5 Retirement Planning Mistakes People Make in Their 50s
Sam's List Editorial | 2026-06-27
5 Retirement Planning Mistakes People Make in Their 50s Your 50s are the decade when retirement stops being abstract. It is also when certain mistakes get expensive, because there is less time to recover from them. The good news is that this is still a window to adjust, if you catch the issues now. Here are five retirement planning mistakes people make in their 50s, what each one risks, and the corrective step to consider. None of this is advice for your specific situation, and every correction has trade-offs. The goal is to flag the common traps so you can examine them with a professional while time is still on your side. 1. Not Taking Advantage of Catch-Up Contributions Once you reach your 50s, retirement accounts generally allow larger catch-up contributions. Many people do not increase their savings to use them. The risk: leaving tax-advantaged growth on the table in your highest-earning years. The corrective step: review whether you can raise contributions to capture them. 2. Being Too Aggressive, or Too Conservative Some people stay heavily invested in stocks right up to retirement; others flee to cash too early and give up needed growth. Both extremes carry risk. The risk: a poorly timed market drop, or outliving savings that grew too slowly. The corrective step: revisit your allocation with your time horizon and risk tolerance in mind. 3. Ignoring Sequence-of-Returns Risk A market decline in the first years of retirement, while you are withdrawing, can do lasting damage, more than the same decline later. Many pre-retirees never consider it. The risk: drawing down a shrinking portfolio early and never recovering. The corrective step: plan a withdrawal strategy that accounts for this risk before you retire. 4. Overlooking Tax Planning How your savings are split across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts affects your retirement tax bill, and the years before retirement can be a window for moves like Roth conversions. The risk: a larger lifetime tax bill than necessary. The corrective step: coordinate tax planning with your accountant well before you retire. 5. Not Planning for Healthcare and Longevity People underestimate both how long retirement may last and what healthcare will cost, including the gap before Medicare and the risk of long-term care. The risk: a plan that runs short in the years you can least afford it. The corrective step: build these costs into your plan rather than hoping they stay small. Where an Advisor Helps Your 50s reward planning that looks at investments, taxes, and longevity together rather than in pieces....
