Central Texas Retirees Head Back to Work - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

Retirement is a stage in life many people look forward to, but many Central Texans just can't afford to stay retired anymore and are having to get jobs.

Debra Caldwell is one of the retirees in that situation. She loves gardening and was looking forward to doing more of that when the time came to retire. But life had other plans. "The teachers cut came about 3 years ago, my position was eliminated and I had to seek employment else where to make ends meet," says Caldwell.

Now she works part time at The Rising Star Winery in Salado, and she's not the only retiree having to go back to work. Jeff McClure is a personal wealth coach and has seen many in her situation. "How much money will I need to live comfortably after I stop working ? That's the first question, people don't generally answer that question," says McClure.

He suggest investing in things that offer an 8% return, and that's inflation into consideration. Mutual funds and mid-cap investments are also a good idea. But if you're already in Debra's situation, look at how retirees used to live. "A retiree downsized their lifestyle dramatically. And today we have an image that we can live better than ever in retirement and the fact is we need to face the reality,"says McClure.

Debra will keep working as long as she can, and hopes employers will give people like her a chance. "I think senior citizens should be hired and considered since we still have a lot to give and we're good workers."

If you're ready to start investing but don't know where to get started, McClure suggests going on morningstar.com  It's a learning website that teaches everything you need to know about investments, but its not free.

A rule of thumb for basic saving is setting aside 10% of your paycheck for future investment. And you should start putting money in a 401K as soon as you can.