8 common financial regrets of retirees

[NeoGreen]

https://www.treehugger.com/culture/8-common-financial-regrets-retirees.html

8 common financial regrets of retirees
Katherine Martinko, December 19, 2018


These are valuable lessons for those of us not yet at retirement age.

How many times do you wish you could do something over, and do it differently? Retirees are particularly well-placed to reflect on financial decisions they've made in life – or didn't make – and to provide guidance to those of us not yet at that stage in life. What follows is a list of 8 common regrets that retirees have. Avoid that same regret by taking action now.

1. Not retiring early enough
A survey of retirees between 62 and 70 with $100,000+ in investable assets found that half of respondents wished they'd retired up to four years earlier than they did. Those who were 60 and older by the time they retired said they "regretted waiting so long."

2. Falling for the "siren call" of credit cards
One man told the Washington Post that he and his wife racked up debt in the early stages of their marriage, forcing one to give up the credit card and rely on cash. "That’s a hard discussion we should have had early in our marriage. Like, on our first date."

3. Being impatient
You won't get rich overnight. Even the smallest amounts of money ($5 or $10) set aside from an early age add up. Remember the adage: “Bears and bulls make money. Pigs get slaughtered.” Instead think, “grow rich slowly.”

(snip)

[underpants]

1. Bookmarking

Thanks

[SWBTATTReg]

2. All 8 items are good advice. Take it for those of you young enough to fully implement and ...

for those of you not young enough, it's still great advice. The best thing of these 8 things that I wished I had paid more attention to was nbr. 5, working too much. Nbr. 8 was almost an issue, but when I brought the large house back in 1980, it was very reasonably priced, but I didn't realize the amount of upkeep it would take.

Again, good advice!!

1. Not retiring early enough
2. Falling for the "siren call" of credit cards
3. Being impatient
4. Not working hard enough on career development
5. Working too much
6. Not prioritizing health from an early age
7. Not planning for retirement from the beginning
8. Buying too much house

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Thanks for that link.

My one regret is the career development one.

None of the others really affect me. I retired as in I stopped working at the part time job I'd had for several years right before I turned 66. It was good timing for me. I needed to wait for my financial ducks to be lined up properly. That was a bit over four years ago, and while I'm not rich, I'm doing well enough to have the life I want at this point.

I definitely did not work too much. Since I never had a job that I loved, I was always aware that my job was not me, and what I did outside the workplace was vastly more important.