One of the biggest questions associated with retirement planning is, “How much do I need to save?” A retirement study of American workers conducted by Schroders found that the average worker age 45 or older believes it will take $1.1 million to retire comfortably. However, only 21% of those workers expect to save $1 million or more for retirement.

Can you retire on no money? Having no savings means that you will be forced to rely on your Social Security benefits for income in retirement. According to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Socia🔥l Securit🌞y Administration (SSA), among Social Security beneficiaries, 12% of men and 15% of women rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income. So people doౠ it. Still, it req💧uires sacrifices, hustling, and planning.

Understand Your Social Security Benefits

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Social Security benefits provide a stream of income for retirement, so if you’re trying to retire with no money saved, it’s important to understand how much you might be able to collect. As of August 2024, the average monthly retirement benefit from Social Security for retired workers was $1,920.48.

Whether you receive that amount, or more, or less, can depend on a number of factors, including your employment and earnings history and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:the age at which you retire. The earliest you can begin taking Social Security retirement benefits is age 62, but claiming benefits early reduces the amount you’re entitled to receive. Delaying benefits until age 70, on the other hand, can allow you to claim an increased benefit amount. (There's no incentive for delaying past age 70.)

If you’re retiring with no savings, it may be to your advantage to wait as long as possible to take Social Security benefits. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Calc♔ulating your estima𓃲ted retirement benefit at different ages can help yo൲u determine when the timing may be right to apply for Social Security.𒐪

According to the SSA, Social Security benefits typically account for a replacement rate of roughly 40% of a retiree’s previous working income, but it is commonly accepted that a replacement rate of roughly 80% is adequate for retirement income from all sources. So how do you make up that 40%?

Stick to a Budget

Making a retirement budget is essential if 💎you have little to no money saved. Having a budget can help you track where your money is going and avoid overspending.

When making a budget for retirement, it’s good to consider where you can slash spending if you anticipate having limited income. You can start with the largest expenses first, which are usually housing and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:healthcare, then wo♋rk your way down the list ✨to look for areas where you may be able to cut back.

For instance, if housing costs take up a sizable part of your income, you might be ꦜable to reduce those expenses by:💛

• Downsizing to a smaller home or moving to an area with a lower 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost of living
• Renting out part of your home, either on a temporary or permanent basis
• Selling your home and moving in with one of your children, a sibling, or another relative
• 澳洲幸运5官方꧂开奖结果体彩网:Mov🧸ing to an all-inclusive retirement community that bundles utilities, maintenance, and other homeownership costs into the purchase price

The more cuts you can make, the better off you’ll be when retiring with nothing in the bank.

Apply for Government Benefits

Government programs can help to offset some of your cost of living in retirement if you have little or no money saved. There are several government programs for which you may be able to qualify if y♎ou have limited financial resources, including:

• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Supplemental N🎀utrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Medicaid
• Medicare
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Eligibility requirements for each program vary but can be based on age, disability status, income, and assets. For example, SSI is available to individuals who are 65 or older and have limited income and financial resources. Medicare eligibility is based on age only: you can apply when you turn 65.

If you’re unsure of the kind of government benefits for which you might qualify, you can contact your local Department of Social Services. Someone there should be able to tell you the programs for which you may be eligible and how to apply.

Get a Part-Time Job or Side Hustle

If you’re contemplating retirement with no savings, then you may need to find ways to make more money. Getting a part-time job or startinꦺg a side hustle are two ways to earn money in your spare time without being locked into a full-time position.

Examples of possible side hustles that you might start inꦛ retirement include:

• Walking dogs or pet sitting
• Babysitting
• Selling homemade baked goods
• Getting paid to run errands or do odd jobs for neighbors

Remember that if you’re earning money from side hustles, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) still expects you to report that income on your taxes. If you have more than $400 in earnings from side hustles or self-employment for the year, you’ll have to report it as taxable income.

Ways to Avoid Retiring With No Money

If you fear that you will have to retire without any savings but haven’t yet actually gotten there, there are things you can try to prevent that scenario. They may include:

Pay Off Debt

Retiring with debt is not uncommon. According to a Clever Real Estate survey, in 2024, retirees had an average of $15,393 in debt, excluding mortgage debt but including credit cards, medical bills, car payments, and personal loans. According to the Federal Student Aid Portfolio Summary, borrowers age 50 or older accounted for 25.16% of total student loan debt of $1.63 trillion in 2023.

How you go about paying down debt can depend on what you owe and how much money you have to commit to debt 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:repayment. Some of the options include:

• Credit card balance transfers
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Debt consolidation
• Using a home equity loan or a home equity line of credi🌠t (HELOC) to pay off debt
• Federal 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:student loan consolidation
• Private 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:student loan refinancing

If you’re having trouble getting a grip on debt, you might want to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体🍌彩网:talk to a certified credit counseꦦlor or debt counselor. They can review your budget and debt to offer solutions for dealing with it, which may include enrolling in a debt management plan, negotiating debt to pay less than what’s owed, or, in extreme cases, filing for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bankruptcy.

Increase Your Income

If you need more money but feel stuck at your current ౠpay level, there are steps you can take to increase your income. These include:

• Ask for a raise. Be smart and check comparable salaries to yours. If you are on the low end, make sure that your employer knows it.
• Look for a new job. Sometimes there is little room for advancement where you work, while moving to a different employer could open up the corporate ladder.
• Go back to school. If you improve your credentials, you might be able to increase your earning power.
• Get a second job. There are plenty of part-time opportunities out there, from waiting tables to gig work.
• Turn your expertise into cash. If you have a deep knowledge about a subject people want to learn about, you could use it to teach or tutor part-time.
• Turn a hobby into a business. You may have a passion that you can turn into a marketable sideline online or in person, such as a local fair, a farmer’s market, or a consignment booth.

Utilize Your Workplace Plan

If your employer offers a retirement plan, it’s to your advantage to make the most of it during your working years. Among private industry workers, 69% have access to a retirement plan at work. Those include both 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:defined-contribution plans, such as a 401(k), and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:defined-benefit plans, such as a pension.

Saving in a 401(k) can help you head into retirement with some money in hand, especially if you’re contributing enough to get the full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:employer match if one is offered. With pension plans, your benefit amount is typically determined by how many years 🔯you worked for your employer and your income in your highest-earning years.

If your employer offers a 401(k) and you’re not yet enrolled, sign up and start making contributions once you have paid off any high-interest debt. If your current employer doesn’t offer one, ask if the company would consider changing that. If not, you might want to consider moving to a new company that does, as 401(k) plans are quite common. If your employer doesn’t offer a pension, though, it’s highly unlikely that you can do anything about that or find a new employer that does. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Pensions have largely gone the way of th𓄧e dodo.

Invest Your Money

Once you are able to start saving, think about investing that money instead of just saving it. When you invest money, you’re putting it into the market, where it can earn a higher 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:rate of return than in a savings account. Both saving and investing can allow you to capitalize on the power of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:compounding interest, though at different rates.

How can you i🌳nvest money for retirement? Your options include:

• Contributing to a 401(k) at work
• Opening a traditional or Roth indi☂vidual retirement account (IRA)
• Investing through a taxable 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:brokerage account
• Purchasing 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:real estate as an investment property
• Buying an annuity to get a regular income stream

The most important thing to remember about investing is that it almost always involves some degree of risk. Certain investments tend to be riskier than others. For example, trading cryptocurrency is generally riskier than investing in municipal bonds, as the latter is backed by the issuing municipality while the former is not.

Considering your personal 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:risk tolerance, goals, and timeline until you plan to retire can help you decide what approach to take when investing. You may also benefit from talking to a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financial advisor or an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investment advisor if you need more sꦯpecific gu🧸idance on where to invest.

You Can Also Delay Retirement

Whether you feel that you still haven’൩t saved enough money for a comfo💛rtable retirement or have no savings at all, there’s one more thing you can do: wait to retire.

Delaying your retirement date may not be ideal, and for so💛me people, it might not be realistic. For example, if you have a serious health issue that’s making it difficult to keep up with the demands of your job, then an earlier-than-expected✨ retirement could be inevitable.

However, if you’re able to put off retire♋ment, it can give you more time to save and invest. And as mentioned, waiting longer to retire and claim Social Security could result in a larger benefit amount.

The Bottom Line

Retiring with no money may not be an ideal situation, especially if you’re dreaming of a particular type of lifestyle. If you♌ have little to no money saved and your retirement is nearing, it’s important to start planning sooner rather than later.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Find🔴ing a financial planner oꦯr advisor to work with you can make coming up with a realistiꦚc plan for retiring with scant savings easier.💯