Building wealth on a single income

ALEX ROCA: Hello, and thank you for joining Women Talk Money. My name is Alex Roca, and I will be host for today's conversation. Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and we wanted to do something a little different this year and give some love to the singles. Today is all about planning and building wealth as a single-income household. Of course, that can also mean two planning partners and one income. Our focus today, though, will be on singles. But we've got lots of tips to share, whatever your situation may be. And because have a lot on your plate, we've broken out the conversation down into five easy steps. Today with me, we have Amy Sutton, a regional long-term care planning consultant, and Jasmine Conyers, a workplace financial consultant. So, let's get started. I've been excited for this conversation because we hear from so many single women in the chat who are looking for ways to make their money grow. How can they make the most of their money? And this is also a topic that's personal for me because it makes me think of the power of one. Allow me to expand here. Sometimes, your plan isn't to be planning for one. Sometimes, life takes you in that direction, and it's important at this point more than ever to revisit your plan. I went through a divorce last year after being with my partner for 10 years, and I had to do exactly this. I know scary that can be. But this is when we need to step into our power. The power of one to get it done.Think of everything that you've accomplished so far in your life. Making a plan for yourself, for your life, for your success, that'll be one of the best self-care things you'll ever do for you. Now, with this in mind, what does the power of one mean to you both? Amy, let's start with you.

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah. So I was also married for over 10 years, and then one day, I wasn't. And I unfortunately had a very tough divorce, and I didn't have a penny to my name. I had to cash out my 401(k), and I was now a single mom raising a seven-year-old all by myself with no support, financially or physically. And it was extremely overwhelming, and truly felt like I was starting over from scratch. So when I think of the power of one, I think of what it felt like to be on the other side of that. So I now was the sole decision-maker, the breadwinner, the caretaker, and that was overwhelming. However, at the same time, there was this extreme weight lifted off of me. And if you've been through it, what I'm talking about, where I could just breathe again for the first time, because I was the sole decision-maker, I was the breadwinner, and I was the caretaker. I got to decide what I was going to do. I got to decide how I wanted to grow and spend my money. And so I try to share this experience with clients about starting over to help them feel more confident in their financial decisions.

 

ALEX ROCA: And, Jasmine?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: So, to me, the power of one is how you can take really small, tiny steps to achieve something that's so much larger. So I like to think of it as getting 1% better each and every day. Whether it's in my personal life, my professional life, or even with my own finances, these tiny improvements certainly add up over time. And before know it, can look back and you can see all the growth that you've accomplished. And I actually share the same exact sentiment to the clients that I work with each and every single day.

 

ALEX ROCA: Thank you for that, Jasmine. Amy, what are some of the considerations for singles when it comes to day-to-day planning?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah, for day-to-day planning, it can feel harder when we're single because we have to manage every dollar, every decision on our own. And now, one income has to cover everything. So budgeting and planning become very important. You have less of a safety net. There is no second income now to fall back on if you were to lose your job, if you had an unexpected emergency come up. So those everyday expenses are on you, which means daily money management is something we need to consider. It becomes very important. We need to track all of our spending. We need to write down everything we're spending money on and figure out, is this essential for us. So we don't, unfortunately, have the ability to split these up like we used to. Another consideration is that you also have full financial control, but that trade-off is you can get, with that independence and that freedom, decision fatigue. Can have this mental weight, you're sole provider and sole decision-maker. So it's important for you to think about building a support system.

 

ALEX ROCA: Absolutely. So let's get into our steps, which can help us lighten that mental load. You can do these steps whether you're newly single, starting over, or you already have a plan in place. They even apply if you're a part of a couple. There's something for everyone here. Now, the first step is to name your priorities. So, Jasmine, can you talk us through how we go about that?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Absolutely. So as singles, oftentimes, we are the backbones of our communities. So that means that we're supporting aging loved ones, our nieces or nephews, or even our own children. But you can't forget about yourself and the goals that you have. So it's really important to ensure that you have a financial plan that is set in place, because it helps with a few things. Number one, it helps you with feeling more secure. And number two, it allows for you not to pour from an empty cup. That way, you can feel equipped to help whenever you'd like. So really, just going old school, getting a pen and paper, and starting out by just naming all of your financial priorities and getting them down on a piece of paper. Next, you can even challenge yourself to say, OK, what are my top five priorities and assign a timeline to each and every goal that you have. So, for example, when it comes to short-term goals, that's just an emergency savings account. And so here at Fidelity, it's our guideline to save at least up to $1,000. And once you have reached that milestone, can work to save anywhere between three to six months worth of essential expenses. Now, this number looks very, very different for everyone. And if you are relying on one income, as Amy did mention, may want to consider what that looks like for you. So just figure out what makes you feel secure and what you can do to sleep at night so that you aren't having any worries in terms of emergencies. An example of a mid-term goal is saving for a car down payment, maybe it's a wedding, or a vacation that's coming up. And then, of course, for a long-term goal, that's saving for retirement. Now, once you have outlined your goals, next is just making a plan to achieve them.

 

ALEX ROCA: Amy, can you talk about the first things that you may want to do when you're starting over after a divorce?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah, I think the very first thing you need to do is you need to just stabilize first, so that you can regain control to get rid of some of that panic. The first thing I had to do was look at my budget, and I had to budget very differently. So I had to again write out everything and really look and see what were the essential expenses I needed to live on. And you'd be surprised. You don't need as much as you think you do. I had to give up a few things, at least in the beginning, because they weren't considered essential expenses. Now, just like Jasmine said, set those goals. I am really a firm believer about writing down your goals. So I remember, I sat down and I wrote down my short-, my mid-, and my long-term goals, and I will tell you, if you write them down and you stick to that plan really can successfully rebuild your future. Now, it took me about five years. I had a midterm goal that I wanted to be able to have a house again for my daughter. We were moving from apartment to apartment, and it just didn't feel secure for her. And I really wanted to be able to have that home. So after   about five years, I was able to have enough money to put down a payment on a house, and that was huge for me to be able to mark off on that goal list. Now, we have a checklist as well, that we want to share as just a starting point. Now, these are things that you want to do right after a divorce. And I do want to mention, if you're actually going through the divorce right now, you're getting ready to, you actually can also get help out there, and you can get divorced on a budget, believe it or not. So I actually got a free legal advocate from the courts, and I was able to get divorced for as low as $55. So beyond the budget, let's take a look at this. The first thing you need to do is you got to get organized. You need to gather all of the important documents. You've also got a request and review your credit report. You have to separate accounts, and you got to update passwords. Now, you need to consider that first year that you get divorced, how you want to file your taxes. Because you have a choice. You could decide to continue filing Joint, but you could also change that to Single or even Head of Household, and that can make a huge difference. So you want to explore those options. Now, next, it's essential that you create that support system. I kind of talked about that a minute ago, but think of this as you've got to assemble your team. And when you're rebuilding your life, may have a great family support system nearby, but sometimes maybe, you don't. In my case, I didn't. I was navigating this completely on my own. So you really want to surround yourself with people that you can trust. Financial professionals, legal, healthcare advocates, and people that can help provide some emotional support, as well. I didn't have family nearby. We were all spread out, so I created my own network of people. I had incredible friends, coworkers, and even the people at my daughter's school. The staff, they became my people. They helped me every step of the way. Now, something also that I did that was super important is I joined a local women's networking group, and that helped me find those right individuals, the trusted people. When we're talking about financial professionals, those legal and health advocates. So if you have that available, I would absolutely research that. You don't have to go through this alone. You would be surprised at how many people are willing to step up and help out. The last step I want to go over is updating key documents. This is important. You've got to completely separate yourself from the divorce. So that means all legal documents. You've got to update beneficiaries on everything. Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, bank accounts. You also need to update any wills, trusts, healthcare directives that you have on file.

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Amy, I couldn't agree more. Having that sense of community, especially when you're going through a hard time, is something that you definitely need. In fact, just recently, I met with a woman who had just lost her husband unexpectedly. And if you've ever dealt with grief, it was really, really fuzzy. And so it was her goal to ensure that number one, that she was able to rebuild financially. And number two, she was still able to reach that goal of retirement. So ultimately, the first step is just being vulnerable, reaching out for help, like Amy did mention. And then, also, it's being willing to implement the plan that you're working on and holding yourself accountable. So she and the client that I met with, we co-created a plan, and we made it a deal that we are going to meet six months from the time that we first met so that we can figure out exactly where she is, and we can pick up what those next steps. So that just goes to show actually speaking with someone can make such a huge impact on things, for sure.

 

ALEX ROCA: Jasmine, Amy, I'm so glad that you talked about this because sometimes it is about just sitting with somebody to help figure out what your next best step is. Now, let's turn back to ways that we can help strengthen our finances. So, Jasmine, once we've sorted our priorities into those that are short-, medium-, and long-term goals, how do we then balance working towards them, and also paying down debt?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Yes, that's a really great question. So first, I just want to note that finding a balance is probably going to be difficult because you're juggling so many things. And it can probably feel like everything's a top priority, which can make it hard to make your next best step. So when you have debt to pay down and you feel like you have to sacrifice other goals, we actually have a guideline to help you with keeping on track. I don't necessarily have a ton of time to dig through everything here, but really, what I want to highlight is the rule of 6%. So you want to make sure that you're keeping up with all of your minimum payments and paying down high interest debt, such as credit cards. And whenever you're trying to decide, should I invest or should I pay down additional debt, the rule of 6% says that if your debt has an interest rate of 6% or higher, you'll want to focus on paying that down first.

 

ALEX ROCA: Thank you for that, Jasmine. Amy, for single parents, once you've built your financial foundation and you're saving for your long-term goals, how can we then balance saving for our kids college and even our own retirement?

 

AMY SUTTON: That's a great question. So as much as we'd like to be able to do both, sometimes it's not always possible, especially if you're in that rebuilding phase. I wasn't able to. I couldn't start a college fund for my daughter. It took several years after my divorce before I was even really able to do that. And then once I actually was able to do it and I started contributing, I was worried that I wasn't putting enough in it and it really wasn't going to make a dent and wasn't going to make a difference. But I'm here to tell you that when the time came and she went away to college, even though I couldn't contribute as much, every single penny that I put in there made a huge difference. Because that meant that, that was money I didn't have to take student loans out for, or she didn't. That meant I didn't have to deplete my savings in order to help pay for college. Now, something you need to think about, though, when it comes to retirement and making sure you're on track for retirement, think of this as sometimes, you need to help yourself before you help others. Your retirement is very important, and so you do need to make sure you are putting that as a priority and making sure it's on track before we really start to put money into those 529 accounts. Now, if you're not sure where you're at with retirement, we have an amazing retirement tool. So it's the Retirement Analysis Tool, and that can actually help track. I use it all the time. I'm updating it, looking at it. We will actually link it in the chat. All you have to do is answer six simple questions to get your score, and it'll show you additional steps you can take to consider as you start to save for retirement. So I absolutely recommend everybody do that and really see where you're at and continue to do it because things change.

 

ALEX ROCA: That's actually one of my favorite tools. And while I'm still quite a ways away from retirement, I like to go in there and just make sure I'm doing the right things. So thank you for sharing that. Now, for those of you that want to ramp up or maybe catch up on your savings, our next step can help. So, Jasmine, can you share some tax-smart ways to potentially save more and help grow your money?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Absolutely. So I feel like I get this question every single day, five days a week, and that's OK. So first, I'll start out by saying, I am not a tax professional by any means, but tax planning is such a huge part of your overall financial plan. When you're the breadwinner and you're responsible for keeping your household finances afloat, taxes can really feel like an extra burden. But there are different ways that you can use to reduce your taxable income and potentially grow your money in tax-smart ways. So let's start by talking about what are some of those ways to reduce your taxable income whenever tax time does roll around, which we're right here at it. First, start by filing your status, which is an IRS category that determines your filing status, standard deduction, and many more. So you might think, I'm single, so my filing status is Single, but that might not necessarily be the case. So for example, if you have a qualifying dependent or a child that you are caring for, might be able to file as Head of Household, which is a higher standard deduction and can help with reducing your taxable income. Also, in the year that you get divorced, it could make sense to file as Married. And a tax professional is a great person that you can reach out to so that you can better understand what's going to make sense for you and your situation. Now, when it comes to saving for retirement, may be able to maximize your pre-tax retirement contributions through either your workplace savings plan, so that can be your 401(k), or your 403(b), or even a traditional IRA. Now, by contributing to these accounts, you're choosing to defer paying taxes on your contributions, as well as any earnings, until you withdraw funds in retirement. So we have included the 2026 limits here on the slide, which does include any catch-up contributions that you may be eligible for if you are over the age of 50.

 

ALEX ROCA: I really appreciate you going over that, Jasmine. We hear from a lot of women who are either feeling like maybe they're a little later in their savings or maybe rebuilding after life happened, and these are some additional steps that could help them get to their goals faster. So thank you for going over that. What about that third way, the HSAs? Can you tell us a little bit more about that, Jasmine?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Of course. So HSAs, it's such an important account for single women to consider. So as women, we tend to pay 18% more in healthcare over our lifetime. And that can be such a huge expense, especially in retirement. Plus, contributing to an HSA not only helps with reducing your taxable income in the year that you contribute, it's also a very powerful retirement savings tool. And if you have a high deductible plan, you may be eligible open one. So with that being said, when you put money into an HSA, can choose to either keep in cash to use it for your current health qualified medical expenses, or you can choose to invest it for the long-term, or you can even do both at the exact same time. So if you have a qualified medical expenses in retirement, you can choose to pay for them tax-free. You can even choose to use those dollars to save for non-medical expenses because after the age of 65, you can use it for anything without any penalties. But of course, keep in mind, you will have ordinary income taxes. So ultimately, the main takeaway here is if this is something that you are eligible for, please don't sleep on learning more about the HSA and how you are able to maximize it.

 

ALEX ROCA: It's such a good account. So what else should we be thinking about as we grow our money? Amy, I'll bring it to you.

 

AMY SUTTON: OK. Yeah, absolutely. So I think, as women, we tend to be pretty good savers, and we're good at putting money away for retirement, for other things we may want. But saving is only part of the picture. We really need to make sure our money is growing. So we also need to make sure we're investing it. And so when we think about investing it as well, taxes do play a big role there, too. It's not just about managing taxes in this current year. Your investment choices and when you buy and sell investments, they're going to affect what your taxes are over time. And so I know when I was married, we relied on a tax professional. We had that luxury. And once I was on my own, I didn't have that anymore. I didn't have that luxury to be able to afford a tax professional so I really had to start figuring out how to handle taxes on my own. But when it came to investing, that was a completely different story. So you can choose to do your investments yourself. If you have the time to dedicate and you can do all the research and the ongoing management, that is one way that you can handle your investing. However, for myself, I didn't have the time to manage my investments well, in the way that I would want. So I chose to hire a professional to manage my investments, and that took all the stress off of me. I didn't have to worry about what the market was doing every single day. The key is figuring out which approach is going to be the best for you, and maybe it's a combination. But early on, you may have less of a safety net. But over time, as you start to save more money, really need to think about how you want it to work for you. We need your money working harder, and the easiest way to do that is through investing. So you might already be doing this in a workplace plan, where there are so many different options out there available to you depending on what your goals are. If you've got a 401(k) or a 403(b) with your employer, I would take the time to figure out all the resources available to help and guide you through that. At Fidelity, we have a tax-smart approach within our managed account offerings. Now, this is the approach that I decided to do because I didn't want to manage my investments on my own. And so what we do with this is that we apply throughout the year, this strategy, this approach, so you don't have to worry about it. Now, you can see all these different tax strategies that are up here on the screen. We have a lot of them, so we don't have the time to go through each one of these today, but I just wanted you to see that you've got the help and the resources available. And it's a new offering for the Fidelity Go account over $25,000. It's our Robo Advisor.

 

ALEX ROCA: Now, we're moving on to step 3, protecting your future. So, Jasmine, what do we mean by that?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Yes, so we've discussed a lot about planning, rebuilding, and saving for these long-term goals, but we also need to start to think about what we want our life to look like as we age. So this is especially key for us singles because we're in full control. We're in the driver's seat. And if we don't create an estate plan or an aging solo plan, then no one else will. So we need to start understanding things like Social Security, survivorship benefits, pension elections, long-term care planning. Single women are actually more likely to live longer, and a recent women money survey found that to be true. We're going to pull up a slide here in just a few moments, and really, it's so great to see that as women, we have such a strong financial foundation with having a financial plan. But every single person on this call today can benefit from having an estate plan. So something to take into consideration is that everyone should document their healthcare wishes and make sure that you have a healthcare and financial power of attorney so that your wishes are fulfilled in the event that something were to happen to you. Also, it is really important to ensure that you're having conversations with your loved ones about your wishes, as well.

 

ALEX ROCA: Of course. And I actually want to follow-up. Amy, how should you think about setting up care for later in life, especially those who may not have kids or other types of support?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah, this is a topic I'm very passionate about. So planning for care later in life is essential for everyone, but it's especially essential if we're single and we're expecting to age solo. So the key is remembering that aging solo doesn't mean that you are necessarily alone. Even if you don't have a partner, don't have any children that can provide that hands-on help, you still have friends, neighbors, extended family, people that are willing to step in and help out. The most important step is to have that initial conversation so that you can find out who is willing to help me out, and what type of support are they comfortable with giving. Now, I went through this myself. I had this talk with my daughter, and I told her what I might need in the future as I'm aging. And so we talked about the plan that I want to have in place, which is to age in place and stay at home as long as possible, and what that kind of entails. And she was honest with me. She told me, she did not want to be my caregiver. She knew all the responsibilities that went into that, and she didn't really feel like she could take that role on. Plus, she said, Mom, I have no idea where I'm going to be living in the future. And so, we talked about what role she wanted to have, and she was comfortable being my care manager. Meaning, she could make healthcare decisions on my behalf if I couldn't. She could make financial decisions. She could help out wherever she could in the way that she was comfortable. Now, I was glad we had this conversation, because it helped me to write down what my plan would look like. So that way, my wishes are respected, and it makes it much easier if something were to happen. Most people don't want to be a burden on their families, so you need to think about writing down that plan. Do you want the people around you to be your caregivers? You also might want to think about hiring a patient advocate if you are aging solo. Now, this is a professional that can help you navigate the medical system as you grow older. It can be key just to making things easier. We have an incredible resource. It's one of my favorite resources here at Fidelity. It's called our Aging Well Guide and Checklist. Now, this is a digital brochure. It's right on fidelity.com. We'll make sure you have a link to it. But this can actually guide you through every step building a plan. So it'll walk you through how to have these conversations with your friends and your family. It'll walk through, well, what are all the different types of care, and what's everything that I need to consider when I'm putting this plan together. It also covers all the important key documents you need to have in place, but it's a really great place to have everything in one document with your wishes on it. So I highly recommend taking a look at this. And one call out that I will say is long-term care is expensive. If you were to have a long-term care event and you needed to bring people into the house, needed to go into a facility, it can be very costly. There are different options out there for you to explore now, to make this a much less expensive way to cover these costs. Long-term care insurance is something that can potentially help you. It's a cost-effective, tax-efficient way to handle this. And so I would absolutely explore what these options are, but we can help you here at Fidelity. So we're here. Again, we can help you with putting that plan together.

 

ALEX ROCA: Absolutely. Now, we've talked a lot about the different things that we need to consider, but what about Social Security? Is there anything that we should know or keep in mind there?

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Alex, I'll jump in on this one. And I'm really glad that you mentioned Social Security because you want to ensure that you're maximizing what you're eligible for in retirement. And we don't necessarily have time to comb into the details here, but there are three things that I want you to be aware of. So number one, you're eligible for Social Security starting at the age of 62. But the longer that you wait, the higher the potential monthly benefit may be. If you're widowed, can claim survivor's benefits, and then switch to your own, or you can claim your own benefits, and then switch to survivor. And finally, if you are divorced and still single, may be eligible to claim a higher retirement based upon your ex-spouse's work record. There's certainly a lot more to this, and we will be linking another great article for you in the chat so that you can learn just a little bit more.

 

ALEX ROCA: Thank you for that. When we talk about protecting our future, we also want to consider our legacy, which is our fourth step. So, Amy, can you talk a little bit more about that?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah, absolutely. And legacy can mean something different for everyone, but it's really about what you leave behind. Your values, your wishes, the way you want to take care of the people that you love. And so having a plan in place, whether it's an estate plan, an aging solo plan that ensures your wishes are fulfilled, is important, but it takes the guesswork out. So people don't have to assume, oh, this is what I think she might want to have. And so in my own planning, I set up a trust. I never thought I would need a trust, ever. I never had that complex of a situation. However, I set this up so that I would have peace of mind and so that everything was documented. I actually was reading some of the questions that were in the chat. And one thing, when we go through a divorce and in my situation, when my daughter-- she's now an adult, but when she was younger-- if I passed away, then my ex-husband would have gotten legal custody of her, which meant he would be making all financial decisions on my finances that were being left to her. And so this trust stopped that dead in its tracks. So I set this trust up to make sure she was fully protected. It gave me the peace of mind to make sure that I never had to worry about her. Her future was secured. But it also made it really easy and very clear. Because in the trust, it has every decision. So she doesn't need to guess on what decisions I had set up. And so it's important with these trusts-- I've already had to update it probably three times since I put the trust in place-- you do have to update this stuff because things will change. You'll have life changes. Kids get older. But I put everything-- all the important documents, I organize them, put them in a binder, and I included in that binder, a copy of the trust and a copy of all my insurance policies. And so that way, my daughter knows exactly where the binder is. She knows exactly who to call in the event something were to happen. But thinking about a legacy also means thinking about the right protection that you may have in place. And so that includes life insurance, long-term care insurance. And so I ended up getting life insurance within months of me getting divorced, because I knew I did not have enough. In the event something were to happen, I passed away, I needed to make sure as a single mom, my daughter was financially secure. So I went beyond the coverage I had at work. And life insurance can help build that generational wealth. It's tax-free proceeds. It can cover your debt. It can also cover immediate expenses. Any income that you may need to cover for a period of time. It can cover some long-term care goals-- sorry-- some long-term goals, like education, or any long-term goals you have. Like in my trust, for example, I basically have it written out, till she's 40 years old. She doesn't know. She might after this. But I've got in there paying for her wedding, so everything is pretty much covered. And I did notice a question about how to navigate building wealth and being with a new partner who maybe hasn't accumulated as much wealth as you, and how do you do that if you were to get remarried? I think this is so important, especially if you have children and you're looking to pass your wealth on to your children. I am a strong believer in protecting yourself and your future. And if you were to remarry and if I were to remarry, I would absolutely have a prenup. It's a responsible way to safeguard what I've built to ensure my legacy goes exactly where I want it to.

 

ALEX ROCA: Great add-on. And, Amy, actually, I saw on the chat, somebody was saying, does Fidelity help with estate planning?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah, absolutely. We can help you. A lot of people don't realize everything that we can help you with. There's really nothing we can't help you with here at Fidelity. We can absolutely help you with that.

 

ALEX ROCA: I love that answer. And this actually brings us to our last step, which might be my favorite. So, Amy, I'm going to keep it with you. Can you share your thoughts on why self-care is so important for singles?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah. So self-care, I think, should really be the first step for singles, especially for those of us who are in that sandwich generation. We're juggling so much all the time. We're juggling our careers, households. You may have kids at home that you're still taking care of. You may have aging parents, who now have long-term care needs. And so it's a lot, and the stress can build very quickly. And we tend to put ourselves at the bottom. We tend to let our needs go. And so don't let that stress take over. Self-care, to me, is not optional. You have to protect your energy. You have to protect your mental health. Make sure you're enjoying the things you want to do. So when you're putting that budget together, as part of that budget, also need to put away a budget for for yourself and something that you would enjoy doing. I'll tell you, for example, I love massages. So I put in the budget that I get a massage every single month. I never miss that massage, at least if I can't. It's something that really I enjoy, but it recharges me. And that's so important to make yourself a priority, whatever it is. That's one of the biggest benefits of having a plan, because it allows you to budget that in and not feel guilty about it. And don't forget. If you're still working, though, your company also may offer a ton of different employee benefits. There's wellness resources that can help support your physical, your mental, your financial well-being. It is so important to explore. There are so many benefits and features out there, you probably don't even that your company offers. But take the time and look at it because it's so important to see what you have available to you.

 

ALEX ROCA: Thank you for that, Amy. I want to wrap-up with one last quick question. Maybe we'll add another one from the chat if we have time. But what would be your one takeaway for singles that you would want everybody to walk away with today? Jasmine, I'll bring it on to you, first.

 

JASMINE CONYERS: Yeah, absolutely. So I would say that whether you're starting early or if you're just getting started right now, the most important thing is to just take the next step. Because time and consistency is always going to work in your favor.

 

ALEX ROCA: And, Amy?

 

AMY SUTTON: If I can leave you with one thought today, it's to embrace the power of one. Your plan doesn't need to be perfect. You don't need to have everything figured out today. It's just one action at a time. Momentum beats perfection. It's those small steps that we're going to take that will help shape a future that you can feel confident and secure about. And I'm here to tell you, don't forget to ask for help along the way.

 

ALEX ROCA: That's actually a phenomenal question or a phenomenal statement to finish, Amy, because one of the questions that we've gotten, do I need to have a certain amount of savings to qualify to talk to a financial professional? Can you tell us more, Amy?

 

AMY SUTTON: Yeah. You absolutely do not. We're here to help you no matter what level you are at. Just reach out. We will absolutely help you rebuild. I started over with nothing, and I was able to get that help from financial professionals. And that's what you need. You need somebody to help guide you that you can trust, and that's got your best interest at heart. And that's exactly what we're going to do here at Fidelity.

 

ALEX ROCA: And then one other question, because I see we still have a little bit of time. One of the questions that came through the chat was, do I need life insurance if I don't have children?

 

AMY SUTTON: I would say, everybody needs life insurance for a few reasons. If you are passing away and you don't want to leave any debt behind, that's a really good reason to have life insurance. If you have anyone you care about and you want to make sure they're taken care of, that's another good reason to have life insurance. It doesn't necessarily have to be a child. Maybe you want to leave a legacy behind to your nieces, nephews, to people that are important to you. And the other thing is, maybe you want to leave a legacy behind to different things that are important to you. If there's a different charity or something that you're involved in the community, might want to leave something behind as a legacy.

 

ALEX ROCA: Jasmine, Amy, this was fantastic. Thank you so much for chatting with me and for all the great information that you've shared today. I want to reiterate that whether you are a single by choice or by life, these are steps that are going to be so important if you're in a single-income household. So again, it doesn't matter how you ended up in that situation, these are all going to be the right steps-- the right next steps for you to be able to come up with a plan to take care of yourself. To all of you watching today, thank you for joining, and we'll hopefully see you again next month. Have a great day.