Purposeful Money

Claiming at 62 isn't a mistake if you know this 👇

Early Social Security gets a bad reputation, but for women in the middle of a life transition, it can actually be a smart move.

Career change, caregiving, downsizing, winding down: bringing in that income can ease the pressure on your portfolio while you navigate what comes next.

And here's what most people don't realize: claiming early doesn't have to be permanent in the way you might think.

Once you reach full retirement age, you can voluntarily suspend your benefits and start earning delayed retirement credits at 8% per year up to age 70.

You can't undo every early year, but you can rebuild from that point forward.

The real question isn't early vs. late. It's whether the timing fits your savings, your health, your tax situation, and the life you're actually planning.

Have you thought about when you'll claim? Drop your question in the comments. 👇

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Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.

Paying off your mortgage could cost you more 👀

Most people assume carrying a mortgage into retirement is a mistake. But the full picture is more complicated than that.

When you liquidate a large chunk of investments to pay off your home, you may trigger a tax bill that wipes out much of what you thought you were saving in interest. And depleting your savings in one move can leave you far more financially exposed than a monthly mortgage payment ever would.

There's also something worth considering: a fixed mortgage payment never goes up. In a retirement where costs seem to rise every year, that predictability can actually be a quiet advantage.

That doesn't mean keeping the mortgage is always right either. What it means is that this decision deserves more than a gut feeling.

Look at your tax bracket, your cash flow, and what paying it off actually costs you before you act. The numbers might tell a very different story than conventional wisdom does.

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Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.

Big Florida tax promise, but what's the catch? 👀

Governor DeSantis is pushing to raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $250,000 by 2028, with the stated goal of eventually eliminating homestead property taxes for Florida residents.

For retirees on a fixed income, that sounds like a headline worth celebrating. And it could be real savings, but there are two things you need to know first.

First: it still needs 60% voter approval on the November 2026 ballot. Nothing is final.

Second: property taxes fund the services you use every day. Schools, fire departments, first responders, and yes, mosquito control. If that revenue disappears, something fills the gap. Sales taxes could rise as high as 11 or 12%. Fees increase. Services shrink.

The savings on one line of your budget may quietly reappear as costs somewhere else.

Before you factor this into your retirement plan, wait to see what actually replaces the lost revenue. Smart planning looks at the whole picture, not just the headline.

What would this change mean for your retirement plan? Drop your question in the comments.

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Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.

Waiting on Social Security could mean 54% more per month 👀

That's the difference between claiming at 62 versus 70, and it shows up in every check, for the rest of your life.

But the real reason to wait isn't just about the math. It's about what that income might mean for you decades from now.

For women especially, longer lifespans shift the entire calculation. If you're living into your late 80s or 90s, a higher monthly benefit could be the income that keeps your retirement stable long after other sources have faded.

Here's the tradeoff: delaying only pays off if you live past the break-even point, which typically falls in your mid-70s. That means your health, your other income, and your full retirement picture all have to be part of the conversation.

Claiming early isn't automatically the wrong call. And waiting isn't automatically the smart one. The right answer depends entirely on your situation.

This is one decision that deserves a real look before you file. To sort through your own Social Security timing, book your Learn More Call through the link.

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Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.

Most women don't see this Social Security mistake coming 👀

And for some, it ends up costing tens of thousands of dollars across a long retirement.

There are three places where things tend to go sideways:

Claiming early feels like the safe move — but women tend to live longer, so a reduced monthly benefit doesn't just sting now. It compounds over 25 or 30 years into a much bigger gap than expected.

Spousal and survivor benefits follow their own rules entirely. Knowing when to claim your benefit versus your spouse's — or a late spouse's — is a separate conversation, and skipping it is one of the most common ways women leave real money unclaimed.

And the tax piece? Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable depending on your other income. Timing your claim without looking at your tax picture first is a mistake that's easy to make and hard to undo.

This isn't a small decision. It's one of the most important choices in your entire retirement plan — and it deserves a real strategy, not a guess.

Book a call through the link in bio to work through this together.

Privacy Policy and Disclosures/Terms of Use documents are linked in the website footer. Disclosures document URL: https://irp.cdn-website.com/0b5a1e75/files/uploaded/DISCLOSURES+-+TERMS+OF+USE+-+PURPOSEFUL+MONEY.pdf. Privacy Policy URL: https://irp.cdn-website.com/0b5a1e75/files/uploaded/Privacy-Policy-Updated.pdf. CFP® and Certified Financial Planner™ marks used with trademark symbols throughout.

Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.

Retirement questions that actually keep you up at night? 👀

For years, I answered them every week in a Sunday newspaper column. Now I'm bringing those same conversations here.

I'm Erin, a CFP® and founder of Purposeful Money.

The questions I focus on are the ones that actually matter when it's your money on the line:

What do you do with your 401(k) when you retire?
How do taxes really work once you stop working?
When should you claim Social Security?
What does "enough" actually look like?

No hype. No fear. No one-size-fits-all rules that sound smart but don't help you make your next decision.

Just practical, numbers-grounded thinking, the tradeoffs, and the "it depends" moments worth slowing down for.

If that sounds useful, follow along.

Privacy Policy and Disclosures/Terms of Use documents are linked in the website footer. Disclosures document URL: https://irp.cdn-website.com/0b5a1e75/files/uploaded/DISCLOSURES+-+TERMS+OF+USE+-+PURPOSEFUL+MONEY.pdf. Privacy Policy URL: https://irp.cdn-website.com/0b5a1e75/files/uploaded/Privacy-Policy-Updated.pdf. CFP® and Certified Financial Planner™ marks used with trademark symbols throughout.

Purposeful Money is a financial advisor.