Retirement is the ultimate goal for many workers: the day when you can clock out, head home and never look back again.
However, the experience of retirement can differ from the expectation, and many retirees wish they had done things differently either before or after they left the workforce.
Here are 10 of the top regrets of retirees.
— Not saving more
— Saying yes too often
— Ignoring inflation
— Waiting too long to plan
— Underestimating health care costs
— Skipping long-term care insurance
— Keeping two homes
— Investing improperly
— Claiming Social Security too early
— Quitting too soon
Not Saving More
Retirement means saying goodbye to work and the paychecks, bonuses and benefits that come with it. Not surprisingly, once that income is gone, many retirees realize they should have saved more.
“I wish I had saved 10% of what I had made in my working years and invested it wisely,” says Bruce Doll, a 66-year-old retiree from Lowell, Michigan.
He’s not alone either. More than 60% of retirees said they would go back and do things differently when planning for retirement, according to the 2023 Consumer Sentiment Tracker from Lincoln Financial Group.
[Related:How Long Will Your Retirement Savings Last]
Saying Yes Too Often
One reason retirees may not have saved enough is that they were too quick to say yes to requests for money from others.
“I wish I would have said no once in a while,” Doll says. “But that is not who I am.”
The 2022 Retiree Reflections Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute asked retirees an open-ended question about what they would have changed about their financial habits. While many responses had to do with savings and investments, others were about relationships, with one retiree saying they wished they had “dumped my deadbeat boyfriend much earlier” and another responding that they would “lend less money to friends who don’t pay back.”
Ignoring Inflation
Retirees may be forgiven for overlooking inflation in their planning process. After all, the country spent about a decade with nearly nonexistent inflation. But now, prices are climbing, and people are regretting their decision not to pay close attention to how rising costs would affect their golden years.
Inflation was cited as a financial concern by more than half of retirees — 54% — in the 2022 Retiree Reflections Survey. The percentage was even higher in the 2024 U.S. Retirement Survey by global asset management firm Schroders. Nearly 90% of respondents say they are concerned that inflation is lessening the value of their assets.
Worries about inflation may be one reason why data from industry group LIMRA shows annuity sales have hit record highs in recent years. An annuity is a financial product that offers lifetime income in exchange for a lump-sum payment.
Waiting Too Long to Plan
Baby boomers were a median age of 35 before they began saving for retirement outside of their workplace account, according to the 24th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers, published in June 2024. That means these workers missed years of compounding gains on their retirement savings.
Along with getting a late start on saving, some retirees also ignored other planning activities. Many are realizing that mistake now, with the Schroders survey finding 63% of retirees wish they had done more planning before retirement. More than a quarter of retirees who haven’t saved enough attribute it to not planning ahead, according to a working paper on financial regrets from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
[READ: Retirement Accounts You Should Consider.]
Underestimating Health Care Costs
Health care costs catch many retirees by surprise. About half of retirees told Schroders they thought Medicare would cover more of their health care expenses than it does. Meanwhile, 36% of those surveyed by the Employee Benefit Research Institute said health care expenses are a financial worry that keeps them up at night.
For Cindy Sullivan, a retiree in Williamsburg, Virginia, the cost of Medicare itself came as a surprise. When researching costs, she learned that Part A was free but didn’t realize Medicare had a second component — Part B — which requires a monthly premium for her and her husband. That premium is nearly $175 per person in 2024.
Skipping Long-Term Care Insurance
Some retirees regret not buying long-term care insurance prior to retirement, when it may be more affordable. More than a quarter of those surveyed for the 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper said that was one of their financial regrets.
The median cost of a private room in a nursing home is about $116,000 per year, according to the 2023 New York Life Cost of Care Survey. If you spend three years in assisted living and two years in a nursing home, you are looking at more than $365,000 in care expenses.
Medicare won’t pay for ongoing custodial care such as this, but long-term care policies will. However, if you wait too long, you may be ineligible for coverage, or the premiums may be cost-prohibitive.
Keeping Two Homes
Many people dream of moving someplace warm and sunny in retirement but still want to stay close to family and friends. Having two homes may seem like a way to get the best of both worlds, but some retirees regret that decision.
“I found owning two places was a lot of work and money,” says Carole Walsh, a 71-year-old retiree in Port St Lucie, Florida.
She originally purchased two mobile homes — one in Florida and one in her home state of Michigan — thinking that would be an affordable way to split time between the two locations. However, she soon decided it was better to sell both and buy a sturdy home in Florida that could withstand hurricane weather. While she misses seeing friends in her home state, she notes she wouldn’t have been able to afford her current home if she had kept the Michigan property.
Investing Improperly
Many retirees regret their investment decisions. Respondents in the Retiree Reflections Survey noted they wished they had used Roth individual retirement accounts rather than traditional retirement accounts and had invested more aggressively but less speculatively when younger. Others expressed regret that they did not use a financial planner.
Perhaps as a result of those retirement investment choices, nearly half of retirees surveyed by the Employee Benefit Research Institute said they didn’t realize the impact taxes would have on their financial situation in retirement.
Withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts are subject to income tax, while Roth accounts offer tax-free withdrawals. Many retirees also discover that a portion of their Social Security income is subject to taxes.
[Related:Reasons to Take Social Security Late at Age 70]
Claiming Social Security Too Early
While the current full retirement age for most workers is between 66 and 67, the Social Security Administration allows people to start their benefits as early as 62. Doing so comes at a cost, though; you could see your monthly payments cut by up to 30%.
That’s a permanent reduction in benefits, something that will undoubtedly come as a surprise to the 49% of respondents in the 2022 Social Security Consumer Survey from Nationwide Research Institute who thought that benefits would automatically go up once they reached their full retirement age. Plus, those who continue working while receiving early benefits may see them further reduced if their income crosses certain thresholds.
Claiming Social Security benefits too early was a regret of 19% of those surveyed for the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
Quitting Too Soon
Leaving the workforce too soon was the No. 1 financial regret uncovered by researchers who compiled data for the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. Of those surveyed, 34% wished they had worked longer, while only 6% said they regretted working too long.
For retirees who quit their jobs and then have second thoughts, all is not lost. There are many opportunities for older workers to find fulfilling work that can also provide extra income.
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The 10 Biggest Regrets of Retirees originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 08/01/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
