What to do if you’ve fallen behind on your retirement savings

Many retirees regret not starting to save sooner. Ric Edelman, retirement expert and founder, Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, joined TheStreet to share tips for those looking to catch up.

Related: What interest rate cuts could mean for retirees

Full video transcript below:

CONWAY GITTENS: So tell me, what is the most common financial regret you see among retirees right now?

RIC EDELMAN: That they didn’t start saving earlier. Everyone wishes they had started saving in their 20s, and no one did. And this is clearly the biggest regret.

CONWAY GITTENS: So what advice do you have for those people who are approaching retirement but feel they are not ready?

RIC EDELMAN: Yes, it’s a real dilemma because we can’t turn back the clock, can we? So if you’re one of those people who regrets not starting sooner and accumulating as much in savings as you would have liked by now, you’re going to have to do two things, and you’re not going to like either of them. these. Number one, you’re going to have to work harder. And number two, you’re going to have to throw more money into savings than you can afford. But there really isn’t much choice. The only third option is to reduce your expenses. Not many people want to do that. Even go radical, sell your house and cut that major expense. Not many people want to do that. The fourth option is the one that no one ever does. Shorten your life expectancy. Nobody likes to talk about it. So we have no choice but to save more, work harder and make sure you invest for higher returns. Because if you take all that extra work, all that extra savings and put it in a bank account at 3%, you’re never going to meet the goal. So you need to stay invested in the financial markets to have any hope of accumulating the money you will really need.

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CONWAY GITTENS: So you had four tips. Now, when you throw in the cost of living, the adjustments that happen. How does this affect how people prepare for retirement?

RIC EDELMAN: Well, we have to admit that inflation is a reality. You know, we’ve had 4 or 5 years of terrible inflation, and these high prices will continue for many, many years to come. So we have to recognize that the cost of living continues to rise and that means our money has to earn a higher return than the cost of living. So when we look at the returns of different asset classes, stocks, bonds, real estate, gold, oil, crypto, as well as bank accounts, money market funds, treasuries. We need to pick the ones that have the best chance of beating the rate of inflation, especially adding the impact of taxes, because taxes are a big factor and are likely to increase over the next few years. So we have to overcome the combination of inflation and taxation to be able to generate a real rate of return. It makes it more difficult, there’s no doubt about it.