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What happens if your investments are down just as you’re heading into retirement? The nest egg you’ve been building for decades could have taken a major hit, and pulling it out now locks in that loss. The advice to delay taking Social Security as long as possible can be good a strategy for people without other savings if they are still able to work. But if you have retirement savings and no employment income, taking Social Security early can give your investments time to rebound and give you a better quality of life in retirement.

Early Social Security claiming affects your monthly payment

If you were born after 1960, your full retirement age for Social Security benefits is 67, and you can take Social Security retirement as early as 62. Your monthly payment amount from Social Security is determined by what you’ve paid into the system through payroll taxes. To find out your personal monthly benefit at full retirement age — aka your Primary Insurance Amount — create a My Social Security account at ssa.gov. You get 70% of your monthly benefit at 62, 100% of your monthly benefit if you wait until 67, and 124% if you delay until age 70.

Break-even points for claiming Social Security

The conventional advice is to wait as long as possible to claim Social Security so you’ll get the increased benefit amount. In fact, you may get less over your lifetime if you hold off claiming benefits, depending on how long you live. Someone who delays claiming at 67 has to live to at least 78 and 8 months to get more over their lifetime than if they’d taken it at 62. Someone who waits until 70 has to live to at least 80 and four months to get more than if they’d taken it at 62. The chart below gives a breakdown of lifetime benefits based on the age you begin claiming benefits. If you claim at 62 If you claim at 67 If you claim at 70 Monthly benefit amount $1,400 $2,000 $2,480 Lifetime benefits by age 67 $84,000 (5 years at $1,400/month) $0 (haven’t claimed yet) $0 (haven’t claimed yet) Lifetime benefits by age 70 $134,400 (8 years at $1,400/month) $72,000 (3 years at $2,000/month) $0 (haven’t claimed yet) Lifetime benefits by age 78 $252,000 (15 years at $1,400/ month) $264,000 (11 years at $2,000/month) $238,080 (8 years at $2,480/month) Lifetime benefits by age 80 $302,400 (18 years at $1,400/month) $312,000 (13 years at $2,000/month) $297,600 (10 years at $2,480/month) Lifetime benefits by age 85 $386,400 (23 years at $1,400/month) $432,000 (18 years at $2,000/month) $446,400 (15 years at $2,480/month) Waiting to take benefits may not make sense for someone who doesn’t expect to live long enough to break even. If you have other investments, taking benefits and allowing your investments to grow will likely net you the most over your lifetime, especially if you retire during a stock market crash.

Understanding life expectancy

Nobody knows exactly when they’ll die, and thinking about it isn’t pleasant. Numbers get thrown around all the time, which can be a bit misleading. For example, life expectancy at birth fell to 73.1 for men and 79.1 for women in 2021 according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. Using just this data point, it doesn’t make sense for anyone to wait to take Social Security. However, overall life expectancy is dragged down by early mortalities. Someone who makes it to 62 can expect to live to 85 and one month, according to data from the Social Security Administration that was last updated in 2019. But this data point doesn’t yet reflect the high mortality rate for people over 65 during the Coronavirus pandemic. So how long can you really expect to live and how can you time Social Security accordingly? Look at your own family medical history. If you’ve lived a similar lifestyle to your relatives, think about how long they’ve lived. It can be an easy way to predict your own lifespan.

How long does it take investments to rebound?

“We don’t have a crystal ball, and past returns can’t guarantee future performance,” says Miriam Whiteley, a certified financial planner (CFP) and owner of LifeCraft Financial Planning in Eugene, Oregon, and Certified Member of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners. That said, the average bear market lasts 16 months, according to a Wells Fargo Investment Institute study of bear markets since World War II, and the average 12-month return after the end of a bear market is 43.4%. While it’s reasonable to expect good returns on your investments, the amount of time your money is invested also matters. Here’s how taking Social Security benefits at age 62 instead of cashing out some of your investments would impact a portfolio of $84,000 given an 8.2% return. Left untouched, in five years when you are 67, that amount could increase to $124,570 with no additional contributions. And in 16 years, that $84,000 could be worth $296,425. Your investment gains have the potential to more than make up for the difference in monthly payment amounts by the time you turn 80. Social Security has a much lower rate of return, but that rate of return is guaranteed while the program is still solvent. An increase of 6% per year between ages 62 and 67 and 8% per year from 67 to 70 may not be the gains you’d have in a stock market bouncing back from a recession, based on past data, but nobody can predict the future. “Time is an investor’s friend,” says Wes Moss, CFP and managing partner at Capital Investment Advisors in Atlanta. “If taking Social Security earlier allows for lower portfolio withdrawals, and more time for retirement assets to be invested, the probability of investment success should theoretically rise.”

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More than one in five homes on the market had a price drop last month — a record 22% of houses for sale. That’s according to new data released Wednesday by real estate brokerage Redfin, and it’s one illustration of just how much soaring mortgage rates are impacting the housing market. For the sake of comparison, about 15% of home sellers dropped their list prices during a four-week span last May, and a Redfin graph shows that only 6% to 7% of sellers were slashing asking prices during peak periods earlier this year and in 2021. The 22% figure from September is the highest point in Redfin’s analysis of price drop information, which stretches back to 2012. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now approaching 7%, almost four percentage points higher than it was a year ago. The monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home has surged 51% over that time, from $1,698 to $2,559, according to Redfin. Fewer people in the market can afford that kind of expense, hence the need for sellers to cut their list prices. The rising cost of borrowing means that some potential buyers are considering smaller homes or more affordable cities, while others are dropping out of the market entirely. At the same time, some homeowners who would have otherwise looked to sell are staying in their homes while they wait for better conditions. Those sellers that remain in the market are being forced to slash prices to stay competitive, especially now that home price growth is slowing down.

Where home price drops are most common

The trend toward cutting home list prices is especially extreme in pandemic hotspots. Nearly 68% of homes on the market in Boise had a price drop last month, along with more than 58% of homes in Denver and more than 54% of homes in Phoenix, Redfin found. Unfortunately for both buyers and sellers, “the housing market is going to get worse before it gets better,” Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao said in a blog post. That’s because the Federal Reserve will likely continue to raise interest rates while inflation remains high. Zhou doesn’t expect mortgage rates to start falling until the beginning or middle of 2023. As Money contributor Aly J. Yale reported recently, the fall housing market will “not really be ideal for anyone,” because costs remain high for buyers while sellers remain largely stuck in place due to high mortgage rates and a general slowdown in market activity.

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If you’re looking for the best place to retire, you might want to break out the atlas: The United States slipped even further down the list in a new ranking. Four-decade-high inflation, a volatile stock market and ballooning public debt are among the factors threatening the economic security of retirees, according to the 2022 Natixis Investment Managers Global Retirement Index. The index evaluates 18 metrics grouped into four categories: health, finances in retirement, quality of life and material well-being.

What’s the best place to retire?

Norway climbed up from No. 3 to claim the top spot in the analysis of 44 developed economies, although the Scandinavian country is no stranger to the top of this list: When the index was first published in 2012, Norway topped it back then, too. Switzerland retained its second-place spot from 2021, and Iceland rounded out the top three. The U.S. was ranked No. 18, down one spot from last year. Its score was dragged down by low metrics of material well-being and finances. The low material well-being ranking was the result of low scores pertaining to unemployment and income equality. Its low rating in the Finances category was chalked up to subpar performance for taxes, governance, bank loan portfolios and old-age dependency. To a certain extent, a large nation like the U.S. would almost inevitably have a hard time acing the goals set out in the index, says Dave Goodsell, executive director of the Natixis Center for Investor Insight. “The countries that perform well on this list tend to be smaller,” he says. “It’s hard to get consistency” in a country with a big, diverse population. The large population of Americans at or nearing retirement faces challenges relating to employment, income inequality, government debt and tax policies. Natixis calls these the “levers that can drive or diminish the wellbeing of retirees. “In a year on track to be one of the worst on record to retire, the market downturn and sharp increase in food, gas, housing and medications have hit retirees particularly hard,” the company says.

Top 3 challenges you face in retirement

Natixis flagged three big risk categories for retiree finances. As anyone who’s bought groceries or filled up their gas tank lately knows, inflation is at the top of the list. This year, the economic ripple effects of a global pandemic and geopolitical conflicts are on full display: Russia’s war with Ukraine triggered an energy shock that could drive Europe into a recession and is contributing to global food inflation, while companies of all sorts are still struggling with supply-chain issues and shortages of raw materials, components like semiconductors and finished goods. While higher prices erode the purchasing power of accrued wealth, Natixis says the other major challenges are a shift in the interest rate environment and longer lifespans. After a decade during which savers earned rock-bottom returns, the cost of borrowing has begun to climb, but returns on safe products often used by retirees remain paltry, increasing at a much slower rate. And this dynamic is playing out in an era of rising longevity that strains budgets — both individual household finances as well as governments responsible for overseeing public benefits that have to figure out how to pay for those programs. “Public debt is on the minds of people in the U.S. About eight in 10 believe it will result in reduced retirement benefits down the road. There’s only so many ways this can be managed,” Goodsell says. And all of them, from higher taxation to cutbacks in government services, involve some level of sacrifice.

Health care costs skyrocket in retirement

Health care costs that are the world’s highest represent another key concern for older Americans. “For us in the U.S., that rises to the top of the equation, and it’s not just health care — it’s long-term care as well,” Goodsell says. “It’s the great unknown.” Investors and savers are between a rock and a hard place, Goodsell says. A survey of financial planners conducted by Natixis underscored just how much trouble it is for people to get the balance just right: While 42% of survey respondents said that people planning for retirement were overly bullish, overestimating their investment income, a nearly equal number — 41% — said that a top mistake was people being too conservative with their investments. In the long term, investing in equities provides a hedge against inflation, but this year’s swooning stock market highlights the risk inherent in that approach as well. “We’ve got volatility that we haven’t seen in a very long time,” Goodsell says, adding that this creates a particularly fraught scenario for the people who need to withdraw from retirement accounts for income or to meet IRS requirements.

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Credit report mistakes are much more common than you might think. And, while you can remove inaccurate information from your credit report yourself, the process is often frustrating and time consuming. Credit repair companies can make this process easier by doing the heavy lifting for you — obtaining your reports, finding inaccuracies and disputing any mistakes directly with creditors and the major credit bureaus. So, if you’re ready to leave bad credit behind, read on for Money’s guide to the best credit repair services of September 2022.

Our Top Picks for Best Credit Repair Companies

Credit Saint – Best Overall Lexington Law – Credit Repair Industry Leader Sky Blue Credit – Best Value The Credit People – Best Guarantee Ovation Credit Repair – Best for Discounts The Credit Pros – Best Bonus Features Credit Versio – Best for DIY Credit Repair

Best Credit Repair Reviews

Investors have had a nail-biting ride in the stock market this year. The S&P 500 index fell into a bear market in June, a 20% dip from its previous high, and threw a bucket of cold water on two years of unusually robust growth and profits. Stocks have since rallied: Early last week, all three major indices notched their biggest one-day percentage gains since June 24. But there’s no guarantee those gains are here to stay. The economy remains in highly uncertain territory: Inflation keeps rising despite the Federal’s Reserve’s attempts to keep prices under control by raising interest rates, the housing market keeps getting more expensive as mortgage rates soar, and sectors of the stock market that have thrived over the two years — think tech companies and work-from-home stocks like Zoom and Peloton — are no longer performing as they once did. As earnings season (when publicly traded companies release information to shareholders about their performance in the previous quarter) kicks off, investors are watching closely for clues about the state of the economy and the likely trajectory of the stock market over the next few months. Will there be another recession, or not? Will stocks keep falling? Here’s what experts are saying about what could be next.

A recession could be around the corner

Citing a prolonged stretch of higher inflation and the aggressive policy response by the Fed, analysts at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute say investors should brace for a downturn. “We are calling for a moderate recession that likely begins soon and lingers into the middle portion of next year,” Scott Wren, senior global market strategist, wrote in a research note on Wednesday. We might even be in a technical recession already, Wren writes, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, but we won’t know for sure until the government releases its official GDP data later this month. Morgan Stanley puts the odds of a recession within the next year at 36% and climbing, citing more jobless claims and fewer job openings, while others have taken a more optimistic view. “We continue to expect the economy to slow meaningfully but avoid a 2022 recession,” writes Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management. Nixon says the economy hasn’t contracted enough, and the labor market hasn’t taken enough damage, to warrant calling the current downturn an official recession.

Stocks could fall further

Investors probably shouldn’t get too comfortable after the stock market’s rally last week. “Make no mistake,” a team of Morgan Stanley analysts wrote. “We don’t believe this bear market is over, even if we avoid a recession.” The analysts, led by Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Michael Wilson, say stocks aren’t likely to grow as much over the next year as companies grapple with inflation, which is making a serious dent in their bottom lines. Rising interest rates and waning consumer confidence also pose a risk to corporate profits. Northern Trust’s Nixon says continued tightening by the Fed or a loss of investor confidence surrounding a disappointing earnings season could also push stocks lower. Jeremy Grantham, cofounder of investment firm GMO, has taken a more extreme view: “It’s likely that there will be considerably more pain before this is finished,” he said in a recent interview with the Associated Press. Grantham said the downturn could last another six months to three years, noting that the timing of a market bottom is notoriously difficult to predict.

More volatility ahead

Recession or not, investors should be prepared for a rocky ride in both the stock and bond markets for the remainder of the year. “As the Fed continues with its aggressive approach to curb inflation and markets digest every economic release with fervor, there’s no doubt fixed income will experience bouts of heightened volatility, as will equities,” writes Peter Essele, head of portfolio management for Commonwealth Financial Network, in a blog post last week. Volatility is a measure of the magnitude of price swings in the stock market — the larger and more frequent the swings, the more volatile the market. Thankfully, some experts say that while volatility will remain elevated, the situation is already improving. In a research note last Thursday, Goldman Sachs analysts led by Rocky Fishman point out that market volatility in July is already significantly lower than it has been over the past few months. The analysts say they expect volatility to remain “above-average but far from extreme.” While volatility can be scary for investors, it’s a normal part of the market and shouldn’t prompt you to make big changes in your investment strategy.

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Crypto exchanges are where traders can buy, sell, and convert different cryptocurrencies. They are necessary for cryptocurrencies to be traded at the scale they are today. Some exchanges offer the most competitive prices or speeds, whereas others provide specialized financial products. Read on to learn about the best cryptocurrency exchanges, how they work, and which one you should pick.

Our Top Picks for the Best Crypto Exchanges of July 2022

Coinbase – Best for Beginners Binance.US – Best for Low Fees Crypto.com – Best for Security BlockFi – Best for Earning Interest Bisq – Best Decentralized Exchange

Best Crypto Exchanges Reviews

Pros Intuitive, user-friendly interface and easy purchase process Broad assortment of educational material Wide selection of cryptocurrencies Cons Higher fees Complex fee structure Why we chose it: We chose Coinbase as the best crypto exchange for beginners because of its easy-to-use interface, extensive educational material on everything from blockchain to volatility, and robust security features. If you’re familiar with crypto, chances are you’ve already heard of Coinbase. The exchange is one of the largest and most well-known in the U.S., and its debut on the public market last year was seen by many as a legitimization of the crypto market. The Coinbase platform does a great job of lowering the barrier to entry for investing in crypto, with a straightforward onboarding process that eases users into trading. At the same time, its interface makes navigating the platform and managing crypto a seamless experience. Coinbase also features a comprehensive and accessible variety of learning materials. Users are encouraged to use these resources through the Coinbase Earn program, which teaches how to trade specific cryptocurrencies and rewards users with free crypto. Lastly, the exchange’s security features are worth mentioning: Coinbase uses two-factor authentication on all versions of its platform, stores 98% of customers’ crypto offline, and has an insurance policy to protect custodial accounts of up to $250,000 (in line with per-depositor FDIC coverage limits). Such robust measures are why Coinbase is ultimately worth it, despite the higher fees. Users who enjoy Coinbase but would like more advanced trading and charting features may want to look at the company’s other exchange platform, Coinbase Pro. Pros Highly affordable trade and conversion fees Advanced trading charts and data graphs High-speed trade execution Cons Limited coin variety compared to its international version Not supported in all U.S. states Why we chose it: We chose Binance.US as the best crypto exchange for low fees because it features one of the most generous fee structures across all the trading platforms we considered. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, and its domestic counterpart, Binance.US, offers many of its parent company’s advantages. One of its biggest attractions is a competitive maximum 0.1% maker/taker fee. This fee starts low and keeps getting lower as your trading volume increases. Binance.US also offers discounts for using the company’s proprietary cryptocurrency (BNB) to buy and sell other coins. For those who want to buy crypto directly, many of the exchange’s cryptocurrencies are purchasable with USD, saving you money in conversion fees. This variety of discounts and purchase options benefits advanced users who may also enjoy the platform’s comprehensive market dashboards, margin trading, and variety of order types, including limit orders, market orders, and stop limit orders. Binance.US is not available in Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, New York, Texas and Vermont. Pros Outstanding cybersecurity infrastructure Low fees if your account is funded with cash transfers Large selection of crypto assets Cons Expensive credit and debit purchases Some services are not available in the U.S. No crypto-to-crypto trading options Why we chose it: We chose Crypto.com as the best crypto exchange for security because of its multiple layers of protection against crypto fraud and cyberattacks. Most reputable crypto exchanges feature a solid cybersecurity infrastructure, but this is where Crypto.com really stands out. The exchange is ranked first in the Cybersecurity Ranking and CERtification Platform’s top 100 exchanges by cybersecurity rating. Crypto.com employs various techniques to keep users’ cryptos secure on its trading platform, including offline cold storage for all crypto, a regulated custodian bank account for traditional currency, and regular software peer-review. It also uses multi-factor identification with a password, biometric, email, phone, and authenticator verification. In addition, its platform has successfully completed several penetration tests, which are simulated cyberattacks performed to evaluate system security, and has shown proof of its funds over the years. Security isn’t Crypto.com’s only attraction. The exchange offers the largest selection of currencies among all the companies on our list — over 250 coins. Other noteworthy features are its non-custodial DeFi wallet — which allows users to send crypto at their preferred speed and earn interest on tokens —, margin trading, prepaid visa cards to spend crypto, and crypto loans. Pros Earn monthly interest payments on your cryptocurrencies U.S.-based and regulated, and institutionally backed No commission or monthly account fees Cons Available products vary widely from state to state Interest accounts have limited free withdrawals Why we chose it: We chose BlockFi as the best crypto exchange for earning interest because it allows users to earn interest on their crypto and borrow money using Bitcoin as collateral. Where most crypto exchanges offer bonuses and discounts for high-volume trading, BlockFi has chosen to create financial products that cater to conservative traders instead. The exchange’s main highlight is its BlockFi Interest Account, offering up to 9.5% APY as monthly compounding interest to crypto investors who store their assets in the account. The platform also lets users use existing bitcoin as collateral for a loan. In addition to its novel financial products, BlockFi also features an affordable fee structure and a strong cybersecurity infrastructure. The exchange charges spread fees and withdrawal fees, but no transaction fees for trading on its exchange. To keep your data secure, BlockFi uses tools such as two-factor authentication and allowlisting, which lets users ban withdrawals or restrict them to certain addresses to avoid theft. Consumers should keep in mind that decentralized finance (DeFi) products and services like BlockFi carry significant risks related to the technology of the software, the assets involved, and compliance with regulators. Pros Supports trades with a broad selection of coins and traditional currencies Wide variety of payment methods Short verification process Cons Mobile version only works for notifications Must trade with Bitcoin or BSQ only Why we chose it: We chose Bisq as the best decentralized exchange because it follows the ethos of Bitcoin best by maintaining an open-source platform that is completely decentralized without limiting currency support. Formerly known as Bitsquare, Bisq brings the clean, easy-to-use interface and vast coin support of centralized exchanges to a decentralized environment. The platform is built on open-source software, meaning its design is publicly available, and the project is funded by personal savings and donations from its community of users. Bisq doesn’t need a third party to conduct cryptocurrency transactions, nor does it require users to submit personal information to trade on the platform. It’s an excellent alternative for Bitcoin fans looking for a wide variety of coins to trade with, including altcoins like Cardano, XRP, and Dogecoin. In fact, it’s not typical for decentralized exchanges to support so many digital assets — and fiat currency. Additionally, the platform’s security features, such as multisignature and a security deposit system, enhance the inherent safety and privacy of decentralized exchanges by ensuring that both parties act honestly and have complete control of their funds during the trading process. Other crypto exchanges we considered The following trading platforms are all excellent options, especially for newer traders. However, they are not dedicated crypto or bitcoin exchanges but primarily deal in other securities, like stocks and futures. We decided to list them separately for this reason. Public Pros Commission-free trading platform Fractional stock investing available Volatility reminders on cryptocurrencies Social trading lets you see what others are buying and selling Cons Lack of technical charts and research tools Long waiting time for withdrawals Robinhood Pros No commissions and minimum account balance Exceptionally easy to use and start trading Heavily regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission Cons No mutual fund and forex trading Lacks educational content and research tools eToro Pros Active investment community, ideal for social trading Support crypto staking for some coins Broad selection of cryptocurrencies Cons Disappointing withdrawal fees and spread fees Crypto trading not available in all states Cash.app Pros One of the easiest platforms to buy Bitcoin and get started with crypto Lock prices immediately and withdraw quickly Make and receive mobile payments Cons No insurance coverage from the FDIC It cannot be used to make payments internationally Can only trade Bitcoin; no other crypto available

Crypto Exchanges Guide