Poor, middle-aged and want to start saving for retirement

Not a financial advisor but my list is typically,
-3 months savings
-Match up to Company max in 401k if they have that benefit.(If you were not self employed)
-HSA
-max contribute Roth IRA
-Max contribute 401k// your case individual IRA
-up to 6 months savings
- Brokerage account(Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds)

Build up your emergency fund first (3-6 months of expenses). After you have that, then do a Roth IRA. Technically the HSA (if available) has more tax advantages but it also has more limitations (used for health care expenses). Since you are just starting to save, I would strongly recommend the Roth IRA since your contributions can be withdrawn without penalty. Since your overall portfolio will just be starting out it provides the flexibility if you ever really needed the funds you contributed. Once you build up your accounts then you could start diversifying your tax liabilities by contributing to an HSA or other pre-tax/deductible account.

OK, I’m going to give diverging advice from the previous two. Assuming that you don’t have a match from any employer (as you said you are self employed), are not eligible for health savings account (the HSA) because you’re not in a high deductible health plan, and you need to start somewhere:
—since you’re self employed, you can self fund a “solo k” plan....essentially a 401k plan for the self employed. This will allow you to sock away a greater percentage of your income on a pretax basis....so yay, retirement savings plus a reduced tax burden.
—if you truly have minimal funds available to save, then the higher limits of the soloK aren’t much of an advantage, and you might be better served by a SEP (simplified employee pension IRA), which is also funded pre-tax.
—the Roth IRA mentioned by others is popular because of its flexibility (you can withdraw contributions but not earnings before retirement age without penalty) and that eventual retirement age withdrawals are income tax free. But you find a Roth IRA out of post-tax dollars....and you are better off saving for retirement through a vehicle that reduces your present tax burden.

Look, any amount saved is better than nothing. Commit to sticking even $100/mo and it will build over time. Get used to paying yourself first....make it a non negotiable part of your budget.

The SEP and "solo k" are great as long as he feels he could "weather a storm" if it was needed. Since he is just starting out, it is likely that if he ran into an emergency he would not be able to cover it due to newly starting to divert some of his funds to retirement accounts. This is where the flexibility of the Roth really could help out. Once he has enough saved between emergency fund and the Roth that he could handle any reasonable emergency then I would recommend switching to the pre-tax accounts. It is also good to be tax diversified in your retirement accounts. There are pros and cons to either method but at least he is more informed to make the best decision for himself.

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Celery

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Go see an OK tax specialist.

LINK

Biggest advice is start saving now. The earlier you start saving the better. A lot of people start saving way older than you and still retire at a normal time, but they have to work a lot harder at it

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Biggest advice is start saving now. The earlier you start saving the better.

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+1 - nothing can replace time in the market.

COngrats on realizing it's time to start saving.. You may think you're way behind and yeah to some folks sure, but there is a BUNCH of people your age who arent saving or interested in doing it either.

I was bullish about getting into my 401k thinking... there's no way.. i NEED that 400 extra a month for expenses and things and my dad sat me down and said yeah it's a tough adjustment at first but after 3 years, I'm used to it now and budget accordingly...

got around $35,000 in the account now.

getting started is the hardest part