Despite the fact that it is not a recommended practice, in the United States we come across thousands of Americans who only collect Social Security check. This benefit is really useful for general social welfare, but it can be insufficient in most cases. In fact, the check is often totally inadequate for the average American.
Receiving only the Social Security payment as the sole source of income should be out of any retirement plan. Still, some Americans have no choice and only collect this check on a monthly basis. But if we have not yet applied for a Social Security check, there is still time to correct this mistake to have the best golden years possible.
The reason why retirees only cash Social Security checks is because they don’t know all the facts about retirement. For that reason, we must consider everything that surrounds the golden years of our lives. If we only consider the money we are going to bring in, we may find ourselves in financial trouble in the future.
The reason the Social Security check is insufficient
If we keep in mind that many Americans only collect Social Security as a source of income, we can see what the problem is. With this in mind, we can see that many of these beneficiaries do not have enough money to pay all of their monthly expenses.
The most logical thing to think is that inflation has increased a lot, which is also true, but there is a much easier to understand reality behind it. The retirement benefit is always less than the monthly salary as a worker. And this is the main reason why living on just a Social Security check is not advisable under any circumstances.
In order to have the best possible retirement we must not only take into account the retirement check, but other elements as well.
Savings
With good savings, the Social Security check being less than our paycheck should not be a problem. But we need to think about this plan long before we apply for retirement. So don’t hesitate to save as much money as possible.
Adding to the check
Any extra money we earn during the retirement years will be welcome. For that reason, if we have a business we don’t have to work in or have made some investments everything will go better in our golden years.
Bills and debts
Having bills and debts is not the best idea while collecting just a Social Security check. While bills are unavoidable, debts can be paid early. So pay all your debts and forget about them by the time you start enjoying your retirement.
With these tips, even though our check will be less than our salary as a worker, at least we will have enough money for every month. Of course, we must also control the payment days to know on which day we will have the money.
To all this we must add something else, and that is that we must not squander. While it is true that at this time of life we should enjoy ourselves to the fullest, we must also do it wisely.