(upbeat music) <v ->Hi, I'm Janae Wheeler, and I'll be your host.</v> We often get questions from retirees about their finances and AARP is here to help. Stick with us for the answers to these and more from our finance and money experts. The content is intended as general guidance, not specific legal or financial advice. So please consult a financial advisor for any specific guidance according to your individual situation. Many people rely on Social Security for most, if not all, of their retirement income. What are some financial tips for retirees living exclusively on Social Security with little to no other income? <v ->If you're living on Social Security alone,</v> you're going to have to keep a close eye on your budget. You're going to have to add up all your expenses every month. Make sure you have enough money in your budget to pay for everything, and you also have to include a little bit each month to make sure that when something big comes up, like property taxes or getting your car fixed, that you'll have enough money there without having to sacrifice other parts of your budget. Another thing you can do is to look for getting a little more income. For example, you could get a part-time job, if that's possible, or you could get a roommate, which would help with your mortgage costs or your housing costs and, you know, help around the house. Another thing to do is to look for government benefits that can help you. One good place to start is benefitscheckup.org, which lets you check all your possible benefits and make sure that you can get all that you're entitled to. You can look for a SNAP, which is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It used to be known as food stamps. That will give you a little extra money for your groceries. You can get supplemental income energy help from LIHEAP and you can also get help with Medicare and Medicaid. So be sure you check all those programs, and they'll all help you get through if you're living on Social Security alone. <v ->Social Security is part of most people's retirement income</v> but some also have additional funds from a 401k, pension, or IRA, what are some financial tips for people with both Social Security and other retirement savings? <v ->So let's start with using the right pot of money first.</v> So, as we mentioned, you have Social Security retirement, you have retirement funds, you may have a pension, you may have a Roth or traditional IRA. So we want to know, which money should we touch first? And then, do I tap into my savings or do I withdraw from Social Security? This really becomes a bit of a balancing act when we're trying to figure out what to touch first and getting it right is so important for our retirement lifestyle. Also look into to converting your traditional retirement savings into a Roth. This will have some tax implications, but it becomes really important over time. It's something to consider. You may want to do it, you may not. But, when you have a Roth, you get to avoid things like required minimum distributions. Now, also, another thing to think about is running those numbers and then seeking a financial professional. At any point within retirement, you may want first or second opinion when it comes to looking at your retirement numbers, what you have saved, and what you want to touch, and when you want to touch it. And that professional opinion's going to be very important for just making sure that you're getting it right. <v ->People are retiring at different ages</v> and are either too young to claim Social Security or are delaying it to increase their benefit, what are some financial tips for those that have retirement savings accounts but have not yet claimed Social Security? <v ->Well, the first thing</v> is to put off claiming Social Security as long as you can. You get an 8% raise for each year that you do not claim up until age 70. So, as long as you can put it off, do so. You'll get a better pension for a longer period of time. And, remember, that's adjusted for inflation too. So it's extremely good benefit. And so the more you get, the better off you're going to be. Another thing you should do is to pay down your debts. If you have a credit card that's earning 17% for the bank, if you pay it off, that's earning 17% for you. It's the same thing. It's an equivalent. So make sure that you pay off your debts, particularly your mortgage, which is a big, big payment. And, if you don't have that, that's a lot of money that you'll have for your own spending. Remember that you're gonna be in retirement for 30 years or more. And so you need a plan, things to do, and things to keep you interested and happy. Golf is not an answer. I mean, you can do some golf, but you're not gonna golf every day. And so you need something else to keep your mind occupied and keep yourself happy and healthy. If you have questions about any of these things, about how to get your retirement money, how much you need, how much you're going to be able to spend, seek a financial professional, get some help. There's no shame in that. <v ->What do retirees need to know about withdrawal planning?</v> <v ->So, in retirement,</v> one of the most important things to know is the 4% rule. So this is what experts say that, if you were able to just pull 4% of your income, I'm sorry, of your accumulated assets in retirement, then you'll have enough to comfortably withstand your entire retirement financially. So you start with just 4% withdrawal, and then you can start to adjust that up or down based on your lifestyle or inflation each year. Now, also, when it comes to your income and thinking about all the things that you have to pay for, so you look at your expenses and how much do you need to cover your fixed expenses first, so you can prepare your income in a way that you have what covers your fixed expenses. And then decide what else do I need to cover, what are those other things that are gonna come along, and that's where the budgeting process is going to help you significantly. Now the other thing, make sure that you have six to 12 months' worth of your money in safe assets. So this is gonna be a money fund, or you may just have it in a savings account but you know that I can reach this money and, regardless of the ebbs and flows of the market, you have this money available. And then, lastly, make sure that you remember those taxes so you know when it comes to your funds, if you had a 100K in retirement, that's gonna be more like 80K after you've paid taxes on that money. And one more bonus tip: use the online calculator. So you have calculators like AARP's retirement calculator, or you can just go to aarp.org/moneytools and look at all of the different tools that you can use. <v ->Thank you to our finance and money experts</v> for sharing all of this great information. To get the latest financial news and expert advice on money management to budget effectively, spend wisely, build a nest egg, and live well in retirement, check out this website. For additional information about other money topics and resources, visit learn.aarp.org/money to access the Your Questions Answered tool. You can browse frequently asked questions, and if you don't see what you're looking for, you can submit a question of your very own. Volunteer certified financial planner professionals from the Foundation for Financial Planning will answer every question submitted with a personalized response within 10 days via a private email. Thanks for watching.

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