How to Maximize Your Retirement Income

Finding real world advice on how to maximize our retirement income isn't easy. Too much of that advice begins with the false assumption that we have savings or investments that can boost our retirement income simply through better investment strategies. That sort of advice is useless for millions of retirees living from one social security check to the next and whose only real asset may be a mortgage-free home. The reality is, among older workers ages 55 to 64, three out of four live in households with retirement savings of zero to $56,000, according to a 2002 congressional study. For the vast majority of Americans, it seems, maximizing our retirement income depends entirely upon finding ways to minimize our expenses. More and more retirees are finding that the easiest and most immediate way to minimize their expenses is via relocation to areas with a lower cost of living. The advice for this retirement migration could be, "Go South, old man!"

The Dallas Morning News reported that as many as one million U.S. citizens now live in Mexico; drawn there by a superior standard of living on their limited U.S. dollars. They found affordable housing that is less expensive to maintain, high quality and low cost medical and dental care, huge savings on their prescription drugs, a smaller tax burden, and substantial savings on things like health and casualty insurance. Consider how much further your retirement dollar can go where a dental visit is just $15 and your water, electricity, and telephone bills combined will average $75 per month. How about a haircut for $4 or maid services for $5 per day? It's easy to see Mexico's major attraction for one million U.S. retirees.