Most people retire in order to relax and no longer work in their lifetime.
Unfortunately, that isn’t what happens in a lot of cases.
A survey taken by American Advisors Group highlights that 46% of seniors will work part time and 18% plan to work full time past the age of 70.
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1,500 seniors between ages 60 and 75 answered the survey.
There are a few things you could do that would diminish the need to work in retirement.
A lot of what people do in their early years has a direct impact on what they’re going to deal with when it’s finally time to retire.
Here are 4 things to do now that will make it so you don’t need to work in retirement
First, have a savings plan.
Social Security isn’t designed to be enough to live off of when you retire.
It’s only supposed to make up 40% of your former income.
Ways to start saving now include taking advantage of a 401k or IRA savings plan.
This will help build the money you put away to save for retirement, giving you another place to pull income from in addition to Social Security benefits.
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Related: November saw 0.8% inflation, what does this mean for Social Security and COLA?
Second, try to pay off any loans or outstanding debt you may have before you decide to retire.
This includes your mortgage, credit card debt, and car payments.
Finally, you’ll want to do everything you can in your present working years to boost what you get out of Social Security in the long run.
If it’s possible to make more money or get a higher paying job, then it’s important to do so.
What you make is averaged together for all the years you work, and your payment is based on that number.
This touches on the last important thing to be aware of.
Related: This retirement mistake could cost you over one million dollars
You should, if you can, work 35 full years before you decide to retire.
If you work less than 35 years, zeros will be averaged into the total amount for money you can receive for benefits.
You should also wait until at least your full retirement age before collecting Social Security.
This is 66 or 67 depending on the year you were born.
If you retire between 62 and 65-66 then you risk forfeiting up to 30% of your benefits.
If you wait until 70, you’ll see even higher benefits for each year you wait between 67 and 70.
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