Chapter 17
Ten Common Retirement and Estate Planning Mistakes
IN THIS CHAPTER
Avoiding the mistakes of those who retired before you
Improving the quality of your retirement by planning ahead
When putting together your retirement and estate plans, you have many steps to take. While there are often similarities, no one’s plan is exactly the same as another’s; everyone’s has unique elements. The details of plans are changing as folks live longer and are more active. Even so, many people make similar planning mistakes; these mistakes may mean the difference between a satisfying retirement and an unsatisfying one. You can discover some important lessons from other people’s mistakes.
Although some information about retirement and estate planning is easy to find, other information isn’t — and most of the mistakes people make result from wrong assumptions or misinformation. In addition, some elements of financial planning involve as much art as science. Sometimes the intuitive answer isn’t always the best answer.
In this chapter, we discuss the recurring mistakes we’ve seen over the years. Correcting these actions won’t make for a complete financial plan. But when you avoid these mistakes, you’ll be a long way down the road to a satisfying retirement.
Not Having at Least a Basic Financial ...
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