5 Major Retirement Regrets (That Are NOT Inevitable & How to Avoid Them)
When are you going to retire?
How did you make that decision?
Many of us look at finances and health when we’re deciding when to retire.
Whether or not we realize it, we’re also considering our emotions and what we imagine for the future — we compare how we feel in our current circumstances to how we expect to feel in our anticipated retirement.1
With that, we tend to overestimate our future emotions, thinking we’ll be a lot happier as retirees.1
And that can motivate short-sighted decisions that lead to more regrets than satisfaction in retirement.1
To avoid that and make better decisions about retiring, let’s look at some of the leading retiree regrets, what’s behind them, and what you can do now to set yourself up for a dream retirement later.
Retirement Regret #1. Retiring Too Early
Retiring as soon as possible can be a priority, but retiring too early can be a big mistake. For one, premature retirement can mean gambling with your financial security in the future. If you leave work too early, you could be forfeiting some key, higher-earning years to build up your savings.
Beyond that, retiring too early can turn the page on your social life or drain a sense of purpose if you’re not prepared for the next stage.
Pro Tip: If retiring early is a goal, consider a phased retirement that lets you work part-time while you transition into retired life. A phased approach could let you continue to earn income, stay connected to your social life, and wade into retirement (instead of taking an instant plunge).
Retirement Regret #2. Sidelining Retirement Plans for Too Long
Retirement planning can stall when we think we have years or even decades to put plans in place. Unfortunately, the longer you wait to start retirement planning, the more challenging it can be to build the nest egg you may need.
That, in turn, could leave you with less retirement savings and far less flexibility later. It may also mean that you have to make more tradeoffs and more difficult decisions later, like foregoing certain luxuries or bucket-list adventures.
Pro Tip: No matter how old you are now, start planning for retirement. Your strategies and objectives can evolve over time, but the sooner you take a hands-on approach to mapping out your retirement, the better. Time can be an invaluable resource in retirement planning that you can’t get back. So, give yourself as much time as possible.
Retirement Regret #3. Underestimating the Length of Retirement
How long will you need to live off of your retirement savings? If you don’t know the answer to that question, how can you save enough for retirement? That’s another major issue today’s retirees face because many lack “longevity literacy.”2
In other words, we tend to have a poor sense of how long we’ll live. Failing to consider that in retirement planning can really short-change us in the long run.2
Pro Tip: Don’t look to your parents or ballpark estimates when it comes to life spans and the duration of retirement. Crunch the numbers and look at the latest life expectancy data (it does change from generation to generation). Also, work with a professional who can help you double-check your estimates, assumptions, and calculations.
Retirement Regret #4. Overlooking Inflation
Inflation is an inevitable part of the market cycle, and it’s almost impossible to ignore these days.3 Still, inflation can take more of a back seat in retirement planning, with many people making the mistake of relying on today’s costs when estimating tomorrow’s expenses.
Just like underestimating the length of retirement, underestimating inflation can put a real drag on retirement savings, creating unnecessary financial stress in the future.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to account for rising costs when you’re planning for retirement. Use current projections to estimate future inflation. Then, create a budget for yourself in retirement, estimating your costs so that you have a more realistic idea of how much you need to cover your monthly expense as a retiree. Also, revisit these estimates regularly, updating them as needed. Keeping an eye on inflation can keep you mindful of savings goals and the expenses you need to be prepared for in retirement.
Retirement Regret #5. Not Having a Sound Investment Strategy
What’s your current strategy for building your retirement savings? When will it be time to adjust that strategy?
Believe it or not, many people have a set-it-and-forget-it view of retirement planning. They know they need to save and that they want to retire, but they’re not necessarily thinking about risk tolerance or how aggressive to be at various phases of retirement planning.
That can result in lost opportunities to amplify retirement savings, like missing out on employer contributions and options to make catch-up contributions.
Pro Tip: Automating savings is a good start, but it shouldn’t be the only part of your retirement planning strategy. Bolster that with diversified investments and routine reviews of both your strategies to ensure they continue to work for you.
A Better Path to a More Fulfilling Retirement
Retirement is a complex financial decision that’s also deeply personal. As exciting as it can be to cross the “finish line” of work life and retire, timing it right matters. So does sensible planning that takes a realistic approach to your needs and goals for the future.
So, if you’re serious about setting the stage for a comfortable retirement unburdened by regrets, don’t cheat yourself by cutting corners or assuming you know it all now.
Instead, look at retirement planning as a work in progress and equip yourself with the resources you need to make more solid plans for the future. That can include deeper knowledge about retirement and finances. It can also involve the support and guidance of an experienced financial professional.
Sources
- https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v71n4/v71n4p15.html
- https://ceal.sdsu.edu/2023/08/18/how-long-will-you-live-how-financial-and-longevity-literacy-can-predict-retirement-readiness/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/whats-the-ideal-inflation-rate-and-how-does-the-fed-plan-to-get-us-there
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