Social Security and the income gap
For most retirees Social Security is a base, not the whole income. Your personal estimate is in your my Social Security account (SSA), and the age you claim changes the monthly amount.
Find your gap
- Check your benefit estimate at the age you plan to claim.
- List your expected monthly spending.
- The difference is what savings and investments need to pay.
Taxes on benefits and on investment income
Up to 85% of benefits can be federally taxable depending on your total income (SSA), and some states tax them too. Investment income adds to that total, so the type of income matters. IncomeGrid ranks every item by yield after tax for where you live: federal, state and each investment type (Treasuries, municipal bonds, corporate bonds, funds, REITs and filed offerings are each taxed differently).
Fill the gap
IncomeGrid has 40,000+ investment options screened – Treasuries, bonds, funds, REITs and filed offerings – with risk levels 1–5.
Sources
- Social Security Administration – Retirement benefits
- SSA – my Social Security account
- SSA – Income taxes and your Social Security benefit
More guides
- Turning your 401(k) into income
- How to keep your money ahead of inflation
- Car loan or pay cash: a simple comparison
- CD rates: how they compare with the alternatives
- Annuities and the alternatives for steady income
- Alternatives to a high-yield savings account
- Saving for a house: where to keep the down payment
- Where to invest retirement money for monthly income
- Dividend income compared with other income investments
- Money market funds and accounts explained
- What to do with side hustle income
- Passive income from investments
- Treasury bills, notes and I bonds
- Real estate income without buying property
- Saving for college: 529 plans and the alternatives
- Stocks and income investments
- The stock market and steady income
- Adding income to a Nasdaq-heavy portfolio
- What to invest in: the main options
- How to invest: first steps
- Gold versus income investments
- The S&P 500 and income
- Bonds explained
- Income investments in a Roth IRA
- Pay down the mortgage or invest?
- Investment and compound interest calculator
- Dividend ETFs: how they work
- Emergency fund: where to keep it
- Early retirement: turning savings into income
- Asset allocation and risk versus return
- Alternative income investments open to everyone
- Where to invest money
- Compare investment returns side by side
- High-yield income investments
- Investments that pay monthly
- Where to find the highest interest rates
- Best interest rate accounts: savings and beyond
- Municipal bonds and tax-free income
- Tax-equivalent yield, explained simply
- Yield vs interest rate: the difference
- High-yield bonds explained
- Safer investments with higher yields
- Best yield investments, by risk level
- How to build a bond ladder
- Investments that pay interest
- How much interest will my money earn?
- Find income investments
- Example income portfolios
- Yields around the world
- Method and sources