6 Ways Retirees Can Maximize Their Savings Without Leaving the House

Emily Green

Sat, Nov 30, 2024, 5:00 AM 4 min read

Making money or stretching your dollar in retirement may take some time and motivation, but there are several options available to retirees looking to make the most of their savings. Boosting the effectiveness of your savings in retirement is easier than ever, and the best part is that you may not have to leave your house to maximize your savings or even increase your monthly income.

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Give your budgeting goals a little attention in preparation for the holidays and explore the following ways to improve your financial wellness and even develop new income streams in retirement.

Delay Collecting Social Security

If you’re on the verge of retiring, consider holding off on collecting your Social Security benefit to score a larger monthly payout, if you can.

Utilizing your other savings to fund your living expenses in retirement for the first few years can require serious financial discipline, but retirees who wait until age 70 to begin receiving Social Security checks are likely to appreciate a little extra cushion in their monthly income.

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Plan a Monthly Budget

In retirement, it may be helpful to get back into the practice of maintaining a monthly budget to ensure you’re living within your means — especially if your goal is to stretch your savings.

Start small by setting a limit for how much you can spend on non-necessities like eating out and shopping. Then start working down the list of monthly expenses to see where there may be more fat to trim. Increasing your awareness of where your money is going day to day can fortify your budgeting instincts as you start to notice spending habits that could be draining your savings.

Monetize a Hobby

You may have a skill or craft that you could use to pick up some extra income in retirement. Digital marketplaces on websites like Etsy and Facebook Marketplace have made it easier and more affordable than ever to reach interested buyers without leaving home.

With a little investment in marketing your craft items or skills online, and research into how and where to list them for sale, you could turn your lifelong hobby into a post-retirement money-maker.

Sell Valuable Belongings

Over the years, you may have picked up a few items and collectibles that have increased in value. Take a look around your home and in dusty boxes of family heirlooms to see if there are items you don’t need that may be worth selling to the right buyer.

Contact a local collector or vintage items expert to gather information on how much your collectibles may fetch on the market. And, like monetizing a hobby, you may be able to use the same digital marketplaces to list your items.

Monetizing a hobby and selling belongings might both involve leaving home a little — to mail items to a buyer, for example — but can be done mostly from home.

Become a Landlord

Buying and maintaining residential rental properties can be a great way to maximize your retirement savings, provided you have cash on hand to deal with any unexpected repairs. With a little time and financial investment, you can even pay someone else to manage the property while you use any income generated from rent payments to add some wiggle room to your budget in retirement.

Consider Some Lower-Risk Investments

You may have invested in a retirement savings vehicle like a 401(k) throughout your career, but that isn’t the only way investments can benefit you in retirement. If you have some liquid savings that you can set aside, there are a few ways to increase your investment by several percentage points over a set period.

Certificates of deposit are a dependable and low-risk way to boost your income as a retiree. Investing in a CD allows you to put aside some of your savings for a set period of time with the guarantee that you’ll receive that money plus the agreed-upon interest when it matures. If interest rates are currently low or you prefer to keep your savings liquid, it may also be a good idea to explore high-yield savings accounts as an alternative option.
Bonds are generally low risk compared to stocks and can provide steady income for retirees looking to maximize their savings. Investing a chunk of your savings into a bond fund offers you the comfort of a diversified portfolio of bonds, with the main distinguishers being the issuer and the bond term length.

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