Mission
I read a news story in July 2024 that said the first Gen X’ers were born in January 1965.
This means that they turned 59½ in that month and could start withdrawing money from their 401(k) and other retirement accounts without paying a penalty.
This hit me hard as I am a part of that generation.
Then, there was a flood of news stories about how Gen X isn’t ready for retirement and the difficulties that generation will have as retirement looms closer.
After some research, I found that there were some retirement blogs, but nothing that focused on my generation—it figures, we have been forgotten again.
That’s when this newsletter was born.
Have you ever thought…
"I'm afraid Social Security will dry up before I can retire."
"The idea of no more regular paychecks in retirement terrifies me."
"I don't think I'll ever be able to achieve my dream retirement."
"I haven't done any retirement planning - I don't even know where to start."
"My retirement savings were halved during the 2008 financial crisis, and I'm scared it could happen again."
"I'm worried I won't be able to grow my workplace retirement plan to the level I had hoped."
"Between caring for my aging parents and raising my kids, I can't save enough for retirement."
"I'm afraid I'll outlive my savings."
"Rising healthcare costs make me doubt if I've saved enough for retirement."
"I spend hours daily worrying about money and my financial future."
I had those same thoughts - and my goal is that after you read this newsletter once a week, you learn something new that you can apply to your retirement goals.
I’m not a financial advisor, but I’m a research hound and can consolidate all the information and make it easy to understand.
Once you have read enough articles on my Substack you will be able to:
Use retirement planning advice specific to Gen X challenges and opportunities
Implement advice on catching up on retirement savings for late starters
Capitalize on information on Social Security changes and projections
Maximize tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s, HSAs, and FSAs
Balance retirement savings with other financial responsibilities (e.g., caring for parents, raising children)
Manage and mitigate investment risks as retirement approaches
Utilize guidance on healthcare planning and managing medical expenses in retirement
Know about flexible work options and phased retirement strategies
Learn about legislative changes affecting retirement savings and benefits
Know where the best tools are to plan for your retirement
Sign up now to get this knowledge sent to your inbox weekly.
Sell me this newsletter
I know you’re wondering - why would you pay for this newsletter?
Here’s where I provide value that hopefully you’ll agree is worth your hard-earned money.
You may not have a financial advisor or someone with whom you can discuss your retirement, but for as little as $50 a year, I can provide you with a knowledge base to help you make better decisions. As our Gen X retirement community grows—you’ll have other people to lean on, confide in, and get some advice from.
If you do have a financial advisor - I’m pretty affordable.
A financial advisor usually charges a fee called a Percentage of assets under management (AUM) of .05-1.25% of your total assets. So, if an advisor charges 1% per year for $100,000 in assets, the fee would be $1,000 per year or $250 per quarter.
My newsletter is starting to look pretty cheap, right?
Plus, you get all the articles, audio (when available), and a Slack channel (when available).
What free subscribers get:
Three weekly free essays
What paid subscribers get:
I’m accepting pledges to see what people would pay for the publication, so it’s all free until I hit 1,000 subscribers.
Planned:
One monthly paid subscriber-only essay
A Slack channel where people can interact on a one-to-one basis and get retirement tips and tricks from the community
Monthly Zoom calls over topics decided by the Slack community
A Podcast with more expertise on retirement than me
Audio readings of the articles (when available)
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