At 60 I have nothing for retirement and no plan except Social Security. Now that I've been laid off, how can I survive?
At 60 I have nothing for retirement and no plan except Social Security. Now that I've been laid off, how can I survive? Clay Halton Sat, September 19, 2026 at 4:25 AM PDT 11 min read Photo by by seventyfourimages / Envato Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Losing your job at age 60 is difficult enough. Losing it when you've saved practically nothing for retirement can turn the next few years into a financial scramble. Consider George, a single man from Little Rock, Ark., who found himself in that position after losing his job in a company restructuring. At 60, he was still two years away from being eligible to claim Social Security and five years away from Medicare eligibility with little retirement savings to fall back on. Top Picks Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one A single line on your car insurance policy could be inflating your premium by up to 30% here's what to change A record 45% of central banks plan to grow gold reserves and many investors are following suit. Get your free gold IRA guide from Priority Gold George's situation may be extreme, but he's far from alone. According to a 2024 AARP survey, 1 in 5 Americans aged 50 and older have no retirement savings, while 61% worry they won't have enough money to support themselves later in life (1). Social Security alone may not provide much breathing room, either. The Social Security Administration estimates the average retired worker received about $2,086 per month in July 2026 (2). And that's an average: Someone who begins collecting benefits as soon as they become eligible at 62 can receive substantially less than they would by waiting until full retirement age or beyond. For someone like George, then, the challenge isn't simply figuring out how to retire with less. It's finding a way to financially bridge the next several years without making decisions today that could leave him with even less income later. That means looking at every part of the budget: replacing lost income where possible, keeping healthcare covered until Medicare begins, making limited savings work harder, cutting unnecessary expenses and taking advantage of benefits available to older Americans. There's no quick fix for reaching 60 without a substantial nest egg. But there are still moves that can give someone in George's position more options, starting with one expense that can become especially urgent after a layoff: health insurance. Plan for health coverage before Medicare If you lose employer-sponsored health insurance at 60, you'll probably need to account for how you'll stay covered until you become eligible for Medicare. And once Medicare eligibility approaches, you'll have another set of coverage decisions to make. Story Continues A Medicare Supplement Insurance, or Medigap, plan can help cover some of the out-of-pocket costs left by...
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