Tom Toggas shares some straightforward but critical advice for everyone looking to develop strong financial habits for a better and more stable road to retirement. Tom Toggas is a financial advisor from the D.C. area.

1. Financial Pitfalls to
Avoid for Retirement
Tom Toggas shares some typical mistakes to avoid when
you are saving for a robust and healthy retirement

2. Abusing Your Home Equity
If you spend it now, you won’t have it later. Should you choose to
sell, raiding your home equity could negatively impact what you
earn. If you get a reverse mortgage at some point, it could lower
the level of payments for which you are eligible.

3. Impromptu Roth IRA Withdrawals
Its flexibility is advantageous, but a dangerous temptation.
Withdrawing from your retirement account doesn’t just rob you of
those funds, but also of their compounding interest and wealth
they accumulate for your future.

4. Failing to Save at All
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming you can’t
afford to save right now. Most of us don’t come to the end of the
month and try to figure out what to do with all the money that’s left.
Saving needs to be in the budget from the start.

5. Financially Supporting Adult Kids
Family is likely a priority in your life. However, if you are going to support
yourself in your golden years - and void becoming a financial burden on
your family then - you need minimize your own costs now. Be very wary
of letting your grown children grow accustomed to your help.

6. Co-Signing for a Relative
Regardless of what the expense is, if your signature is on it, you are on
the hook. Should your relative pay late, your credit could be affected.
And if you ever do need a loan, this obligation will count as your debt
when the lending party determines eligibility.

7. Lacking a Back-Up Plan
Be sure that whatever your savings trajectory looks like, you still have an
emergency fund. Unexpected things happen all the time. What if you
get laid off before you were planning to leave the workforce? Can you
survive that kind of event without destroying your retirement savings?

8. Bad Investment Decisions
Even if you’ve managed to sign up for the 401(k) at work or
to open an IRA for yourself, selecting the wrong funds or
failing to diversify your portfolio can set you up for failure.

9. Forgetting to Be Adaptable
Your investments may well need to change as your goals
do. Keeping your accounts organized is absolutely critical.

10. Claiming Social Security Early
It is very often better to wait. Taking it as soon as possible may be tempting, but
if you anticipate living well into old age, take enough time to really think about
whether the smaller checks will be worth it.

11. Making all your plans — including retirement — for later.
A life of sacrificing for a “later” that may or may not come
is not much of a life. The key is balance.