One of the greatest fears seniors have as they move into retirement is that they will outlive their money. While some seniors plan on working side gigs to boost their income, many retirees would rather ride off into the sunset.
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If you think you might come up a bit short in terms of funding your retirement — but you’re not eager to take on additional work — you have some options in terms of generating extra income. Here are a few ideas.
If you already own a standalone rental property, great! You can use that steady stream of income to pad your retirement savings and improve your quality of life. If you really don’t want to do any work at all, you could hire a property management company to do all the work for you, trading off a little bit of income for more free time and less hassle.
But even without a separate piece of real estate, you may still be able to generate passive income through the rental market. If you’re like many retirees, you own too much house for your needs. If you’re single now, or if you raised kids and they have moved out, you may have a three- or four-bedroom house when you really need only one bedroom for yourself.
In that scenario, you could rent out one or more rooms in your house to generate extra money, all without having to take on formal work. If you have an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that you’re not using, that may work out even better. If you’re not using one or more slots in your garage, you could even consider renting that out and generating monthly parking revenue.
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Social Security was never meant to entirely fund a senior’s retirement, but it’s definitely the bedrock on which the American retirement system is built. Choosing when you file could have huge ramifications for your quality of life in retirement. Although you can claim benefits as early as age 62, by waiting until full retirement age — or even as late as age 70 — your payout will be permanently increased.
Don’t forget to take your spouse’s benefit into account also. Even a nonworking spouse can qualify for a spousal benefit worth as much as 50% of the primary worker’s payout.
Pensions aren’t nearly as common as they used to be, but if you’ve worked a long time at an old-line company, you may still have one. In that case, congratulations! Pensions are among the most stable sources of retirement income. Best of all, you likely didn’t have to contribute much to its funding, if anything at all. Your pension will typically last as long as you live, so that alleviates the fear of outliving your money.
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Without a pension, you’ve likely saved at least something in a 401(k), IRA or other type of retirement plan. Now that you’re retired, it’s time to implement your withdrawal strategy. The key is to balance your retirement plan withdrawals with your Social Security payouts, pension income, rental income or other outside source of funds.
Be mindful of tax consequences of retirement plan withdrawals, as they might boost your income to the level that makes your Social Security benefits taxable, for example. You’ll also want to make sure you are depleting your funds at a rate that will last for your entire retirement.
Construction Coverage reported that U.S. Census Bureau data shows that approximately 63% of homeowners aged 65 and up have fully paid off their mortgages. If you’re in that boat, you have a lot more financial flexibility when it comes to your retirement. Using various methods, you can unlock the equity in your home and turn it into cash to help fund your retirement lifestyle.
A standard home equity loan, for example, allows you to borrow up to about 80% of your home’s value and simply put it in your pocket. You’ll have to pay back the loan every month with interest, of course, but it could provide you with a few extra hundred thousand dollars, or perhaps even more, to use in retirement.
Another option is a home equity line of credit, typically referred to as a HELOC. This is a standing line of credit against the value of your home that you can draw from as needed. Unlike the traditional home equity loan, with a HELOC, you can pay back what you use whenever you’d like, reusing that available credit again in the future if you so desire. It’s not the best option if you need a lump sum of cash, but it can be a good way to fund emergencies or necessary expenses in your life without pulling more money out of your retirement accounts.
As home equity draws of any kind can be complicated — particularly reverse mortgages, which most experts don’t recommend — be sure to work with a financial and/or tax advisor to make sure you understand the pros and cons before you act.
A unique way to boost your cash flow in retirement is simply to move to a more affordable area. This practice, sometimes dubbed “geographic arbitrage,” allows you to live the same type of lifestyle for less money. That makes it a good way to stretch your retirement dollars. But if you prefer to live a more lavish retirement, it can also provide you with that for the same amount of money you were spending before.
This strategy works particularly well if you move from a high-cost state like California to a lower-cost state like Texas or Mississippi. If you’re willing to relocate abroad, there are ample opportunities. Central and South America, along with Southeast Asia, are popular options, but even parts of Europe can run considerably cheaper than pricier spots in the United States.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Ways To Earn Income in Retirement — Without a Side Gig