5 Common but Avoidable Retirement Mistakes
The moves you make leading up to retirement could dictate how well you fare financially as a senior. But if you fall victim to the following blunders, you may find yourself cash-strapped and unhappy once your time in the workforce comes to an end. Thankfully, these mistakes are easily avoidable -- if you educate yourself on how to steer clear of them.
Your Social Security benefits are calculated based on how much you earned during your 35 highest-paid years in the workforce, and you can claim that monthly benefit in full once you reach full retirement age. That age is either 66, 67, or somewhere in between, depending on your year of birth. However, you're allowed to claim Social Security before reaching full retirement age, and doing so might seem like a good idea, since it means getting your hands on your money sooner. But for each month you opt to collect Social Security before reaching full retirement age, your monthly benefit gets reduced, up to a maximum of 30%.
Want to avoid a hit on benefits? Commit your full retirement age to memory and wait until you reach it to file for Social Security. It's as simple as that.
Source Fool.com
