- Buy the U.S. government inflation-adjusted annuity – By delaying Social Security benefits for four years, you can increase your monthly paycheck by 32%. For example, if a 66-year-old can get $1,000 a month if she elected to start Social Security payments, she must go ahead and spend that amount now from her portfolio.
- Be frugal, but focus on the big things – Buying a modest car and keeping it for a decade or even more is the single biggest way to save some money. Also, downsizing the house can save some cash, too. However, moving to another state is something else, as your network of friends and family matter a lot to you. Comparing prices is a lot easier online. So is buying products on the web and googling them with the words “promo code”.
- Keep your investing fees low and your discipline high – When we buy something, we keep track of how much we are spending from our bank or our loved ones. But when we invest, we have to work more in order to get that feedback. For example, after investing, you have to look up the fund fees through sites like Morningstar.
- Keep cash working hard – Nowadays, lots of banks are paying 0.02 percent or even less on your money. There are some online savings accounts that pay 0.70 % or even more and that are FDIC insured. While it doesn’t seem a lot, each $10,000 pays $70 annually.
