9 Retirement Planning Mistakes You May Be Making

All I can hope is that everything works out before my spouse and I are ready to purchase our first house. Fearing that reduced rates will cause housing prices to rise.

Here are the Nine Planning "Mistakes" Bob covers in this video. 1. Longevity Risk - Not planning to live as long as you will 2. Retiring Earlier Than Planned - What we say and what we do don't match up. 3. Realistic Rates of Return - Make sure your expectations match your asset allocation. If you are DIY, be realistic about your own behavior. 4. Accounting for Investment Fees - Be sure to understand the cost of the 1% or 1.5% Fee to your portfolio's performance. 5. Ignoring Home Equity - Could do a Reverse Mortgage, or down size. Might also move to a different state. 6. Accounting for Assisted Living Later in Life - Average time in assisted living is 22 months. 7. Factor in the possibility that one spouse dies early - Effects Tax Status, Retirement Expenses, Income (loss of one SS Benefit Check) 8. Ignoring Annuities - SPIAs can be a valuable tool. Have a minimum of 50% (to 100%) of your fixed expenses covered by guaranteed income. 9. Stress Testing Your Plan - Whatever software you use, make sure to test your plan in all of its components. Perform "What If" scenarios.

Hi Rob! My wife and I are relatively new to your channel and we love the perspective you share with respect to retirement planning. You have already reinforced a lot of what we have learned over the years and we continue to learn more about other facets of retirement planning through all the topics that you videos address. Thank you for what you are doing for those of us wanting to self-manage our own retirement! 👏👏👏

Another mistake is not accounting for large expenses that could eventually happen during retirement. Like, a new car, a new roof, new AC unit, appliances, etc.

How can I get a good financial advisor?

Another mistake is putting too much money into traditional retirement accounts and not enough into Roth or taxable accounts. It is a good idea to diversify your nest egg by tax treatment so that you have some flexibility in case taxation policies change in the future.

One of the best videos ever. A retiree should tap into home equity only in the form of downsizing. Everything else is counterproductive

Two words….”early checkout” 🤣😂🤣. Love it.

Thanks for the video. I put together a very comprehensive plan for retirement. After I retired, I experienced factors that completely blew my plan apart. Mostly all good things. I didn't need my cash for early on support because I got a fun job and my spending was far below my estimated levels. Yes, the one factor that is needed to put together and good plan is "when are you going to die." Retired at 58 and am 63 now. Wealth is not what. you have but how much your monthly income is.

The biggest mistake is to start saving too late…. You never catch up the ten first years not having put money aside.

Great timing on this video. I've been using New Retirement for a few months; I will use your suggested stress tests, including Early Checkout. I also appreciate your showing new features that I had not yet discovered. Thanks!

Hi Rob, I've been watching your videos for about 3 years, which is how long I've been retired. I think your advice has been the most helpful I've ever found, and I thank you a great deal for the comfortable feeling I have about my investment approach. I think this is one of your very best videos. Many thanks!

Thanks Rob, well done. You gave me some ideas here on how to better use New Retirement. P.S. Love your tag line! - Bill

Hi Rob! Enjoying your communication style and knowledge. When I retired I had failed to figure out how much healthcare would be on a monthly basis i.e. premiums. I chose to do Supplement G and Part D as well as the mandatory B and I retired 2 years prior to what I had expected. I figured out that Advantage plans can just wreck you financially during the course of a tough illness near the end of life, virtually wiping out any legacy plans.

Don’t forget sequence of returns risk as part of a stress test

Excellent real world discussion. The one spouse dies first planning is critical. We found this risk to be so critical, now that we are comfortable with our general plan, it is now the focus of our scenario planning! While some folks might realize their pension or annuity has a 50% survivor (or none!) clause, not everyone factors in all the financial downsides of being single, like the potentially huge impact on taxes.

I'm planning to live until 110. I only have to work until 95.

Great Great video. I am a big user of NewRetirement and I'm going to be using this as a tutorial and going through those scenarios. Thank You!!

In addition to a spouse passing away, people may need to consider the possibility of divorce. As a lawyer, I've seen more older couples decide to divorce-- or sometimes it is one person's decision.

“You need to factor in the possibility that one of you could pass away early…and it’s easy to do.” 😂😂😂