Learning from Retirement Planning Mistakes of Others

Is it wrong to have intense curiosity about retirement planning mistakes made by fellow baby boomers? I think not, if you approach it as a learning tool and not as an opportunity to gloat or criticize. I am occasionally guilty of the latter but I am getting better at not judging others.

Other baby boomers must also be interested in how our peers have failed or succeeded in their retirement planning. I think this because newspapers and magazines continue to features stories about this topic.

Today’s story comes from the “Silicon Valley Insider.”  The story title wants to grab you because it refers to “confessions.”  Three boomers were interviewed, each expressing some regret about their own planning failures.

The first boomer started too late and became engaged in planning only after being shocked into action from watching a parent struggle. “Starting late” (or never) is a common retirement planning theme in our generation .

The second boomer relied entirely on the prospect of a military pension. That backfired when he was discharged from the Air Force before qualifying for a pension. Now he is scrambling. This is somewhat analogous to owning your employer’s stock inside your retirement account. Too much reliance on a single entity can burn you.

The third boomer – a physician – apparently was inattentive to her Keogh retirement plan. Although she contributed the maximum allowed, her allocations were sub-optimal.  The 2008-2009 market crash just crushed her. So, she is now 69, working with a planner, and hopes to retire in two years. You don’t need a planner if you are willing to do the work on your own but you need to do one or the other.

Here is a link to the full “confession” article.

I like success stories as well. I’ve even written about some of them, including long time reader Ron.

Do you know of any retirement planning success or failure stories that I should mention?

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