The biggest retirement regrets — and how to avoid them

Sun, Mar 9, 2025, 8:30 AM 4 min read

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If fixed the accidental to bash things over, galore retirees accidental they would've made fiscal decisions differently.

According to probe by Olivia Mitchell, a Wharton prof and enforcement manager of the Pension Research Council, a bulk of the adults implicit the property of 50 that Mitchell surveyed expressed beardown regret implicit insufficient savings.

"A bulk of the respondents said they wished they saved more," Mitchell said connected a caller occurrence of Decoding Retirement (see video supra oregon perceive below). "Only 2% said they wished they had saved less."

Retirees highlighted different regrets arsenic well. Many regretted not moving longer and not delaying their Social Security claims — some of which would person accrued their status income.

Another notable uncovering was regret implicit not securing beingness income, specified arsenic done an annuity. Annuities supply a dependable income stream, making it easier to negociate expenses, particularly arsenic cognitive abilities diminution with age.

“Many radical are financially not arsenic literate arsenic they were erstwhile they were younger,” Mitchell said. “And having that dependable income watercourse is and tin beryllium a existent boost. People regretted not having done that arsenic well.”

Read more: Fixed annuities vs. CDs: Which is amended for your status savings?

In the podcast, Mitchell besides addressed the expanding fig of older adults who are retiring with owe debt, pupil indebtedness debt, recognition paper debt, and the like.

According to Mitchell, older adults erstwhile took pridefulness successful being debt-free successful status — truthful overmuch truthful that mortgage-burning ceremonies were a communal contented successful 20th period America.

“But that cognition is not existent of retirees today,” she said.

More and much retirees are present entering status without paying disconnected their owe — and successful immoderate cases, they adjacent instrumentality connected a larger owe erstwhile relocating to a sunnier clime oregon different state.

Credit paper indebtedness has besides go a increasing interest for retirees. And strangely, astir 6% of retirees are present seeing their Social Security checks garnished owed to unpaid pupil loans — either their ain oregon those taken retired for their children, Mitchell said.

“So indebtedness is progressively troubling the older population,” she said.

Read more: How to wage disconnected recognition paper indebtedness erstwhile your budget's tight

Furthermore, Mitchell noted that precocious ostentation has led to accrued involvement rates connected assorted types of debt, including mortgages, recognition cards, and pupil loans.