5 Tips to Avoid Running Out of Money in Your Retirement

It’s tough to know exactly how much you need for retirement. Experts vary in this calculation. It ranges from 70 percent of your working income during your non-working years to general advice about how much to put away — 6 percent of your income to start, gradually working up to 15 percent.

But by establishing a goal for yourself, you can better gauge whether you are on track. Then you can assess whether you need to increase your account contributions as you get closer to retirement.

Since retirement funds are so important, it’s tempting to invest conservatively. While this gives you greater assurance you’ll get back at least what you put in, you lose out on the opportunities of riskier investments.

Talk to a financial advisor about creating a diverse portfolio that gives you security as well as the chance to make higher returns. You can even get started today, online, by using one of the best online investing sites.

You have the option to take social security beginning as early as age 62, but can wait until as late as age 70. Putting off withdrawals means a higher monthly benefit. As many people are already working into their sixties anyway, it’s usually not too great a burden to stay on the clock for a few more years.

If you don’t already have a frugal lifestyle, try it out to see what retirement might be like. That gives you the opportunity to realistically assess what some of your expenses might be — maybe you can’t live on as little as you think you can. In the meantime, the experiment should give you a bit more cash in the bank.

Retirement is well into the future. It’s essential to look ahead, but you can’t plan for every possible scenario. Be diligent with your savings and stay on track with your financial plan. Sometimes, overthinking your portfolio can cause you to make huge changes, when the most sensible thing is to just stay the course.