The dilemma: A 23-year-old earning $94,000 discovers her mother lacks a retirement plan.<\/p>\n
“My mom does not have any retirement savings at 58 years old,” a software engineer shared recently in a post<\/a> to the subreddit r\/PersonalFinance. “I asked my mom if she has a 401(k), and she didn’t know what a 401(k) was.”<\/p>\n The daughter appears to be off to a strong start in her career, mentioning that she’s already saving for her future. But as her mother ages, she is reckoning with how her mom will pay for living expenses in retirement.<\/p>\n “What should I do?” she asks. “I love my mom and I want to support her, but retirement is unbelievably expensive, and if her health declines to where she can’t work, I will be solely responsible for all her bills.”<\/p>\n Her mother is divorced and earns $28,000 per year, which covers basic expenses \u2014 groceries, property taxes, insurance and loan payments. However, that leaves little room for savings.<\/p>\n How can this user help her mother prepare for retirement?<\/p>\n Gold investor kit offer: Sign up with American Hartford Gold today and get a free investor kit, plus receive up to $20,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases<\/a>.<\/p>\n Expert advice: It’s ‘not as dire as she thinks it is’<\/p>\n We spoke with Tyler End, a certified financial planner and co-founder of Retirable, who says he’s seen this type of situation before.<\/p>\n By the age of 58, someone considered “on track” for retirement would typically have several hundred thousand dollars saved. In fact, the median net worth for her age group is over $350,000, according to Federal Reserve survey data.<\/p>\n The good news: Even without retirement savings, he says, people often have more resources than they realize. Social Security<\/a>, Medicare and Medicaid can provide a cushion, helping ensure that an aging parent’s poor finances do not derail their children’s future.<\/p>\n “It’s never too late to start making better financial decisions, which is certainly what this woman can help her mother with,” End says. “First and foremost: it’s probably not as dire as she thinks it is.”<\/p>\n Despite the mother not knowing what a 401(k) is, it’s possible that at some point in her career she set money aside through a workplace plan or a pension. (Employers often have auto-enrollment policies thanks to recent federal policy changes<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Extra money: Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new active SoFi invest account<\/a>.<\/p>\n To search for forgotten retirement accounts<\/a>, she can contact her former employers or search online databases.<\/p>\n