One of the biggest fears that seniors have is will my money last throughout my retirement. That’s understandable, since we don’t know how long we’ll live, what our future costs might be and what kind of returns we can expect on our savings.

There are several ways, however, to boost the odds that your money will last as long as you need it. Among them:

1. Reduce your fixed Expenses

Lowering your fixed expense such as shelter, food, insurance, utilities and transportation can help you withdraw less from your savings which will help your money last longer.

One way to help reduce expenses all around is to downsize. They say when you become empty nesters that you don’t require the same square footage you required before. By downsizing, you are reducing or eliminating your mortgage payment and shrinking other costs such as property taxes, utilities and insurance.

2. Keep earning

A study shows that delaying social security from age 62 to age 66 can increase your income by 33%. That is a huge increase in your fixed income that will help your money last.

You don’t necessarily have to pickup a full-time job, even working part-time will help out with paying for fixed expenses.

3. Get good tax advice

Your tax situation can become more complicated in retirement, especially if you built up a nice size savings account over the years. You could be thrown into a higher tax bracket by required minimum distributions from retirement funds that typically must start at age 70 1/2. The higher income also can cause more of your Social Security to be taxable and raise your Medicare premiums. These are good problems to have because you have capital built up however it is still something to think about. Taking distributions from your investment vehicles like a Roth for example may be a good idea. Make sure to consult with a tax pro or financial adviser before making these decisions as everyone’s situation is different.

4. Protect your health

Retirement is supposed to be the time in our lives where we do most of our traveling and relaxation. To take advantage of these experiences, you need to be in good health. Having chronic medical conditions will not only deter you from being able to travel and relax, it can eat away at our retirement savings because of all the medical bills that will start to stack up. Make sure to take care of yourself as you get older and set yourself up with good quality Medigap coverage to go along with your Medicare to protect yourself from the unexpected medical expense. As we all know, we can’t predict the future and even us healthy individuals have unexpected medical circumstances come up.

Here at Next Level Benefits, we can help you find the right Medigap coverage to go along with your Original Medicare. We want to make sure that you protect yourself from the expected and unexpected medical costs. That last thing you want to do is spend your hard earned money from over the years on medical care. You should be spending it on vacations or spending time with your family. Give us a call and let us know how we can help.