Lifestyle
7 Retirement Mistakes Financial Planners See People Make in Their 50s
By Curtis Jones · June 24, 2026
Your 50s are the retirement red zone. The decisions you make between 50 and 65 have a disproportionate effect on how your retirement plays out — because you have less time to recover from mistakes and more at stake when you make them. Here are seven that financial planners say they see repeatedly.
1. Not knowing your number
Only 36% of retirement savers over 50 expect to have enough money to be financially secure in retirement at their current savings rate, according to an AARP survey. The first step is knowing what “enough” actually means for your household. The general rule is 80% of your working income annually in retirement, but the real number depends on your health, your housing costs, your debt, and where you plan to live. AARP’s retirement calculator provides a personalized estimate. Running it now — not at 64 — gives you time to close any gap.
2. Not maxing out catch-up contributions
In 2026, workers can contribute up to $24,500 to a 401(k). Workers 50 and older can add an additional $8,000 in catch-up contributions for a total of $32,500. Workers aged 60-63 get an even higher catch-up of $11,250, for a total of $35,750. These limits exist specifically because the government recognizes that people in their 50s need to accelerate savings. If you can afford to contribute more and you’re not, you are leaving the most powerful tool available to you unused.
3. Carrying high-interest credit card debt into your 60s
Generation X has the highest average credit card balance of any age group at $9,600, and the average interest rate is 20.97%. At that rate, carrying a balance costs far more than any investment return you could reasonably earn. Paying down credit card debt should be the top financial priority before accelerating retirement contributions — because the interest you’re paying outpaces the returns you’d earn.
4. Raiding retirement accounts for emergencies
Withdrawing from a 401(k) before age 59½ triggers income taxes plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty — meaning you lose 25 to 35% of whatever you take out. The money disappears twice: once to taxes and penalties, and again from the compound growth it would have generated over the remaining years before retirement. Build an emergency fund separate from retirement accounts. Even three months of expenses in a savings account prevents the most expensive mistake in retirement planning.
5. Taking on too much risk — or too little
Some people in their 50s who’ve fallen behind try to catch up by making aggressive bets on individual stocks or speculative investments. Others overcorrect in the opposite direction, moving everything to cash or bonds and missing the growth their portfolio still needs. The right balance depends on your timeline — and a diversified portfolio of index funds is what most financial planners recommend for the decade before retirement.
6. Funding children’s college instead of your own retirement
The instinct to help your children is powerful. The math is unforgiving. You can borrow for education. You cannot borrow for retirement. Every dollar diverted from retirement savings to a child’s college fund in your 50s costs significantly more than the same dollar would have at 35 — because there is less time for it to compound. Help your children if you can, but not at the expense of your own security.
7. Not having the hard conversation with aging parents
Financial planners say they see clients in their 50s suddenly saddled with caregiving costs they never anticipated because they never asked their parents about long-term care plans, savings, insurance, or end-of-life wishes. The conversation is uncomfortable. The absence of the conversation is expensive. Have it now.
Your 50s are the last full decade in which you have both earned income and time on your side. Every year you wait to address these seven items, the math gets harder.