How to Maximize Your Social Security Payout   

by Steve Vernon, FSA

One of the smartest things you can do to prepare for your retirement is to make your Social Security income as large as possible by delaying benefits for as long as you can (but no later than age 70). Seems simple, right? Unfortunately, according to the Social Security Administration, about half of all Americans start Social Security at age 62, the earliest possible age with the lowest income; nearly three-quarters of Americans start before their full retirement age (FRA).

Read here to see why it makes sense to postpone starting your Social Security benefits.

Please keep reading for this month's selection of helpful blog posts and articles on retirement.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) recently released its 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey, and the results are quite depressing. But being an optimist, my natural inclination was to dig deeper into the report to find some helpful insights, and I was successful in finding four suggestions that can help increase your retirement confidence. Read on to find out what those tips are.

Taking Stock: Don't Be the "Dumb Money"

CBS MoneyWatch blogger Allan Roth has been known to harp on the fact that it's impossible to predict the stock market. Yet something he can predict is arguably even more illuminating -- how investors behave. Let's take a brief stroll down memory lane and look at what some of this behavior tells us about the market. 

Two stock market crashes, one financial crisis, and three Ponzi schemes (Madoff, Stanford, Petters) later, it's understandable that consumers are bewildered when it comes to selecting a financial advisor. To help you with this task, CBS MoneyWatch Editor-at-Large Jill Schlesinger offers 10 questions to ask any potential financial advisor, broker, or insurance salesman.

Less than four years after the U.S. economy ground to a halt, U.S. equity prices are reaching new heights. Read here for an insightful analysis from CBS MoneyWatch blogger Allan Roth.

Women, it's time to take charge of your retirement planning! That's the strong message we're getting from the third brief in the Society of Actuaries (SOA) research series, Managing Retirement Decisions. Read here for five steps women can take to make their retirement more secure.

U.S. Retirees Move, But Not Very Far    

Relocation in retirement often brings cross-country or big north-south moves to mind, but very few seniors actually go very far. There can be big advantages to near-by moves in retirement, as Mark Miller of RetirementRevised reveals.

You've done a good job building your 401(k), and retirement isn't far off. The question now: how to make sure that nest egg generates sufficient income to sustain you through a retirement that might last two or three decades.

For years, retirement income has been something of a holy grail for retirement experts who worry about longevity - the risk that you will outlive your money. One solution is the income annuity. Read here for a preceptive post from Mark Miller of RetirementRevised.

Financial fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission quadrupled during the past decade and are up 35 percent in the past three years alone, according to The Rise of Financial Fraud, a recent brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Read on for tips on how to fight back.

Need motivation to stop wasting money and save more for retirement? Here are two short videos produced by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research that dramatize the importance of preparing financially for the future by exploring the challenges -- and regrets -- facing today's retirees.