How To Find and Maximize Your Social Security Payout

Written by in Retirement
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In an efort to save money, the Social Secuity Administration has suspended its mailing of annual benefit statements. You can still get estimated retirement benefits online by visiting ssa.gov/estimator.

I just went on and found out that their system isn’t working at the moment, so I used their social security estimator, which is weak because I don’t know how much I’ll earn in future years, but based on the information I gave it (the same salary each year from now until I retire), I can expect about $2,000 each month in today’s dollars if I retire in just 43 years (woohoo can’t wait!)

OK, so that’s great, but with social security being the way it is, I’m not going to write that amount down in pen yet. I’ll wait to see what the future holds while funding my retirement accounts any way I can.

For people who are a little closer to retirement age than I am, there are some really interesting decisions to be made. These involve the decision about how and when each spouse should claim benefits, and the difference could be enormous.

The reason there could be differences is that by claiming benefits at age 62, benefits will be reduced by 25% for the rest of your life. By waiting until 70, benefits won’t start for an additional 4 years, but they will be 132% of the amount you would receive at the standard retirement age.

With spouses, there are combinations that will maximize benefits and others that will result in losing money. In order to find out which route you and your spouse should take, check out Social Security Timing, an online social security tool that simplifies these decisions for you. It can should just how much money is at stake and you may be surprised to find that this “simple” decision could earn you an additional $50,000 or more over the course of your lifetime.

Readers, go use the tool and let me know how much is at stake for you!

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Summer DIY That Will Boost Your Bank Balance

Written by in Money
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This article was written by Andreas Nicolaides, a personal finance and money saving author for MoneySupermarket.com.

Summertime is upon us and what better time to get all of the work that is needed around your home and garden done?

Not only that, why not benefit your bank balance as well by doing it yourself? Although many people cringe at the thought, it is surprising how many regular, but straightforward, maintenance jobs there are that you can easily carry out yourself.

Doing certain work yourself will not only save money on expenses, such as paying contractors, but will also add value to your property in the long term scheme of things.

Admittedly, materials, tools, cleaning products and garden items still have a cost, but by being astute and using a credit card for any necessary purchases, this can be kept to a minimum, particularly if you take out a 0% interest card and make a balance transfer.

Sale items and other bargains can be purchased throughout the year as they come up. Always use a credit card for payment, make a balance transfer as needed and there should be no interest to pay.

Some of the most common tasks, which are not only necessary, but can easily be carried out by anyone (with a little bit of forethought), are detailed below.

Outside: Routine maintenance of gardens including lawns, plant care, weeding, conserving and cleaning of decking, outbuildings or patios can easily be built into your weekly schedule. Perhaps think of it as exercise once a week to replace a potentially expensive trip to the gym?

Other outside maintenance, such as painting boundary fences, checking the function of gates, removing leaves or other debris from outside drains and all of the guttering around the house will certainly pay dividends when the weather turns sour. All of these tasks are worth doing bi-annually.

Filling/Painting: We are all guilty of ignoring fingerprints, grubby marks, scuffs and other minor damage which seem to appear on our walls as a result of every day living.

Imagine the cost of employing a professional decorator to carry out minor repairs and repaint just one room of your house. For the same amount, you could most likely do the same around the whole house.

Cleaning: Not suggesting for a minute that regular cleaning is not being done, deep cleaning is a whole new ball game.

It offers the opportunity for a really close inspection of your entire property, a time to spot tiny problems (such as minor leaks from pipe work) which could become serious if left unattended.

Drains: Even if not showing signs of blockage, drains need regular maintenance. Using a proprietary cleaning agent a couple of times each year can prevent expensive bills caused by unexpected build-ups.

Overall: Regular, thorough cleaning, maintenance and upkeep of your property are vital to maintain its optimum value. There is no need to be an expert in any specific field, just common sense and doing jobs you would maybe have considered employing others to do could save you a very worthwhile amount every year.

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I’m Breaking Up With SmartyPig

Written by in Banking, Saving
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If you didn’t know, I have been a big fan of SmartyPig for quite awhile now. They’ve had great rates, which is the main reason I signed up. They had rates about .70 percentage points higher than other banks. I also occasionally put some money on Amazon gift cards because when I had some larger purchases, a free 4% bonus never hurts!

There are some drawbacks, however. It takes awhile to withdraw money, they have some weird rules like having to close a goal before withdrawing money and having to make regular contributions toward a goal. It’s a little hassle, but for the good interest rate, it was worth it, right?

Well, SmartyPig used to have good interest rates, but recently they’ve made some changes. Effective June 15th, SmartyPig will be decreasing their rates to 1.10%, over 1 percentage point less than the 2.15% Smartypig raised their rates to just a year ago.

Suddenly, SmartyPig is looking more like a hassle than anything else. Instead of being able to offset the negative aspects, the negatives outweigh the positives at this point. I hated waiting so long for my money to be withdrawn (about 10 days) and now 1.10% is barely higher than my other alternative, putting it in my ING savings account, which gives 1.00%.

The ING account is linked to my checking, so depositing and withdrawing money can happen instantly. No waiting, no hassles. It’s great!

I knew that I shouldn’t stuff every cent into my savings, and this is simply an extension of that. Small, temporary gains, aren’t worth the hassle!

I’m out of SmartyPig, are you?

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Honeymoon Ideas for under $1,500

Written by in Budget
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The following is a post from staff writer Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting in the fun stuff along the way.

In honor of Daniel and his new fiancee, Lauren, I thought it would be fun to get together some affordable ideas for their honeymoon.  My husband and I just recently celebrated our 6th anniversary, so I actually consulted with him on great honeymoons that could be had for less than $1,500.

Affordable Honeymoon #1 – Las Vegas

Mr. BFS and I went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon in 2005 for about $1150, which included the two shows we saw, all of the food, the bus fares, and our gambling as well.  It is more expensive now, but we are going back this summer for less than $1,500 ($2,000 if my husband takes some of his fun money for extra gambling).

The trick was finding a combo deal on the plane tickets and nights at a hotel.  The second trick was waiting to buy that deal on a Tuesday. The two round-trip tickets from Houston and 4 nights at a hotel on Fremont Street (our favorite strip) were $1,225 on a Sunday and $860 the following Tuesday. We also have bought tickets to see two great shows.  With food, the taxi rides, and any bus passes, we are looking at a grand total of $1,420 plus any gambling losses. If Daniel and Lauren can go when school is in session, they could even shave some money off of that!

Affordable Honeymoon #2 – A Cruise

Let me start by saying that cruises are one of the cheapest luxury vacations a person can take! My husband and I have been on two cruises so far – one 5 day trip and one 7 day trip. We have to travel during the most expensive seasons since my husband is a school librarian.  Even given that, cruises are pretty inexpensive overall. They run us $1200-$1500 for the tickets and shore excursions and extra if we splurge on souvenirs like art.

The tickets include your room and all of your food unless you splurge at an on-board high-class restaurant.  You even get served like royalty in a dining room every night if you wish for absolutely nothing extra (well, we tip really well!). In the off-season, Daniel and Lauren could get tickets on a 7 day cruise for less than $600 total! Then the rest of my made-up $1500 budget could be funneled into awesome shore excursions, alcohol, and a nice one-night restaurant dinner splurge. Even if they can’t drive to a departure port (Galveston) like my husband and I can, I bet they can still find some cheap plane tickets in the off-season too.

Affordable Honeymoon #3 – Local Hotspots

If the budget is a bit tighter than $1,500, local hotspots can be turned into inexpensive but awesome trips! A bed and breakfast right outside of a city can be super romantic for $500 or less. If Daniel and Lauren are outdoorsy (the opposite of Mr. BFS and me), they could drive to the closest state or national park and spend an entire week camping or renting a cabin for $200-$1,000 depending on what they choose. They could even simply rent a hotel room at one of the swankier place and stay under my made-up budget. Staying local simply saves on travel expenses, which is usually the most costly part of the honeymoon.

No matter what they choose, I wish Daniel and Lauren the best!

What other inexpensive vacation or honeymoon ideas do you have?

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