teaching, and I forced myself to get through it for a time, but I could not function," Brattoli said.

She said because of the grief, she did not prioritize long-term financial planning, adding that she didn't know where to turn for help beyond her therapists or employer. She wishes she would have spoken with a financial advisor or sought retirement resources to make her savings go further.

While winding down her teaching career at 54, she took a job at Costco, first as a seasonal clerk packing e-commerce orders, then in an administrative role handling accounts payable and scheduling truck routes. She was promoted to facilities supervisor at a distribution center, which paid about $65,000 annually. She said that she's still financially stable and that her Costco salary allowed her to somewhat comfortably pay her bills.

Her husband, who is a few years older than her, worked after Anthony's death but lost his job during the pandemic. He also pivoted to Costco, working at a warehouse.

Financial pains

Brattoli contributed to her public-school retirement plan, though she said she and her husband didn't save much. She didn't track how much she put into her retirement accounts and said it was cumbersome to increase her contributions. She wishes she had set aside much more of her earnings earlier so interest would compound on them.

In the years after Anthony's death, Brattoli said her grief and lack of direction led to some financial issues. Because she gave up teaching, she cashed out her state pension early and got paid less than if she continued teaching for more years.

Since she has a public pension, a Social Security provision cuts her benefits from her private-sector work.

"I'm now at a penalty, and that'll be for the rest of my life," Brattoli said. "Even though now I'm working for Costco and I'm putting into Social Security, my Social Security is going to be terrible."

She intends to work for Costco until she's 65, when she expects to have enough for retirement, fearing she won't be physically equipped to work there much later. Costco gives her health insurance, and with her children now financially stable adults, she said she could save more for her future, putting much of her earnings into her 401(k). She said her pension would help keep her afloat after retirement.

"I feel uncertain right now because inflation has messed up my pension already," Brattoli said. "I suffered with that because I took my pension, and then inflation jumped up, and it's not like Social Security where it automatically increases based on how much inflation goes up."

Brattoli said despite the pain of the last few years, the decision to work at Costco was the best choice. Her Costco income and pension brought her to about where she'd be if she still taught full-time, and the role helped her rebuild her confidence.

"It gave me a chance to focus on something completely different than teaching," Brattoli wrote in her letter. "Now, I wear steel-toed shoes. I learned how to drive a forklift. I climb into the backs of semi-trailers and onto the roof of the building."

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• Some overemployed Americans have secretly worked multiple remote jobs to increase their incomes.
• They've used the money to travel, save for retirement, buy cars, and pay off student debt.
• Many said job juggling was worth it despite the long hours and risk of professional repercussions.

Some Americans have increased their incomes by secretly working multiple remote jobs, and they're using the money to splurge or improve their financial futures.

In 2021, Robert was making roughly $180,000 a year from his tech job. When his workflow started to slow, he feared he could be laid off and found a job that paid $190,000 annually. He kept both remote roles, and in 2023, Robert earned more than $300,000 across the two.

Robert, a Gen Xer in Florida, said the extra income enabled him and his partner to take a roughly $20,000 cruise and spend another $10,000 on trips to Yellowstone, the Galápagos Islands, and Las Vegas, among other places.

"We spend a lot on travel because life is more about experiences and memories than material things," Robert previously told Business Insider. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym because of his fear of professional repercussions.

Robert is among the "overemployed" Americans who have secretly worked multiple remote jobs to boost their incomes. Over the past year, BI has interviewed more than two dozen job jugglers who've used the extra money to pay off debt, save for retirement, and afford expensive weight-loss drugs.

To be sure, while some employers may be OK with their workers having a second job, doing so without company approval could have professional repercussions. Additionally, job juggling can lead to burnout, and the ethics of doing it in secret are up for debate.

But many current and former overemployed individuals told BI that the financial benefits were worth it, and some have used the money to build additional income streams. BI has verified their earnings, and their identities are known, but they asked to use pseudonyms because of their fear of professional repercussions.

Overemployed workers set up new earnings opportunities

Patrick, an account manager, earned about $200,000 last year secretly working two full-time remote jobs and doing some freelance work.

He used the extra income to pay off debts and make home improvements. It also allowed his wife to trade her full-time job for a part-time gig so she could spend more time with their child.

"I'm a new father, and my goal is financial freedom," Patrick, who's in his 30s and lives in California, previously told BI.

Some overemployed workers have tried to turn their extra earnings into additional income streams.

In 2023, Luke made about $225,000 across multiple remote jobs. The e-commerce professional said he used the extra income to make a down payment on a truck and start an Airbnb. He said he didn't want to become reliant on the extra income.

"I went into it saying that I was not going to use the money as spending money," Luke, who's in his 30s and lives in the South, previously told BI. "I was basically going to treat the money like it wasn't there unless it was something that I needed to buy that was big."

Over the past few years, Charles, a consumer-product professional in his 30s, earned between $100,000 and $300,000 annually by working multiple remote roles. His income fluctuated as he bounced between different jobs.

He said boosting his earnings made it possible for him to make home improvements, buy a rental property, and purchase a new car.

Some job jugglers have padded their savings or paid down debt

Some overemployed workers haven't splurged much and have instead used the money to shore up their finances.

Adam, who's in his early 40s, had roughly $118,000 in student-loan debt as of January 2023. The security-risk professional said juggling two remote roles and doubling his income to more than $170,000 had allowed him to significantly reduce his debt burden.

"I'm expecting to have all my student loans paid off before Christmas," Adam, who lives in Arizona, previously told BI. In November, Adam said he was still on track to meet this goal.

Adam said he also used his extra money to build a four-month emergency savings fund and help out a few friends financially.

In 2021, Phil, a software engineer in his 30s, saw his workload decline at his job. He thought the change would give him the time to juggle two remote jobs simultaneously.

Phil, who's in his 30s and lives in Texas, said his roughly $350,000 annual pay allowed him to allocate nearly $75,000 to his retirement funds last year.

"Overemployment definitely helps as far as financial security is concerned," he previously told BI.

Are you secretly working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to discuss details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• More than 3,300 older Americans have shared their financial and other regrets with Business Insider.
• Some older adults said tight budgets and a lack of savings were contributing to loneliness.
• This is part of an ongoing series about older Americans' regrets.

Taffi Ozenne has a few simple and inexpensive joys in her life.

When she feels lonely, she counts them: a hot-fudge sundae at McDonald's ($3.79), a walk with her dogs (free), and the first puff of her cigarette ($9.63 for a pack) on a sunny afternoon in northern California. The 68-year-old repeats the list over and over.

"In those moments where I'm wishing I had a friend that I could do something with, I just gravitate toward my dogs and say, oh, I got two friends right here — let's go for a walk," she said.

Since mid-September, more than 3,300 older Americans like Ozenne have shared their retirement regrets with Business Insider through a reader survey or direct emails to reporters. Loneliness is a common theme.

Some said they regretted not saving more, as a lack of money makes it difficult to maintain a social life. Many said they struggled to ask friends and family for help, further isolating them from loved ones. For an older generation already facing a loneliness crisis, money woes are making it worse. This story is part of an ongoing series.

With no retirement savings, Ozenne is trying to get by on her $1,739 monthly Social Security payments and the money she cobbles together through part-time jobs at a law firm and a bowling alley. She said her schedule feels nonstop but she needs the work so that her total monthly income is slightly above $3,000, enough to cover her bills.

Ozenne said that her budget didn't allow her to travel or go out with friends and that she felt increasingly isolated. She said she regretted not saving enough to support herself in her 60s or 70s and worries she'll have no one to care for her as she ages.

"It's mentally exhausting," she said, adding, "I don't want to be a burden to anyone."

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets you'd be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Limited retirement savings take a social toll

In a survey of US adults commissioned by Cigna and conducted by Morning Consult in late 2021, 63% of respondents who earned less than $50,000 a year and 41% of respondents over 66 said they felt consistently lonely.

Having limited income can erode social connections for older adults. Social Security checks aren't enough to cover many retirees' bills, and some don't have enough of a nest egg to afford a night out, holiday gifts, or gas to visit family members. Meanwhile, the costs of meals, flights, and concert tickets have crept up.

"My 'golden years' are not golden at all: I live alone and have no friends," one respondent in BI's survey wrote. Another wrote, "I feel hopeless, I'm lonely, and my health is rapidly getting worse."

Joseph Coughlin, the founder and director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that high costs of social activities, housing, and transportation could lead to social challenges for retirees.

"If you do not have the financial resources, you're pretty much constrained where you live," he said. "You may not be able to afford a place that gives you the opportunity for those chance collisions with friends and, frankly, new people."

Susan Harper lives on less than $1,000 in monthly Social Security, plus SNAP benefits, but she has no nest egg or investments. The 66-year-old recently moved from Oregon to Washington, DC, to live with her sister. They're sharing household bills until Harper can secure low-income housing in the area. (Harper is on a waitlist.) Harper said that while she appreciated her sister, she missed her community. She said she often declined invitations from new friends to go to bars or restaurants because of the cost.

Harper said that while she needed to move to receive financial support from her sister, living in a new city had made her lonely.

"It's just a very difficult time, and it's very isolating," she said. "Especially as I get older."

Older adults regret not having a support system as they age

In the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging conducted in March, older adults who weren't working, who lived alone, or who had lower household incomes were more likely to report feeling lonely. About 29% of adults 50 to 80 reported feeling isolated from others some of the time or often within the past year.

Coughlin said social isolation could exacerbate the risk of cognitive and physical decline for older adults, which may increase the likelihood that they need assisted care later in life. Genworth Financial, an insurance company, found that the median monthly cost of an assisted living facility in the US was $5,350 in 2023 — a price many older Americans told BI they couldn't afford.

John Keefe, 84, lives alone in Arkansas on his $2,700 monthly Social Security check and limited retirement savings. Keefe lost his son in 2011 and his wife in 2023. He said they were his main support system.

Keefe said he didn't travel much outside his hometown, and he worries about how he'll take care of himself when he can no longer drive to appointments or the grocery store. He said he wished that he and his wife had built a stronger financial cushion.

"I've outlived everybody," he said, adding that it was especially challenging to make connections as a widowed retiree.

Though there's no one-size-fits-all fix for loneliness, Coughlin offered a few suggestions. He said prospective retirees should think about "longevity planning." In addition to building a nest egg, he said, arranging the social aspects of retirement earlier in life — such as living near friends and family and developing hobbies — could reduce the risk of loneliness later and help people budget.

"Yes, it's about how much money you've saved — but it's also about all those other little things that make you smile and contribute to quality of life," he said. "That has to be planned as much as your 401(k) or whether you had your annual checkup."

Government and local assistance can also be a source of relief for older Americans struggling with finances and loneliness. The National Council on Aging estimates that 9 million older adults who are eligible for SNAP benefits don't receive them, and many forgo aid like Medicare Savings Programs designed to help pay for healthcare and other expenses. Many local senior centers offer free or low-cost social activities, transportation, and benefits counseling.

Ozenne is taking her life day by day. Because she works several jobs, her income is likely too high to qualify her for many forms of government assistance. So she sits at her kitchen table working on her monthly budget, and she stops by McDonald's for a hot-fudge sundae if she needs a pick-me-up. Her days still feel lonely, but she tries to "put on a brave face," she said. It helps to know she isn't the only one in this position.

"There are a lot of people — we're laying in bed awake at night wondering if we're going to make it through this month and if we're going to have enough money to pay bills," she said. "And if not, we wonder: What can give? What can I do without?"

Noah Sheidlower contributed reporting.

Are you experiencing loneliness because of your finances? Are you open to sharing your story with a reporter? If so, reach out to [email protected].

• Unexpected medical crises have derailed retirement plans for many older Americans.
• Many regret not preparing financially for sudden medical expenses, while some wish they worked less.
• This is part of an ongoing series about older Americans' regrets.

Vera Steward, 64, earned over $60,000 a year at the peak of her career. But since having a stroke at 48, she hasn't returned to work and is just scraping by.

She's one of many older Americans who shared with Business Insider in recent months how an unexpected medical crisis derailed their retirement plans and what they wish they'd done differently. As of publication, over 3,300 readers between the ages of 48 and 96 have responded to an informal online survey or emailed reporters about their biggest life regrets. This is part of an ongoing series.

While many medical diagnoses are unpredictable, dozens of respondents, including Steward, said they wish they'd been better prepared financially. Their regrets include not being more cautious with spending or savvier with investments when they were healthier, not prioritizing routine medical appointments, not factoring medical expenses into retirement planning, and not having robust insurance.

Eleven said in interviews that a medical diagnosis at the peak of their careers led them to retire early, and as a result, they rely on federal government checks to get by.

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form.

Steward is one of them, despite having a master's degree and working since she was a teenager. After her stroke almost 20 years ago, she began receiving slightly over $1,000 in monthly Social Security Disability Insurance; she now receives $1,688 in Social Security after cost-of-living adjustments. Nearly half of her benefits go toward rent, and she only receives $23 monthly in SNAP benefits to help buy food. Some months, she decides between getting a haircut or buying groceries, and she's relied on her daughter for financial assistance.

"I've always been middle class, and now I guess I'm no class," said Steward, who lives in Columbus, Georgia. "I'm in this house almost 24/7. The only time I leave is to go to the doctor. I have nowhere to go."

Not prioritizing health in younger years and asking for what you need

Anita Clemons Swanagan, 59, wishes she'd spoken up for herself more during her working years to be paid what she's worth. While employed at prisons and hospitals, she was on her feet all day often working 12-hour shifts — in addition to second jobs as a gig worker — so she could raise her three daughters.

Swanagan injured her back and developed arthritis. She had a stroke at 45 and worked again for a decade until she had a second stroke in 2021, which affected her walking, speech, and cognitive functioning.

In addition to wishing she'd asked for better pay and more health accommodations, she said she could have done more to grow her wealth, such as saving more and giving less to others. She also wished she'd prioritized her health and took more time off while sick, but she said there's little use looking back on what might have been. She lives in her SUV in rural Illinois on $1,500 a month in Social Security before Medicare deductions.

"People think they have enough money, but all they have to go through is one major illness that could wipe out everything," Swanagan said.

Swanagan is one of dozens BI spoke with who are battling health conditions, unable to work, and relying on government assistance to keep them afloat. Because of their medical conditions, most rely on two federal programs colloquially called "disability": Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. Many said it isn't enough to pay their bills.

SSDI benefits are based on your work history. In 2024, the average monthly payment was $1,537, with a maximum payment of $3,822 a month. SSI, which is allocated to people with disabilities and limited incomes, will be capped at $967 a month for an eligible individual in 2025.

Retirees' reliance on these programs has risen while the benefits have barely kept up with the cost of living. The average inflation-adjusted Social Security payment for disability insurance in December 1999 was $1,413 a month; at the end of 2023, it was $1,537, SSA data showed. While 3.2% of workers covered by Social Security in 1999 were disabled workers who received Social Security insurance, this rose to 4% in 2023.

And it's becoming more difficult to qualify for these benefits, said Steve Perrigo, the vice president of sales and marketing at the law firm Allsup. SSDI processing times have doubled over the past few years while approval rates have fallen to historic lows.

In fiscal year 2023, 61% of disability claims were rejected initially, while 85% were denied in reconsideration, according to Social Security Administration data and information provided by Allsup. About 45% of people are approved in hearings, which come after denials of an additional application and reconsideration.

Perrigo said he encourages clients to try to find work before, during, and after receiving benefits if they're able to.

"We see individuals who have to go through foreclosure and tap into their 401(k) and bankruptcies," Perrigo said of the long wait times to receive benefits.

For some, including Paula Mastro, returning to work isn't an option.

Mastro, who's 65 and lives on just under $1,100 a month in Social Security benefits, worked part-time in restaurants and catering jobs while raising her daughter and spent years as a full-time caretaker for her parents. She told BI she regretted working odd jobs that didn't provide a pension and not contributing to a 401(k). She also said it was a mistake to not properly document some of her income on tax forms, which hurt her Social Security allotment.

In 1991, Mastro received about $200,000 in a divorce settlement, most of which she spent on a home and car. She said often lived paycheck to paycheck and didn't prioritize investments.

Mastro developed back problems in the late 1990s after a car accident and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over a decade ago. Earlier this year, she developed an inflammatory skin disease that prevented her from returning to work.

She said that last year, her public assistance covered only a fraction of her medical expenses, putting her thousands of dollars in debt. She lives in a low-income condo she inherited from her sister and barely has anything in savings.

"You expect in your golden years to be traveling, going on vacation, bringing your grandchildren to the theater," Mastro said. "I didn't do any of that because I couldn't. I should have saved up for retirement."

'Floating through life' with no concrete plan

Jan Lovell, 73, said she should have learned more about finances during and after her marriage. Lovell, who lives in Warren, Michigan, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005. As the disease progresses, it further complicates her financial planning.

Lovell spent 25 years as a church secretary, earning a modest salary. She only contributed about 5% to her 401(k) and let her husband handle most of her finances. An unexpected divorce in 2004 put Lovell into "float through life" mode, during which time she didn't have a financial plan and did what she could to pay her bills. Over her career, she accumulated seven retirement funds she never combined, totaling $160,000.

She went through a foreclosure in 2010, and she worked for another decade until retiring in January 2020.

She lives off about $3,300 monthly gross income from Social Security pre-deductions and a pension, but medical expenses, such as contributing $3,500 for a wheelchair, have put a dent in her wallet. After a recent hospitalization, she's planning to move to a senior living facility that she expects will deplete her savings by 2027.

"Most places I've looked at now are $3,000 a month for a 400-square-foot unit, which is twice the cost and half the square footage of a regular apartment," Lovell said. "The 'assistance' is an additional charge, depending on needs, and I'll likely need the most expensive level, at about $2,000 a month."

Relying too much on the market

D. Duane MaGee, 78, thought he prepared well for retirement, but after losing thousands in the 2008 market crash, he regretted putting too much faith in the market — and hasn't touched investments since.

MaGee made six figures as a manager at Ford. He retired in his early 50s as the plant shuttered. He'd saved money throughout his career, though not enough. To compensate for his reduced income, he worked in security at a hospital and in hotel management.

His wife had a quadruple bypass surgery three decades ago, and he became her caregiver in between his work shifts. His wife's medications ate up a portion of their savings each month. The 2008 market crash erased nearly $80,000 of their limited retirement savings — much of which was his wife's inheritance from her mother — and he wished he had been more proactive about saving while at Ford.

MaGee, who still cares for his wife, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease six years ago. He gave up his retirement job shortly after the diagnosis, and they rely on about $62,000 a year in retirement income from Social Security and a pension. Meanwhile, rising inflation has made them even more cautious about spending.

"I don't know how I'm going to get savings now because we're getting a lot older now, and so we have things facing us now where we don't know where the money is going to come from," MaGee said.

Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form or email [email protected].

• Three baby boomer homeowners told BI they want to downsize but can't find suitable options.
• Rising home prices have led to a big increase in their home equity over the years.
• But those rising prices also make it harder to find affordable homes for retirement.

As many baby boomer homeowners look to cash in on their home equity and downsize, some are grappling with a shortage of suitable homes.

Older homeowners are increasingly staying put, as mortgage rates and housing costs remain stubbornly elevated and inventory— particularly of affordable and accessible homes — is scarce. Some simply can't find a suitable home that would leave them with enough cash to retire on, while others simply don't feel downsizing is a savvy financial move with housing and borrowing costs so high.

Kim Cayes is one of those boomers who feel stuck. The 67-year-old always banked on selling her four-bedroom house in Parsippany, New Jersey, to help support herself in retirement.

"My plan had kind of been: save everything I can, and then when I retire, move someplace cheap and use the equity in my house to buy a house in cash to reduce my costs," she told Business Insider.

Cayes bought her home for $245,000 in 2000 after her divorce. She added a major addition and has since benefited from New Jersey's soaring home prices — the house was recently appraised at nearly $700,000, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider.

But Cayes, now semi-retired from corporate communications, is no longer interested in leaving northern Jersey for a cheaper part of the country. Two of her three adult children live with her, and she doesn't want to leave her community.

"I would hate to move somewhere and leave one of my kids behind because, not being married, my kids are all I've got," she said. "Especially as you get older, you need a network of people."

Cayes is looking for a single-story home in the $400,000 to $450,000 range. But she hasn't had any luck finding something suitable. She says the homes she's looked at would need a lot of work and aren't in familiar neighborhoods.

"Thinking I'm going to spend the final years of my life in a worse situation than I've ever been in — that's just so depressing," Cayes said. "Especially when my friends are all traveling around the world with their spouses and constantly posting on Facebook which countries they're in."

'A lateral financial move'

Some boomers who can afford to stay in their homes don't want to endure the costs and possible stress associated with downsizing. Even those who are still paying off their homes often have much lower mortgage interest rates than what they could get on the market today, hovering around 6.5%. And leaving a familiar home and neighborhood can be emotionally taxing.

Dorothy Lipovenko, 71, and her husband love the single-family home in a well-connected neighborhood of Montreal where they've lived for nearly 25 years. But the options to downsize in their area seem limited to pricey new condos and old homes that need major repairs. Lipovenko doesn't want to live in a modern condo without green space, but she also doesn't want to take on a home renovation project.

"It becomes a lateral financial move, and that is what has us saying 'no,'" she said. "Downsizing is a huge undertaking, physically and emotionally, and a one-for-one trade makes no sense."

Ideally, Lipovenko and her husband would move to a smaller, single-floor house — she dreams of a Levittown-style suburban starter home, she said.

"It's not just giving up possessions and going into a smaller space; it's shrinking a lot of things to fit a new mindset," she said. "I just can't see my husband and I spending the last decades of our life in a little apartment."

'I'm lucky I have this house'

Andrea S., 60, already lives in a single-story starter home in Sherman Oaks, California, that's well-suited for a retiree. But Andrea, who requested partial anonymity to protect her privacy, isn't sure she can afford to stay in it.

The former agent and producer bought her two-bedroom bungalow with her ex-partner in 1994 for $245,000. She's lived in the home ever since, hasn't made any major improvements, and has a housemate to split the bills with. The Zillow estimate, reviewed by Business Insider, found the house is now worth about $1.3 million.

"I'm lucky I have this house," she told Business Insider. "I just hate the fact that the house is pretty much my pension fund."

Andrea's income is lower than she expected it to be at this point in her life — she's struggled to work since suffering from a head injury in a car crash in 2021. Meanwhile, the pandemic and Hollywood writers' strike killed off some of her projects, she said. At the same time, maintenance and repair costs for her nearly 75-year-old house are daunting: the HVAC system needs to be replaced, and the pool and large yard are expensive and energy-intensive to maintain.

"If I can't get a job that covers me enough to cover my bills, then I have to think about do I sell the house," she said.

But she's concerned that she won't be able to find an affordable home in a neighborhood as pleasant and walkable as hers, especially on a budget that makes sense. After her crash, she gave up driving and wants to keep living in a place with bus access and grocery stores within walking distance. Plus, she's concerned about the capital gains tax she'll need to pay if she sells the home.

"I'm realizing now, at age 60, all the things that you become very vulnerable to, especially when you're a woman and you don't have a life partner," she said.

Andrea and her friends joke about their dream of retiring together in the British seaside town of Port Isaac — the idyllic setting for the early-2000s TV show "Doc Martin."

"You get some nice little cottage in town. They don't have big yards. And you walk out your door, and you see the lovely English coastline," she said. "That sounds good to me."

Are you struggling to downsize or find a suitable home to retire in? Are you otherwise affected by the cost of retirement housing? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].