How to Boost Your Retirement When Social Security Only Covers 40%

Hoping Social Security will keep you afloat in retirement? Prepare to be disappointed. For the average worker who waits until Full Retirement Age (FRA) to claim benefits, Social Security replaces only about 40% of working income. You'll get even less if you start collecting your benefits early.

That fact leaves you with two basic strategies for retirement. You could figure out how to cut your living expenses by 60% to live on Social Security alone. If that sounds enormously unpleasant -- and it should -- you can take the alternate path, which involves boosting your retirement with other sources of income. Here are three steps to get you started.

Your retirement readiness plan should include some cost-cutting measures, and sooner rather than later. Start by creating a budget that reduces your current living expenses by 5% or 10%. You'll take the savings and funnel them into your retirement account.

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Source Fool.com