When someone in the United States reaches retirement age they can apply for Social Security. When you decide to apply, you should consider all possible expenses. Regardless of the final benefit you receive, the monthly expenses are significant.
For that reason, you need to consider and keep an eye on all of these potential bills so you don’t have any unpleasant surprises. Since maximizing your Social Security benefit to $4,194 is really difficult, the best solution for living well is to control your budget.
The payments we’ll look at below are common expenses in an American household. But Social Security retirees play with the disadvantage that they don’t raise every month, only once a year via COLA. And that’s why many retirees have to keep a close eye on expenses, budgeting and everything else related to their money.
High expenses to control while collecting Social Security
The list of these three high expenses to keep track of while collecting Social Security is very important because it can completely change our retirement plan. Many people think that some of these expenses are not significant, but the truth is that they are. And very much so.
Medical expenses
Yes, it is true that we can apply for Medicare from Social Security to cover medical expenses. But we must remember that we cannot use Medicare until the age of 65. In addition, we must keep in mind that Medicare does not cover everything. That is why monthly medical expenses can be very high. Taking out private health insurance is a great solution. Possibly, that is the best solution. This way we will avoid many financial surprises.
Home repairs
There are two types of home repairs. The first is to improve the quality of life. The second one is in case something inside the house breaks. In the second case we can hire a home insurance to benefit us. In the first case we are talking about repairs to make life easier, such as a stair lift. These home repairs are very expensive and many retirees on Social Security may have trouble paying for them. For that reason it is important to have some savings or extra income.
Travel
Traveling is one of the best things we can do in retirement. But if we are in a situation where our Social Security is not very high, we may not be able to afford those trips. Keep an eye on travel spending and plan trips that you can actually afford with peace of mind. As in the case of home improvements, it is also a good option to look for a source of extra income to finance this form of leisure.