Despite years of experience Baby Boomers can make mistakes in planning their retirement which can leave the estate without assets as recently discussed by Fox Business in "Baby Boomers' Retirement Woes Summed Up in 5 Statistics."
These mistakes include:
- Social Security – 59% of Baby Boomers are planning to rely heavily on Social Security. The problem is that Social Security benefits are not designed to provide a full income and they may need to be cut in the future.
- No Savings – 45% of Baby Boomers do not have any retirement savings at all.
- Postponed Plans – 30% of Boomers report that they have had to postpone their planned retirements due to lack of savings.
- Stopped Contributions – 30% of Baby Boomers stopped making regular contributions to their retirement accounts. It is important to make contributions even if you do not think you need any more money in the accounts.
- Debt – 44% of people over the age of 65 still have debt that needs to be paid off. Debt payments cut into the amount of money they have for living expenses.
An estate planning attorney can be helpful in planning for retirement and in leaving assets.
Reference: Fox Business (May 15, 2016) "Baby Boomers' Retirement Woes Summed Up in 5 Statistics"