On the Afford Anything podcast with Paula Plant and her guest Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy, one listener called in sharing her devastating outlook on retirement with a few tears as she looked for some last-minute pension advice. The anonymous caller, dubbed Betty by the host, explained that she had recently been laid off from her job at age of 60. Betty explained that she wasn’t confident she could find another job and got audibly emotional when she revealed that her son had died less than two years ago from cancer which had “changed everything”.
However, she did have one saving grace; the decision to empty out her workplace pension fund when she was a single mom had left her with a major asset. She explained: “I own outright a triplex, I live in the smallest unit and rent out the other two units as vacation properties. I generate from that about $30,000 (£23,000) per year net.
.. I used my 401K funds as a downpayment when I purchased my triplex.
It was a really great opportunity for me as a single mom really struggling to support the kids during a really bad economy where we lived in particular.” Unfortunately, as a result of this move and her sudden exit from the workforce, Betty feared her retirement prospects were quite bleak with “no real pile of money”, having just $50,000 (£39,000) currently in her 401K (pension) and $150,000 (£118,000) in cash. She also highlighted that she isn’t expecting to receive much in terms of social security when sh.