The Top Ten Mistakes People Make in Retirement
By Boyd Casselman
As many of you know, for the past 15 years I have spent my days (and evenings) working with people 60 years of age and older helping them better prepare for and live more securely in retirement. After many years of retirement planning with hundreds of clients, there are a few glaring mistakes I have seen people make time and time again – mistakes that put the safety of their retirement years at risk while potentially spoiling the greater peace of mind they may have otherwise had.
I’d like to briefly share with you my top ten mistakes people make in retirement.
Boyd’s 10 Largest Mistakes in Retirement:
Leaving your money in your employer’s 401k plan for too long.
Keeping too much of your money at the bank in low interest-bearing checking or money market accounts.
Not addressing the likely need for long term care nor knowing about the new long term care insurance options available as of January 2010.
Failing to plan for the need for income replacement when one spouse dies and leaves the surviving spouse to live on a reduced income.
Purchasing the wrong kind of life insurance – a policy that may lapse or “expire” long before the life of the insured does.
Not taking Social Security correctly – possibly leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the proverbial retirement income table.
Purchasing an annuity without understanding how it really works…because how it really works is, many times, very different from how it is represented by the person selling it.
Acting on the false claims and misrepresented promises made by MANY advisors about high guaranteed growth rates or big bonuses. In reality, neither the high guaranteed rates or big bonuses are on your account value but rather a non-cash account.
Falling for market-loss responses from your money manager like “They’re only paper losses” or “Just hang on…things will get better.”
Staying in the market when it is no longer appropriate for your circumstances or risk tolerance.
If you are interested in learning about appropriate, safe and secure retirement planning products and strategies, give me a call and I’ll be happy to sit down with you to have a candid, truthful and relevant conversation about your future.
Boyd Casselman, 801-628-1032 or boydsinnovations@msn.com