The five biggest mistakes retirees make, advice from Steve Sexton

“Winning In Life” is the radio show hosted by top financial advisor, Steve Sexton. Steve is the President of Sexton Advisory Group and he is also involved with many local charities around the San Diego and Southern California region. Each week on the show, he provides his listeners with exclusive advice in financial planning and he also invites guest speakers to talk about other important topics ranging from health and charity to travel and much more.  Tune in every Sunday morning at 9:00 KCBQ 1170 AM to hear the show live.

The main topic of discussion this past Sunday is the five biggest mistakes that retirees make that threaten their financial security. These mistakes include:

1. An unclear retirement plan
2. Too much portfolio risk
3. No tax plan
4. No health care strategy
5. Using classical estate plans that don’t work

Most of these topics are issues that everyday people are not aware of. Steve emphasizes the importance of being aware and having every piece of information before making a financial decision that could go bad.

Do you have a clearly defined retirement plan? If not, Steve says you definitely should! When it comes to retirement, Steve tells the listeners that most people don’t have a clearly defined plan. Everyone works hard, makes a lot of money, spends the money, but they don’t look into having an income plan for the future. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself in order to figure out if you have a good plan:

1. Is your plan flexible enough?
2.  Is it bulletproof against risky downturns?
3. Will it fight inflation?
4. Is it guaranteed to last long enough for you and your spouse?

Another big topic that is discussed on this week’s show is having too much portfolio risk, which Steve concludes is probably the biggest mistakes retirees make. What does this mean? When we are young, we’re allowed to have as much financial risk as we want because we have time. However, when we retire, we should be at the point where we don’t have any risk. Most people don’t realize that when you start working, you are accumulating your assets. But when you retire, you should be distributing and retaining them. “People don’t know what they don’t know,” expresses Steve.