Personal Finance News Wednesday 3/20

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

5 Ways to Avoid Outliving Your Retirement Savings

By Emily Brandon | U.S.News & World Report LP – Tue, Mar 19, 2013

One of the biggest challenges of retirement is making sure your money will last the rest of your life--however long that might be. You can only estimate how many years you will live, and you have to manage your finances so your savings will last for that unknown number of years. Here are some ways to make sure you will have money coming in, no matter how long you live:

Social Security. Social Security is your first line of defense against outliving your savings because these payments will continue for the rest of your life and are adjusted for inflation each year. Anyone who qualifies for Social Security will never completely run out of money, but could have to cut their standard of living to survive on their Social Security payment if they exhaust all other sources of income. Since this is the only guaranteed source of income most retirees have, it's a good idea to try to increase the amount you will get.

Common strategies for boosting your Social Security payments include making sure you have at least 35 years of covered earnings, claiming spousal payments, and delaying claiming up until age 70. "Get your [online] Social Security statement from the Social Security Administration and then go through that information and use it to decide when to claim Social Security," advises Troy Von Haefen, a certified financial planner for Von Haefen Financial Management in Nashville.

[Read: 12 Ways to Increase Your Social Security Payments.]

A pension. Workers fortunate enough to get a traditional pension through their jobs generally have a second guaranteed source of monthly retirement income. Most private-sector pension plans are insured by the PBGC, which guarantees pension benefits up to certain annual limits and will pay out benefits if your former employer goes out of business. However, workers with traditional pensions are increasingly being offered lump-sum pension payouts, which do not come with the same protections. If you don't manage a lump sum prudently or you live longer than you expected, you could end up spending that money too quickly.

To read the entire article from Emily Brandon | U.S.News & World Report LP:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-ways-avoid-outliving-retirement-145049567.html

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. -Golda Meir

Hi my name is Philip J. Miano and I am the founder of PJM Personal Finance and Productivity Coaching specializing in Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Bank Reconciliations, Goal Setting, Time Management, and Organizational skills. Please visit my website: http://pjmcoaching.com.