8 Retirement Mistakes to Avoid

The web is likely cluttered with articles and posts about the critical retirement mistakes to avoid.  But in working with people first hand I often come up with ideas that I believe are worth sharing no matter how often they may or may not be published.Anyone of the topics below only begins to scratch the surface upon another layer of detail that would be required as part of a complete wealth management plan.  However for the DIY investors and planners out there maybe there is something here that you previously had not thought about.

1. Define what your investment purpose is i.e. Retirement, College, New House, Second House, etc.
2. Retiring too early; this doesn't mean keeping working altogether, look at part-time or even a career change as options
3. Do not trust your employer to make an investment decisions for you; a recent trend for companies is to automatically enroll you in retirement plans such as a 401k which is probably a good thing.  The bad piece of this is that they have to select a default investment for you as well which could be bad and not aligned with your risk/reward profile or your investment goals
4. Not saving enough; I have never heard anyone say I saved too much
5. Leaving a tax bill for your heirs; smart estate planning can save everyone money putting more assets to work well after you are gone
6. Underestimating the cost of health care; medical costs are likely one of the biggest expenses during retirement
7. There is no such thing as a free lunch; beware of people peddling products that guarantee a certain return or income
8.  Work with an advisor you trust; this is typically someone who has a fiduciary responsibility to look at your best interest all the time vs. some of the time or looking for commissions