Advice needed for 59yo starting late

Hi,

Posting on behalf of someone very close to me, let’s call her Jane (59F). Jane has had zero financial education in her life and has made some very questionable decisions, but I’m helping her get clarity on what she can do go-forward to be in a slightly less unfortunate position.

Work and Income: 

Jane moved to the US (from her country in Latin America) in 2022 and has a Green Card. Her work history here is very limited and mostly lower-income cleaning work. We checked her Social Security account and she currently has 28 out of the 40 work credits needed to qualify for retirement benefits at 65. I think that even if eligible, her benefit will likely be very small due to her limited lifetime earnings.

She currently has a few small cleaning gigs that amount to about $1000-$1200 in income a month. She also sells clothes sometimes and gets a couple hundred dollars on top of that. So let's say $1300 a month. She just got a Home Health Aide (HHA) certification and is actively looking for full-time work in that field. If successful, she hopes her income is closer to $3,000/month after taxes (her estimates - not sure how accurate). 

To be fair, she is very eager to work and hasn’t been able to find consistent work. Her plan is to keep working 10+ years, health permitting. She’s in good health right now.

Longer term, she’s open to moving back to her home country in Latin America in 10 to 15 years, where the cost of living would be much much lower.

She has $80k in a CD account generating ~4.9% that’s maturing in March 2026. I believe she can’t touch that money until then. 

She has no other savings, pensions, investments or retirement accounts…

I don’t think she wants to get any government assistance (I don’t know if she would qualify as a green card holder?) because she was petitioned by her daughter and doesn’t know if that would affect her immigration status case when she applies for citizenship in a few years. 

Expenses: 

She told me her monthly expenses were about $1200, but when I pressed for an exact breakdown she struggled to tell me where the money was going. Here’s what I got:

Fixed Costs: 

• Cell phone: $44
• Car Insurance: $100
• Netflix $20

Other Estimated Costs:

• Groceries: $400 or sometimes $500 (she says that when she gets a lot of fruit it goes up to $500)
• Gas $120
• Tolls $20
• Personal Care/Hygiene: $150

Total accounted for: $954

She has no housing costs because she lives with her sister (F66) who doesn’t charge her rent.
Her car is an old Toyota Corolla that’s paid for. It’s in decent condition but I don’t think it has more than 3 years in it. She has no health insurance.

She also mentioned she’d sometimes send a few hundred dollars to her daughter in her home country, or that she helps with things for the house. 

This I didn’t get from her but I'm pretty sure she has been spending money shopping for expensive/luxury things she really can’t afford - she has Chanel sneakers she bought last year, a dyson airstrait and I recently had to help her return a super expensive Mason Pearson brush which was about $400+. To be fair (again), these were bought when she had a full time job - but still. 

When I asked how it was possible that her expenses were ~$1200 and her income was sometimes less than that, she said that she had some savings from when she was working full time that covered her last few months - but those have run out now. 

What I want to know:

I don’t even know where to start in terms of a plan for her… I’m clear changing spending habits is step one, and an emergency fund will be step 2 but with her income right now that will be very hard. 

What should she do with those $80k once the CD ends? 

Is there any realistic case for investing at this stage, or should the focus be entirely on preserving those $80k?

Once she gets steadier income, what should be prioritized first?

I know her situation is dire, but she can’t go back in time - what can she do starting now? 

Thank you in advance - feeling a little lost and stressed out for her!