The average age for retirement in the United States is about 63, the year after most Americans qualify to take Social Security.
Some people spend a lifetime waiting for retirement, only to realize they can’t afford it or didn’t plan for it properly.
They say life is short, but life can feel really really long if you make the wrong decision. Even when you are old.
Here are a few reasons why you should delay retirement.
More Social Security
If you are working class or living paycheck-to-paycheck, then you have to live on a fixed income retirement in the future. And that means you may have to live on an extreme budget and pinch every penny.
And one way to may your money stretch longer before and after retirement is to delay the initiation of your Social Security benefits. If you delay the start of your Social Security Benefits until age 70 you can receive 132% of your benefits.
You could work in the meantime and watch your budget.
Fewer retirement years to budget for
A retirement fund is a post-working lifestyle account that is supposed to last you until the end of your life. And while it is hard to confront our own mortality, it’s true; if you retire, then you should have enough money to last you until the day you die.
Most Americans are financially unable to prepare for retirement or don’t have enough money saved.
If you retire at age 63, then your retirement fund should last you for 10 to 20 years. However, the reality is that the average person is lucky if they live to their mid-70s.
If you do live into your 80s or 90s, you may outlive your own retirement fund.
Work for as long as you can and your retirement window will shorten on your terms.
More time to save
If you don’t make a lot of money, then it can be hard to save money. And while we all know that we need to do it, the cost of living, inflation, and financial emergencies can make it nearly impossible.
But how much money you save is not as important as the act itself. Get into the habit of saving money, even if it is a few bucks weekly.
If you are saving money all the while you’re delaying retirement, then you will at least have an appreciable financial buffer when you do retire.
A chance at better health
As you are delaying your impending retirement, you may want to take every opportunity to take care of your health.
Medicare does not offer comprehensive health care coverage. Life insurance only gets more prohibitively expensive as you age. The average retired couple could spend as much as $315,000, and even more, in health care costs throughout the entirety of retirement.
The point is that the only thing you’ll probably won’t be able to afford in retirement is healthcare
As long as you are delaying retirement, strategize affordable ways to maintain your health.
Consult and network with every medical school and college in your region. Don’t expect free help, but such places may discount service.
There are also many directories that list medical clinics, dentists, and doctors who offer free, low-cost, and sliding-scale fees based on your ability to pay:
You have many options to take care of yourself as you age, so take them. Why enter old age in need of quality health care if you don’t need to?
