A recent survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by Million Dollar Round Table, an international association of financial professionals, found that more than two-thirds of retirees wish they’d done something differently in their retirement planning. If you still have the time and willingness to learn from their mistakes, heed these words of advise:
- Save more. With an increasingly long lifespan, consistently higher health care costs and potentially smaller Social Security benefits, the 10 percent of gross pay savings objective that was the standard years ago has been increased to a suggested 20 percent for those who begin investing while still relatively young. That recommended percentage goes up the later you start.
- Plan for more expenses in retirement, not fewer. According to the Investing for Retirement Survey conducted by the Oppenheimer Funds, almost 70 percent of retirees said they spend as much as, or more than, when they worked. Anyone dreaming of a comfortable retirement needs to make an educated prediction of future income needs.
- Pay more attention to retirement planning. To be really prepared, have a strategy in all the following areas: investments, retirement income, insurance, estate planning.
- Invest more aggressively in your 20s, 30s and 40s. Many financial planners advise clients in these age groups to be as aggressive in their investment strategy as their personal risk tolerance will allow.