Think ahead, below are five retirement errors to avoid when not doing something makes better sense than changing your path. Some of them relate to things you shouldn’t do before you retire and some to what you shouldn’t do once you have retired.
Retirees make errors for not adapting to their new budget dependent life. People who worked for many years find it hard to reconcile that food, clothing and entertainment expenses should be adjusted because they are no longer earning the same amount of money. For example, you might need to do a little less dining out and learn to enjoy more home cooked meals.
With some appropriate adjustments to your budgeting and proper planning, you’ll make sure you are set for any eventuality.
Once you have retired, you can’t afford large negative swings in your savings. You regularly hear financial advisors recommending a long term strategy and touting the strategy of leaving money in the market regardless of the ups and downs.
That’s because over time, the market, while very volatile at times, has historically ended up rising in the long term.
When you retire, you must think short term as you will need to access the cash. It’s still probably smart to keep some money in more aggressive growth investments, but not nearly at the level you did when you were younger.
A financial advisor can offer advice on how your investments should be diversified. You might not make as huge gains in net worth, but you will be protected.
Just because you are already eligible to apply for Social Security at 62 does not mean you should. If you start taking benefits at age 62 will get you about 25% less than what you would get on your full retirement age of 66. You will also get 32% less than if you wait until age 70.
If you have the means to pay your bills, try to delay your application for retirement benefits for a few years more. The benefit increase is maxed out by 70 years old and will not increase any further, so that’s the target age you should shoot for.
Before finalizing your retirement, you must take into consideration that you will only be living on a fixed amount of money.
Oftentimes the amount of retirement savings looks pretty large, but retirees must keep in mind that money will have to last a very long time – hopefully a very, very long time! Avoid the temptation to spend large chunks of that nest egg early in retirement.
The temptation to spend your money can be almost iresistable, but discipline is vital. Depleting your money beyond the interest that it earns will hurt the principal and would leave you with nothing after just a few years.
Retirees unfortunately are among the most targeted for scams. Be sure to consult an advisor prior to making any investment or laying out a large amount of cash on anything. Scammers will prey upon your desire to grow your savings.
Even if you are not retired or about to retire, always keep a certain level of skepticism when it comes to the investments being presented to you. Do your research first: ask about it and search for it online. You might just find out that this whole system is just an elaborate way for people to get money out of you.
