Preparing Finances for Fall and How to Help Parents Who Haven’t Saved Enough

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Elizabeth, would you call yourself a fall girly?

You know, like scarf, funky hat, cute little boots, pumpkin spice latte in hand.

I feel like, Sean, that you are teasing me right now because you know I'm a Christmas girly.

So of course I'm not a fall girly because I'm a Christmas girly.

So no.

I'm the fall girly here.

Everything that I just described, I'm rocking on a daily basis this time of year.

I love it.

I will say the only thing that I'm loving about fall these days is the cooler weather.

So I'm here for that.

I'm right there with you.

Well, this episode, we have some questions that our listeners can ask themselves about whether they are ready for fall.

Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds.

I'm Sean Piles.

And I'm Elizabeth Ayola.

This episode, we answer a listener's question about what they can do to help their parents as they near retirement with little saved for their golden years.

But first, it's fall.

It might not feel like it where you are, but the calendar says otherwise.

And it being fall, that basically means that the year is over.

So Elizabeth, it's time to start working on your New Year's resolutions.

Oh, well, I'm already ahead, Sean.

So I got my little notes app open and I have some resolutions up in there.

Okay.

I love that.

And, you know, since we are a show that runs on money questions, let's give our listeners some questions they can ask themselves as we head into this new season.

What do you got, Sean?

All right.

Question one.

What's something that you're going to leave behind in the summer months and something you're going to carry forward or double down on in the new season?

season.

For me, I'm leaving behind all non-discretionary expenses because it turns out that my wedding expenses are growing by the day and I'm currently way over budget.

And carrying forward is very focused savings.

I want to get my savings back up where they were about two months ago.

And what savings are you talking about, Sean?

Because you know we have several kinds of savings.

Well, my emergency fund is fine, which is good, but I had this big wedding fund that I've been building up for the past five years and I'm spending this money, which is great because I had the money earmarked for this purpose.

but I like to see the number in my savings account the total number across all of my accounts be a little higher than it is right now so I'm going to be working on that once my wedding is behind me.

Well, over here we are going to be getting rid of bulk child care expenses, goodbye summer, and all of the costs that it came with.

So that is my main thing that's going away.

And then similar to you, I'm just focusing on reing up on my savings.

I want to get my emergency savings to a higher amount, closer to the six months mark.

And also, I'm still working towards maxing out my retirement account.

When it comes to child care expenses, how do you actually get those behind you?

Because your kid is not going to stop being expensive, right?

He's not going to stop being expensive, but I only have to worry about upkeep.

So food, yes, he eats a lot.

Clothing, I've managed to minimize that bill.

I could go on and on, but it's just not like a $2,000 summer school bill, you know?

Okay, yeah, because now he's just in regular school.

Exactly.

He's in a wonderful public school across the street, which he is loving.

And I don't have to pay that big fee anymore for private school.

Love that.

All right.

I'm going to take the next question, Sean.

So how can you get your fall festive fun in without breaking the bank?

So I think this is an area where people can be kind of choosy and creative.

So if you want to do all of the fall things, like do the corn maize and go to the pumpkin patch and go to the haunted house, that stuff gets really expensive.

Like I went to a haunted house last year.

I think my tickets were $40 and it was honestly a bit of a letdown.

So this year, I'm not going to be doing that.

I grew my own pumpkins.

so I don't need to pick mine at a pumpkin patch.

And I have some corn on the side of my house.

So, if I feel like it, I can just spin around in that and pretend it's a corn maze for a little bit.

You're so self-sufficient, Sean.

I'm impressed.

Are you selling your pumpkins?

I'm off-grid.

No, I'm not selling my pumpkins.

I'm going to stack them up in some very aesthetic way on my front porch and say, look at what I grew.

Yeah.

But they're expensive.

Have you seen how expensive pumpkins are?

If you go to a pumpkin patch, you'll be spending like 20 bucks on a single pumpkin.

You're absolutely correct.

I remember one of the years because pumpkin patches are a thing for me and my son.

So that is one fall activity that I do like to partake in.

But ain't nobody got time for no pumpkin.

I don't eat that pumpkin.

I remember he picked it up once and I was like, yeah, that's too expensive for a pumpkin.

You don't even like pumpkins anyway.

So we didn't get that pumpkin.

But you guys don't do pumpkin carving.

Isn't it fun?

We have never done pumpkin carving.

I mean, to be honest, I guess this is where my British, a boring British girl comes out because in the UK, we're not big fall people.

I feel like it's a very American thing to be excited about fall.

So we don't usually have all of these pumpkins and festivities.

So all that to say, I don't think in my core years that I grew up doing the pumpkin thing.

Okay.

Well, here's my challenge to you.

I want you to actually spend some money doing some fall things this year because it is really fun and you don't have to break the bank.

Just choose one thing.

Maybe carve some pumpkins.

Okay, you got to give me something else, Sean.

As the fall girly between the two of us, what is your thing?

What should I do?

No pumpkins.

What else?

Do you have a pair of Ugg boots?

No.

Just wear some Ugg boots.

They're so cozy.

It's it's very fall aesthetic you gotta have the boots gotta have the latte just put on a costume for a little bit and pretend that you're one of those aesthetic instagram girls now that i can do because you know i like a look so i can do that there you go okay on to the third question and this is maybe a little bit less fun but no less important what is your plan for open enrollment Open enrollment is coming up and it's important to think about how much you spent on health care this year.

You never really know what your medical expenses will be in the future, but what you spent this year could be a good gauge for what you might spend next year.

So get that number pinned down so you can make your plan for when open enrollment opens up in November.

I really like that tip, and I have actually spent more on healthcare this year than I did last year.

So I don't want to say excited, that's not a good word, but I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how much I spent compared to last year.

And then for those out there who are like me and you get your insurance through your employer, you probably want to figure out when open enrollment begins.

And it's typically around the fall, which we are in.

So think about any challenges that you've had with your current plans and you want to use that information to assess whether another plan will be a better fit for you and here's a little bonus tip look out for a summary of benefits coverage so that you can see you know what your benefits are the coverage the networks cost sharing and also your out-of-pocket maximums if all of that was gibberish to you i'm going to tell you what you do you go to your email and you email hr and you ask them what does all of this mean sure they can help you out there and if you get your health care through an ACA plan, open enrollment begins on November 1st and premiums for ACA plans are expected to be potentially 75% more expensive next year on average if Congress doesn't act to re-up some subsidies that are expected to retire at the end of this year.

So plan for that too.

That's why we're talking about this now.

Spend some time so you can gradually map out what you might want to do when it comes to healthcare.

All right, moving on from healthcare.

Are you where you want to be with your retirement contributions for the year?

Sean, you're in the hot seat.

Yes.

So let's start with IRAs.

Review your contributions to your IRAs.

The annual cap for those under 50 is $7,000 this year or $8,000 if you're 50 or over.

So are you on track to max that out if that's one of your goals this year?

If not, you actually have until the tax filing deadline in April 2026 to do that.

Think about how you can contribute enough each month to hit that goal if you want to do that.

Also, I'll recommend looking at how your 401k is doing.

Has this performance been about on par with the market this year yes or no if it's not you might want to think about how you can adjust your investment so that you can have the growth that you need to have so elizabeth how is your 401k doing if i can be so nosy as to ask well you can be nosy and i'm going to answer because it's actually doing well so mine is up around 16 year to date and that's compared to the s p 500 which is at about 12.98 last time i checked might have changed Mine is up a little bit over 15% year to date as of this recording.

And I'm guessing that's because we are invested more heavily in stocks in our portfolios, Elizabeth, since we're on the younger side.

And that's great.

It feels wonderful to beat the market and see that number go up and up and up, but it just takes regular contributions and the stock market doing exceptionally well, which we know won't always be the case.

No, the reds are heartbreaking when you log in and you see all that red, but green is on the way.

It's hey, it's part of the journey.

It goes up and it goes down.

It does.

All right.

Finally, question number five: Are you ready for the holidays, Elizabeth?

I know the answer is certainly yes for you.

It's a resounding yes.

So, of course, the first thing when you're planning for the holidays, which I'm currently thinking about, is my budget.

What's interesting, actually, as I'm thinking about my budget, is I wasn't joking when I said I've started doing my goals for 2026.

So, I've been looking at how much I want to save for next year, and that's helping me rein in my spending, especially as I tend to overspend during the holidays.

I'm also looking at gift lists.

Who am I going to buy gifts for?

What is my budget for each of their gifts?

So, that's one of the first things I think everyone can do.

Do you have a designated fund for your holiday savings?

I do not.

I just lump all my savings together and then I budget it from my savings.

So nope.

Okay.

I've been thinking about doing that this year.

You know that I'm a savings bucket fanatic, so I might start doing that.

But with my honeymoon coming up and my partner and I going to Japan and South Korea, I'm planning on having that be the place where I get all of my holiday gifts for everyone.

So spoiler alert to my friends and family, you'll be getting things from Asia this Christmas season.

That is so clever.

I wonder if when I'm going to London, I can do something like that, a variation.

I think that's cute.

Although it might be more expensive there.

Oh, God.

Never mind.

Conversion rate is not great.

So that might be an expensive way to spend your money for the holidays.

Maybe next time.

And so how do you approach holiday travel planning?

Because that's a big part of the holidays is knowing where you're going to go, how you're going to get there, what you're going to spend to get there.

That's true.

And lucky for me, I don't know if it's lucky, but honestly, I do not end up traveling much during the holidays because my family is spread so far apart.

We don't tend to plan things together.

So I think for the past three Christmases, I've been in my house.

This year, actually, I do hope to have my sister, my niece, come over and I will be getting my niece's ticket.

So I've been planning for that.

And I see when I checked, I think last week, they were pretty cheap.

And I know the price will go up.

So I'll definitely buy her ticket early.

Well, for anyone who's planning on traveling this holiday season, now is a good time to start putting out feelers and seeing what flights might cost for Thanksgiving and for Christmas.

You probably don't need to book your Christmas flights today, but just begin getting an understanding of where prices are so you can map them out accordingly and buy when the price is right.

My last tip for you guys is I just want to reinforce that it's important to be over ambitious like me and start thinking about 2026 goals so that when you want to start overspending during Christmas, it'll help you rein in your spending.

Let me know how it goes if you try that out, okay?

We just gave you five questions, but we are greedy for questions on this podcast.

So send us your money questions, whatever they're about.

Maybe you're trying to figure out how you can budget properly for the holidays or you're thinking about how you can get started on a savings goal for 2026.

Or maybe you have some questions around upcoming open enrollment.

Whatever your money questions are, you can send them to us at the Nerd Hotline at 901-730-6373.

That's 901-730-NERD.

You can also send us an email at podcast at nerdwallet.com.

All right, let's get to this episode's money question segment.

That's coming up next.

Stay with us.

We're back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions.

This episode's question comes from Steph, who sent us an email.

Here it is.

Hi, Sean and Elizabeth.

I hope you're doing well.

I wanted to get your advice on how to best support my aging parents as they approach retirement.

They're first-generation immigrants who have always lived paycheck to paycheck, and unfortunately, they don't have much in savings.

They're hoping to rely on Social Security, but I know the amount they'll receive likely won't be enough to cover their needs.

I'm trying to understand what options or programs might be available to help them.

I'd also appreciate any guidance on what I should be prepared for as they near retirement, such as navigating Medicare plans or making other important health care or financial decisions.

At the same time, I'm working on growing my own family, so I'm trying to figure out how to support them sustainably.

Would it make sense to consider them as dependent on my taxes, or are there other ways I can help them financially without putting too much strain on my own future?

Thank you.

I've been a longtime fan of the podcast.

To help us answer Steph's question on this episode of the podcast, we're joined by Kate Ashford.

Welcome back back to Smart Money, Kate.

Hi, Elizabeth and Sean.

Hey, Kate.

Let's kick off the conversation by talking about how to have money conversation with your parents about their financial well-being.

Now, this honestly can be a pretty awkward subject to broach.

I have done it myself.

So, what advice do you have for those just starting out with these conversations, Kate?

I have done it too.

These conversations can feel really awkward, but they're also so important.

I recommend people disguise money and estate planning questions in the form of asking for advice advice from your parents.

So maybe you say, hey, mom, my spouse and I are working on our own estate planning and I'm wondering what you both have done with yours.

Or, hey, dad, we're trying to figure out how to estimate our retirement income and expenses.

Have the two of you done that?

And also, news headlines and acquaintance stories are a really great way into these discussions as well.

I just saw a story about a woman who sold her home so she could spend her retirement on a cruise ship.

True story.

What are you doing with the house when you retire?

Or, hey, a coworker's parents didn't save enough for retirement.

Now they're moving into her basement.

What have you guys got planned?

So have an approach.

It's like you're backing into the topic without confronting them saying, hey, we need to make a plan for your finances because I'm worried about you, mom and dad.

Exactly.

Elizabeth, how did you handle this with your parents?

Well, I have very old school or traditional parents who did not talk to me about money.

And honestly, I was a little scared to ask, but I was a little more direct.

And I was like, hey, you know, you're getting older and you know what plans do you have in place and honestly it was really bothering me especially not knowing if my dad had life insurance and how much i might have to pay when that time comes and budgeting for it right so i just asked him straight up like do you have any life insurance what would you like to do with your assets because i know he has things that he holds very close to him like he has this humongous tiger that he's had as a stuffed animal since i was a kid

tiger oh no a stuffed animal but yes, it's humongous.

So he's had it since we were kids.

And he just has all these little funky things.

And it's like, well, what do you want to do with them?

So I think that helped to lighten the conversation because to him, it's like, well, I don't have much, but it's like, these things are important.

So where do you want them to go?

On my end, I think that because of my experience now working at NerdWallet and as a CFP, my family just turns to me as the money person in the family.

And I think that's made it a lot easier.

So not everyone's going to have that role in their family, but I think it can be helpful if you have siblings to maybe designate one person as as the one who's maybe the go-to for that, but make sure you're all in the loop on what's happening with your parents.

So Steph and their parents, they probably have a lot of different financial topics to cover, you know, like income and expenses and how much Social Security they might expect to receive and even what kind of healthcare expenses they might anticipate.

Kate, can you outline some other must-hit topics that steph should discuss with their parents?

Oh, yeah, there's a lot to discuss here.

Steph should aim to get information on their income sources in retirement.

If it's mostly Social Security, when are they hoping to claim it?

How much do they expect to receive?

And if they don't know, you can check this through their account on ssa.gov.

And of course, you know, what are their retirement expenses going to look like?

Are they living in a house that they've paid off?

Will they still have a mortgage?

Are they going to have rent payments?

Do they have other debts they're paying down?

And how much money will they have to put toward healthcare expenses?

Because that's really going to dictate some of their Medicare options.

I'm thinking too that it might be helpful to have a number of conversations about all these topics, starting with backing into the topic like you recommended, Kate, just to familiarize yourself with having this kind of conversation with your parents.

And then maybe a couple of weeks or maybe even months down the line, getting into the numbers, because the numbers can bring a lot of anxiety and tension.

I think this is well done as kind of a series, you know, a question here, a question there, question over the phone.

So you're not just tackling your parents and hoping you get all their answers all at once.

And it takes a long time to have these conversations too.

So you want to understand, you know, kind of the scope of what you expect to get out of the first conversation and then map it out.

So down the road, you can have a more in-depth, potentially time-consuming conversation about all these numbers that you just laid out.

Exactly.

And it makes me think actually.

So my dad is still working and he is not or has delayed his social security payment.

So we're having ongoing conversations about when he should actually retire and when he can afford to retire and what he could do to supplement his income.

So I agree that it's an ongoing conversation.

Well, let's turn now to how staff can support their parents as they age.

Something that I want to emphasize is that it's super important for Steph to make sure that their finances are really in a good shape first.

I know it can be hard to do this when it seems like your parents need help, but it's like they say on airplanes, put on your mask before you help someone else with theirs.

So Sean, what would putting on their own masks first look like for Steph?

Well, I think it would be smart for Steph to have at least a minimum emergency fund of $1,000 to $2,000.

We didn't really know a lot about Steph's financial situation from their question.

Then resolving any high interest debt, also saving for retirement is super important and ensuring that their budget is in a good place because you don't want to throw off your own finances to help your parents who are already in a place struggling financially.

And just in general, Steph will be able to help their parents if they're coming from a place of security and strength with their finances.

All good advice.

And maybe this goes without saying, but Steph should also try to avoid borrowing from any of their savings sources to help their parents.

So do not take a loan from your 401k, even if it feels like that would be a good plan.

It's not.

Yeah, it's borrowing from your future to fund today.

Yes.

Oh, absolutely.

And I know that sometimes you can feel guilt and also pressure and feel like you have to help your parents out.

So another thing that I try to do is budget to help my parents out.

And if it doesn't fit in my budget for that month, then unfortunately I can't help.

But something else also to keep in mind that I do with my dad is looking for resources.

So sometimes if you can't financially help them, you can point them to resources where they can get help.

All right, now let's get into a few areas where Steph could help their parents.

A few areas that come to mind are by supplementing their incomes, maybe covering some bills, potentially living together, and even contributing to retirement accounts for them.

What are your thoughts here, Kate?

So this is going to be dependent on what kind of shortfall Steph's parents may be facing and Steph's own financial situation, as Sean mentioned.

It's one thing to cover a few of your parents' bills.

It's another thing to move them into your home, although that arrangement can have a lot of benefits to both parties if you have the space and you like your parents enough to do this.

Good point.

But certainly,

it's a factor.

But certainly staff can cover certain expenses each month or send them a set monthly amount that can cover a shortfall.

The advantage of covering specific bills is that staff has kind of some control over where that money is going.

Nordwallet had a survey last year that found that for Americans who say they're helping their parents financially, 60% are paying for food, 41% are paying for housing costs, and 48% are paying for other things.

And we can link that study in the show notes.

Yeah.

And on the retirement account front, Steph could actually contribute to IRAs for their parents, either a Roth or a traditional here, as long as the parents have enough earned income to cover the contribution amount.

So that could be up to $8,000 per parent if they're over 50, which I assume they are at this point.

And beyond the specific areas that we've just discussed, I'd also like to encourage Steph to talk with an elder care attorney who can outline a few different areas that Steph should be aware of as they try to help their parents navigate older age.

So a big expense that we haven't addressed yet is housing, or we haven't addressed it in much detail.

So if steph parents haven't been able to save and are going to rely on just social security benefits for their income, they might not be able to afford a housing payment if they have one.

And in that case, you know, if they're currently renting, they might want to consider getting on a wait list for public or subsidized housing for seniors.

These wait lists can be years long.

So, Steph and their parents should probably look into this sooner than later.

That's good advice.

And your local area agency on aging may have information on public or subsidized housing options in the area and any other supports that might help, like property tax breaks, for instance.

And Steph also doesn't say where all of them are located.

So there may be the option to either downsize or move to an area with a lower cost of living or both things.

My dad is currently in a similar situation and he's exploring his housing options for when he finally does retire.

And yeah, he's looking for subsidized housing and also considering because he lives in Florida moving out of the state because it's pretty expensive right now.

So it's really about exploring all the different options you have because, you know, my biggest fear for my dad is him in retirement, not being able to afford his rent or having housing insecurity.

Right.

So it's important to budget for that.

Have you talked about him maybe moving closer to where you or another family member is?

I know that's really common as parents age, they'll want to find maybe like an anchor child to live near.

Well, I'm sure many of us can relate with our parents as they age becoming our children and in the sense of them being stubborn and wanting to do what they want to do.

So my dad is a die-hard Florida fan.

He does not want to leave Florida.

We have tried to coerce him even to move back to the UK because the welfare state is more generous over there, but he's not interested.

So he's an adult at the end of the day.

So if he wants to stay in Florida, well, what can we do?

The weather's a little better in Florida than the UK.

It is.

I'll give him that.

I'll give him that.

I'd also like to encourage Steph to see where their parents can help themselves as they plan for retirement.

So it seems like money is really tight.

Steph says their parents are living paycheck to paycheck.

But even so, they should evaluate their expenses and also see where they might be able to cut back or what opportunities they might have to earn more money.

Because at the end of the day, not having enough for retirement is a huge challenge.

But it's also a simple cash flow issue.

So Kate, do you think there are ways that they can bring more in to save more now?

To the extent that they can cut back or earn more money, every little bit is going to help.

So do steph's parents make something that they can sell on the side?

Can they pick up any part-time or seasonal work?

Can they walk dogs?

Can they put together furniture?

Honestly, can they keep working part-time in retirement?

That can help a whole lot.

And of course, there are other financial boxes to check, like paying down any high-interest debt they have and making sure their emergency savings are somewhere earning some interest because several high-yield savings accounts are paying 4% and higher right now.

You can see those rates in NerdWallet's roundup of the best high-yield savings accounts, which we can also link to in today's episode description.

But they want to go through that budget with a fine tooth cone.

Steph also asked about claiming their parents as dependents on their taxes.

I looked into this a bit and that's going to be a little more challenging in all likelihood since there are specific requirements for claiming someone as a dependent.

First, you have to provide more than half of their support for a year, which is going to be be expensive.

And the parents would have to be very limited in their income.

They wouldn't be able to earn more than around $5,000 in 2025.

Kate, are you aware of any other avenues that might help Steph and their parents tax-wise?

Tax-wise, so they should look into state and local benefits.

And again, your local agency and aging should have information on things that are helpful, like property tax breaks.

There may be utility assistance, senior discounts, food benefits like the SNAP program, or they can point you to other places where you can find things that can be helpful.

USA.gov is also a good place to look.

It's a government website that checks your eligibility for a bunch of federal, state, and local benefit programs.

And also, this isn't really tax-related, but I would recommend that Steph's parents look into things like food banks to help offset some of these ongoing expenses.

Kate, so Steph asked about Medicare too.

Now, I know you have a lot of experience in this area.

This is your stuff.

What should Steph know about their parents' Medicare options?

So Medicare is complicated, but the gist is that Steph's parents will have two options when they turn 65.

They'll have original Medicare or Medicare Advantage.

Original Medicare is offered by the government.

Medicare Advantage is offered by private insurance companies like United Healthcare, Humana.

Covers the same things, but with a private insurance twist.

So

for the most flexibility and risk management, original Medicare with a Medicare supplement plan is kind of the way to go.

You can see any provider that accepts Medicare.

And when you get medical care, most of your costs are covered by that supplement plan.

But if you can't afford a supplement plan and a lot of folks can't, then Medicare Advantage may be the better option because those plans often have no premiums and typically offer some dental and vision coverage.

With the catch being that you have to get care from within that plan's network, which can be limiting depending on where you live.

And when you get sick, you'll pay for care through things like a deductible and co-pays and co-insurance.

And this stuff can get really confusing and can also vary pretty wildly by state that you live in.

Are there any other resources that you think that staff can look into so they can understand what their best options are for where they live?

Absolutely.

And this is a big decision and an important decision.

And it does have ramifications for later on.

So I recommend people look for their state health insurance assistance program.

Every state has one.

These are programs that offer free guidance on Medicare specifically.

And you can find those at shiphelp.org.

So ship help is actually an acronym.

The ship part is a state health insurance assistance program.

They just dropped the A in that acronym.

Precisely, yes.

Got it.

And not to get more confusing, but at a very low income level, Steph's parents may be eligible for Medicaid, which can lower medical costs even more.

So that's not in place of Medicare, but on top of it.

If you go to Medicaid.gov, you can find your state's Medicaid page and get some information, or you can contact your state health department for help with this.

Thank you, Kate.

And I'm so thankful for all this information that you've shared because so much of it I can also apply in helping my dad out.

So do you have any other thoughts or suggestions you'd like to leave Steph and our listeners and me?

Only that navigating retirement for parents who haven't saved much is stressful, but kudos to Steph for seeing this coming and trying to take proactive steps to make the situation more manageable.

Because it's much easier to get information and make decisions now before anyone is in any kind of crisis.

So yay for thinking about this early.

That's right.

Well, Kate, thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you for having me.

That's all we have for this episode.

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So turn to the nerds, call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373.

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This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.

This episode is produced by Tess Wiglund.

Hilary Georgie helped with editing, Nick Charissimi, mixed our audio, and Iki Mungus.

Gigantic thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help.

With that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.