One thing people often learn when they get to retirement is that Social Security does not pay enough to make ends meet. Most retirees will need some source of supplemental retirement income. Here is a list of potential ways you can supplement your retirement income and ensure that your retirement is comfortable.
Continue working
This obviously is not the best solution, but many retirees go this route when they have no other options. The longer you go without collecting Social Security after your eligibility date, the more the program will pay you every month. Your eligibility date is based on the year you were born (it goes up for younger people) and it affects the amount you can receive in retirement. If you’re unsure of your eligibility date, you can find out at the Social Security Administration’s website at www.ssa.gov. So if your eligibility age is 62, and you choose not to start collecting at that age, the Social Security Administration will spread out the payments you would have received across the rest of your life. This will mean bigger monthly payments once you do start collecting. So for many people, continuing to work is the best solution because the longer you wait to start collecting Social Security, the more it can benefit you.
Sell items you no longer need
Some of us are collectors, and we can be quite attached to the things we collect. But at a certain point, you have to ask yourself if all the maintenance and storage space is worth it. When you’re older, you may not have the time, money, or energy to maintaining many of the items you keep around the house, and you may even have trouble maintaining the same size home you’ve lived in previously. If this is true, downsizing your life may be a good option for you. Get rid of some of the clutter around your house, and maybe even find a smaller house to live in. Although this does not technically earn you any supplemental retirement income, any savings are like money in your pocket. Plus, if you go through some of your old items, you might find an antique. Who knows, maybe one of the antiques you’ve owned all your life is worth thousands of dollars! If you manage to find a real gem in your collection, you could end up financing a comfortable retirement all while getting rid of the clutter in your house.
Consider an Annuity
A lot of people have retirement plans through their employers these days. If you’re looking for extra income, you might consider taking money out of your retirement plan and annuitizing it. This means that you would create an income stream for yourself while your investment continues to earn interest. The other benefit of annuities is that they don’t lose money during stock market crashes. Most people don’t know that the investments in their employer-sponsored retirement plans are actually based in the risky securities industry (the stock market). By putting your money into an annuity, which is based in the life insurance industry, you take your money off the risky stock market and put it into a vehicle that grows while protecting you from losses.
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