How to Spend Wisely and Save Money For Retirement
episodePreviously titled “Ep 132 | How to Spend Wisely and Save Money For Retirement” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
Wealthy After 40: Retirement Planning and Budgeting for Gen X
18 min
1 speaker
3 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
In today's episode, we're talking about how to find freedom with your spending while still saving enough for retirement. If you've ever felt guilty for spending money on something you love like your daily coffee because you think it's keeping you from being successful with money, I'm sharing today a few small shifts that can help you stop stressing and start making real progress. Welcome to the Wealthy After 40 podcast, the show for Gen X women and couples who are ready to ditch financial stress and feel confident about retirement. I'm your host, Dailene Higgins, financial and retirement coach, helping Gen Xers master their money and create a personalized retirement plan so they can stop spinning their wheels and step boldly into their dream retirement.
If you're feeling behind, don't worry. Continue listening to this podcast as well as be sure to grab your free guide, Five Must Do Steps to Start Retirement Planning Now at elevatefinances.us backslash must do. And remember, let's make retirement possible together. Welcome to the episode.
How can you stop feeling guilty about small everyday purchases like a $5 coffee?
So how can you find freedom with your spending while making sure you are saving enough for retirement? I have a few small shifts I'm going to share with you that will help you stop stressing and start making progress. I was on a free call and she stated, I want to be able to have the flexibility where I can do those things. She says, Put more into my 401k and not worry about a $5 coffee. Yeah, you know, this piece of advice is really blatantly out there everywhere, making individuals really hesitate at these enjoyment pieces with their money. Now, as we talk about further into the episode, you'll know what I mean. But a lot of people hear this and they think they just need to be more disciplined, that they need to stop making those small purchases, those daily purchases, that extra Amazon order purchase.
And all in all, it just feels restrictive. It just is like, okay, well, I can't do those things. So honestly, you're not doing anything else. Right? It doesn't really lead to more savings. So the real issue isn't your $5 latte or enter in whatever it is that has you feeling that way. It's not having a framework for your spending. Right? A budget, a plan that shows you where your money should go so you don't have to guess or feel guilty. Right? where your money should go, where you want your money to go. So I want you to think about this question. Why do you think cutting back on what you enjoy will help you be able to save more money for retirement? Is that really how it works? Stop doing these enjoyment pieces and you'll save more for 10, 15, 20 years down the road.
I don't think like that, and I'm sure you don't. It's probably why you're still listening to me. So what do you need to do? Well, you need clarity, number one, on what brings you joy with your money and what will add to your confidence that you're saving enough for your future. So overall, when you know how much you need to save for your retirement, and you begin defining those expenses that bring you the most joy, you are successfully achieving both ends. You're finding the balance of spending now, enjoying now, while preparing for the future. Really, as you start thinking about your expenses as, does this bring me joy? Does this support me? you will be surprised at how naturally your habits shift when your budget reflects your values.
So if you're wondering how do you calculate how much you're going to need for your retirement, I answer that question episode 115, four questions and answers about retirement. So go give that a listen. That helps create the overall picture of this is how much you need to save. We'll be talking on this episode more of the current work that you need to do to fill in to get there. So I also help you do this inside my Retirement Roadmap session where we create current and retirement budgets to calculate this number with a little more accuracy. But we also do a what-if scenarios to help you see how finding more money or making these changes or these adjustments can accelerate your progress to your retirement goal.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
1 identifiedMore from Wealthy After 40: Retirement Planning and Budgeting for Gen X
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