My mother and I have recently started the journey to retirement together.

By together, I mean that she’s starting to consider retiring in the next few years, while I’m realizing just how much help she’s going to need in order to get there. I’m up to the challenge, but it’s going to be a lot of work.

She’s a long-term state employee, so she’s eligible for both a pension and Social Security benefits. That’s the easy part. The challenge is in figuring out her budget and the rest of her financial situation, which lies obscured within a heap of unopened envelopes.

Luckily for Mom, most of her bills are set up for automatic payment, but her propensity to ignore an entire year’s worth of mail is disturbing. During a visit to her home last week, I asked for more information on her investments, and she just shrugged and pointed me to the pile. She’s got no idea what investments she owns, nor any estimate of their value.

To me, this is completely unacceptable. I know instantly that because she’s not even aware of what monies come in or out, she’s presently living above her means. I know this because I learned her savings account has been dwindling, but she’s been blissfully unaware of that as well.

So, how to fix it? [click to continue…]

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