Are you a baby boomer looking to retire soon? Do you know how much you can expect to receive from Social Security when you retire? It’s a good idea to check how much you can expect to receive each month as you approach retirement so you can get an idea of where you can afford to retire.
Maybe you will be able to move overseas to beautiful Spain or Italy, learn a new language, start a second career, start a small business you have always dreamed of, or just travel the world.
Or maybe you can stay closer to home and move closer to the grandkids and spoil them as you have been meaning to do. You can spend more time with them and go to grandparents day at their school so you can see what they are learning in school.
Knowing your estimated Social Security benefits can help you make these key decisions as you approach retirement age.
Who knows, maybe you will get enough benefits to live in some of the best places to retire around the world.
Here is where you want to go to get started:
- Social Security Retirement Planner:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/
“This planner provides detailed information about your Social Security retirement benefits under current law. It also points out things you may want to consider as you prepare for the future.”
- Social Security Retirement Estimator:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator/
“The Retirement Estimator gives estimates based on your actual Social Security earnings record. Please keep in mind that these are just estimates”
These two sites can help you know what to expect as you get closer to retiring.
What to do if your estimated retirement benefits are not as high as you would like? You can keep working and delaying your benefits til a later date. This will allow you to increase your benefits the longer you put off taking them.
Or you can take your monthly Social Security check and find a second career in a beautiful tropical Latin American country like Costa Rica or Panama. You could become an ESL teacher. You could become a travel writer to supplement your income.
There are many ways you can supplement your retirement benefits online so you can afford to retire anywhere in the world. It will not be easy. But it will be worth it if you can wake up each morning with a beautiful sunrise in your backyard.
Keep in mind that the cost of living in South America or Central America is usually much lower than the United States so even if you have a smaller Social Security benefit than you expected you may be able to live comfortably down south. These are countries where you can afford to retire cheap.