Share your ideas on how to live cheap in retirement
Posted on 15 July 2010
By Mark Miller
Permanent URL of this article: http://retirementrevised.com/money/share-your-ideas-on-how-to-live-cheap-in-retirement
My friend Steve Vernon points out that cutting expenses can be one of the most important ways to achieve a secure retirement. In a post at CBS MoneyWatch, Steve writes that if you can’t generate much income in retirement, the best strategy is to act poor, including taking in a roommate or two, getting the kids to move back into the house, growing your own food and such.
Have you found creative ways to cut your spending in retirement? Leave a comment on this page or drop me a line; I’m planning to write a column later this month synthesizing some of the best ideas out there.
July 17th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
hi
i felt compelled to coment on your “delaying your ss benefits” artical.you make no mention on how you would support yourself those three years.if you feel working is it then you are paying more money in taxes including ss did you factor that in?are you spending other money you have for retirement?did you fiqure that in?how about the early ss payments if you invested them for those three years?
not to mention how valuable would those three years be to a healthy person or couple traveling togeather playing golf whatever.you example used 90 and 95 years old,you planning alot of trips or bike riding for those years are you?
that was a one sided artical seemed like put out by the govt. or the ss agency its self.
try again use all the facts
July 17th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Bob, the article you’re referring to (How to Maximize Social Security Benefits, http://retirementrevised.com/money/how-to-maximize-your-social-security-benefits) is an excerpt from my book. In the book, I explain that working longer benefits most people three ways: 1) higher annual Social Security benefits after you file 2) fewer years drawing down retirement savings and 3) more years contributing to a retirement account. The idea of filing early and investing Social Security payments in the market is not a good one because it entails too much risk.
No single solution fits everyone; for example, filing early makes sense for those who absolutely need the money right away, or those for whom working longer doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons.