Americans who over-saved for retirement told BI they wish they had spent more time and money on experiences with loved ones.Getty Images; Jenny Zhang Rodriguez/PI
Some Americans “over-save” for retirement and end up sacrificing during their working years.
Financial planners advise balancing savings with enjoying life to avoid regret in retirement.
This is part of an ongoing series on the regrets of older Americans.
Winston is one of a few dozen respondents to an informal Business Insider poll who said so I worked hard During their careers or have focused a lot on saving for retirement, Sacrificing family timeOr travel or other leisure activities when they were younger. They are among more than 3,600 older Americans who have shared their lives Life’s regrets Through surveys or direct emails to journalists. This story is part of an ongoing series.
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Some survey respondents believe they are behind Retirement goals They chose to skip the big purchases, only to realize that they were well prepared and very cautious about getting there. A few traumatic experiences, such as Death of a family member Or catastrophic Medical diagnosisWhich made them worried about saving money in case of another emergency. Interviews with five Americans who thought they were frugal We point out the difficulties in knowing how to better prepare for retirement.
Dylan Tyson, head of retirement strategies at Prudential Financial, described the mindset of savers: “You… Reducing living “Not making that extra trip or going to that concert or ball game with family and friends — because you’re worried you won’t have enough.”
Winston, who lives in Arizona, has spent most of his career in veterinary work. All his life he drove Modest vehicleslived in an upper-middle-class home, and was cautious about making larger purchases.
He retired with about $3 million, but he wished he had spent some of that money on an assistant for his practice so he wouldn’t have to work nights running the emergency vet helpline.
Joshua Winston said he missed some entertainment opportunities because of his work schedule.Joshua Winston
“It sucked a lot of the oxygen out of my life. I could never watch a movie when I went out with my wife because I was getting dozens of phone calls,” Winston said, though he admitted the helpline helped make his practice a success.
He planned to spend some of his savings on RetirementBut he was diagnosed with lung cancer in May and said life had been “hell” since then.
“I have enough money to live until I’m 95 and go on vacation. I have a whole life ahead of me, and this is what happens,” Winston said. “I have cancer, and I may not even enjoy the money I worked so hard to save.”
Tyson said that while many… Retirement It is a “guess work”: people must try to determine how much income they will need over their lifetime to achieve their retirement goals while balancing their spending needs, wants and desires.
“With millions of Americans facing uncertainty, we’re seeing the smartest among them taking action to create financial plans that focus squarely on the things that matter most,” Tyson said. “They then protect these goals by ensuring they have secure, predictable income to fund their retirement needs and desires – freeing them to worry less and achieve their greatest desires.”
Ruth Mills, 63, said Start saving later In life, he made seven figures through frugal living and careful investing. The Minnesota resident had children in her early 20s and had limited financial resources. your Single motherShe held multiple jobs, working odd jobs as a part-time in-home personal care aide in addition to working full-time. She worked her way up to the position of chief accounting officer for the state.
She said that because she worked a lot and cared for her children alone, she lost opportunities to go out with them friends Or travel more with family. She said part of her wished she had given away some savings so she could work a lesser job or pursue hobbies.
Ruth Mills said she often missed dinner with friends while raising her children.Ruth Mills
“I saved pretty well for retirement, but I was pretty frugal along the way and didn’t have as much fun when I was younger as I worked a lot,” Mills said.
Mills said she postponed a trip to Ireland that she was no longer physically ready to take. She recently Reduce its size Her home and she hopes to retire soon and use her retirement years to pamper her grandchildren and have an active lifestyle.
“Having all the money in the world is great, and I don’t have that, but if you don’t have the friends and people to spend it with in the end, it’s a trade-off,” Mills said. “Having made the necessary sacrifices to save and invest earlier, I look forward to having the financial security to be able to purchase basic necessities and share adventures and experiences with my grandchildren,” she added.
Ryan Victorin, a financial advisor and CFP at Fidelity, said she sees three categories of “excess savers”: people who face an unfortunate event that prevents them from spending the money they have saved, and people who worry they will never have enough because Health care costs Or market fluctuations, and people who continue to work because they have not mentally prepared for retirement, fearing it will be monotonous or isolating.
She also said that now-retired baby boomers grew up hearing stories about their parents or grandparents going through the Great Depression.
“Sometimes I hear from my clients who have saved well, saying that continuing to save is so important, and they feel like they can’t enjoy themselves or live their lives because they have to keep saving,” she said.
Kirk, 75, said he didn’t realize he was doing such a good job preparing for retirement. The retired California attorney, who asked that only his first name be used for privacy reasons, worked at various financial institutions and maxed out his 401(k). He has accumulated more than $1.1 million in tax-deferred retirement savings. However, he feared that an emergency or market collapse would derail his plans Comfortable retirement.
After retiring from his full-time job at the age of 67, he realized there were opportunities he missed by cutting back on spending. He regrets not going on a week-long trip to France with his brother in his sixties; Now his brother faces cognitive challenges that make travel difficult. On a trip to Hawaii, he signed up his two children for a helicopter tour, but did not go himself to save money.
“It would have been a great experience to share with them and talk about for years to come,” Kirk said. “Now I can pay for a dozen helicopter trips and not miss out on money.”
It’s important to look at the gap between expenses and income and see where there is wiggle room in your budget other than saving for retirement, which may help alleviate some of these concerns older Americans have, Victorin said.
“When you make a financial plan, you can build in the ‘what ifs’ and see what it will look like,” Victorin said. “What if we took an extra flight and spent more money? What if we traveled business class instead of coach or economy class? What if we started helping our children more?”
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