5 Retirement Moves You'll Regret You Made
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These blunders can be extremely costly, so learn about and avoid them."Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention." -- "My Way," Frank Sinatra, from the 1969 album My Way You may be familiar with these lyrics to "My Way," written by Paul Anka and performed memorably by Frank Sinatra. I suspect that most of us will end up with more than a few regrets in our lives -- and the financial ones may have cost us a lot. Here's a look at five retirement moves you'll likely regret making. 1. Retiring too early Retiring early is definitely tempting to many people. Those adhering to a "Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE)" plan explicitly aim for very early retirements. That can work out well -- but it might not, too, which is why some are skittish about it. It also demands a lot of sacrifices. Remember, after all, that if you retire at, say, 45, and then live to age 95, you've got a 50-year retirement. You'll need to be quite sure that despite inflation, geopolitical events, and more, you won't run out of money. 2. Not having a solid retirement plan Each of us needs a solid retirement plan. We need to think about how much income we'll need (or want) in retirement, and how we'll get it. It's a good idea to aim to have multiple income streams in retirement. Mine, for example, might end up looking like this:Advertisement Social Security income Income from my dividend-paying stocks Income from one or more annuities Income from selling stocks in my portfolio whenever needed Income from interest-bearing investments such as bank accounts, CDs, etc. Fail to plan well for your retirement, and it might end up torpedoed by one of several big risks facing retirees. Image source: Getty Images. 3. Not doing any estate planning You need to plan not only for your retirement, but beyond it, too -- via estate planning. Fail to do so, and your heirs may end up paying more in taxes than necessary, and there may be extra hassles and heartbreaks, too. 4. Not saving and investing aggressively enough -- and not starting earlier Your earliest invested dollars are your most powerful ones, so start saving and investing as soon as you can. The table below shows how your money could grow over time at an 8% growth rate -- and you can see that your nest egg could be growing by leaps and bounds after a few decades. Growing at 8% for $6,000 invested annually $12,000 invested annually 5 years $35,192 $70,399 10 years $86,919 $173,839 15 years $162,913 $325,825 20 years $274,572 $549,144 25 years $438,636 $877,271 30 years $679,699 $1,359,399 35 years $1,033,901 $2,067,802 40 years $1,554,339 $3,108,678 Calculations by author via Investor.gov. 5. Investing in too risky a fashion -- or too cautiously You'll be shooting yourself in the foot if you save money aggressively but then park it under your mattress or load up a portfolio with penny stocks. Try to strike a reasonable balance between risk and reward, such as with index funds. These are just some of many retirement blunders to avoid. A little digging online will turn up more.About the AuthorSelena Maranjian is a contributing personal finance and investing expert at The Motley Fool. Selena has produced The Motley Fool’s nationally syndicated newspaper feature since 1997. She is the author of The Motley Fool Money Guide and Investment Clubs: How to Start and Run One the Motley Fool Way, and the co-author of The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens and several editions of The Motley Fool Investment Tax Guide. Prior to The Motley Fool, she worked as a high school teacher and public opinion analyst. She holds a master’s degree in teaching from Brown University and a master’s degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.TMFSelenaRead NextDec 9, 2025 •By Bram Berkowitz1 Wall Street Strategist Thinks the Poverty Line for U.S.
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