Charging an expensive pair of shoes or paying too much for dinner in Midtown may cause some regrets, but probably won't have too much of an effect on your path to retirement. There are some financial decisions, however, that could put a serious dent in your retirement plans. Below are some financial decisions you could find yourself making today that could cause regrets later on.
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Waiting too long to start saving
According to Kiplinger, the biggest regret most people in the United States have is that they did not start saving for retirement sooner. They state that instead, many people wait until they reach the age of 40 or 50 to start saving more aggressively. While this does make it harder to build up that nest egg, it is still possible as long as you remain extremely disciplined about putting that money away for retirement.
Hanging it up at age 62
The golden years may beckon at age 62, but retiring before you are 70 can have a big impact on your Social Security. Wait until you reach the age of 70 and you'll receive a return of 8 percent more per year on your lifetime benefit. This means that the amount of pay you will receive through Social Security will rise dramatically. Sadly, if you want to work beyond the age of 70, you may have some extra income for your household, but your Social Security benefits won't continue to increase.
Staying away from the stock market
Although the stock market may seem like a risky proposition, the rate of return on your investment often outweighs the amount of interest you might make with less risky savings methods, such as bonds, money market accounts or CDs. Low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are often good choices when saving for retirement, since they provide a way for you to buy stock in a large number of companies without having to purchase each share as an individual stock. Keep in mind that as you get closer to that retirement age, you will want to stay invested in the stock market, but you should also gradually reduce your holdings to lower the risk of a loss.
Taking a DIY approach
Forbes suggests that investing by yourself when you don't know what you are doing is the equivalent of attempting to perform heart surgery on someone when you're not a doctor. Using a financial adviser not only can help keep you from making costly mistakes with your money, but can also help to ensure that your investment strategy is staying on track.
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