10 Things Retirees Who Never Run Out of Money Avoid Doing

Some retirees watch their savings stretch comfortably across three decades. Others start with a similar nest egg and run dry years too soon. The difference often isn't luck, and it isn't always how much they saved.

In EBRI's 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey, 73% of retirees said they were confident they'd have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. That's down from 78% a year earlier. Whatever the mood, the same avoidable mistakes tend to come up again and again. Here are 10 of them. Even careful savers could slip into a few of these financial mistakes.

Withdrawing the same dollar amount no matter what the market does

Retirees who never adjust their withdrawals, even when markets fall, end up selling more shares than they planned during a downturn. That could lock in losses and leave less money invested to bounce back later.

Fidelity's current guidance suggests taking no more than 4% to 5% of savings in the first year of retirement, then adjusting that dollar amount for inflation each year after. Fidelity's analysis uses a 90% success threshold, with results depending on the retirement horizon and investment mix.

But that range is a starting point, not a fixed script. Many planners prefer a flexible approach that trims spending in rough years and allows a little more in good ones.

Keeping no cash reserve for a bad year

A cash cushion could help cover spending without selling stocks during a downturn. Without one, a bad year could turn into a permanent dent in the portfolio.

Cash cushions are thin for a lot of households. A 2019 EBRI analysis of Federal Reserve data found that only about half of workers said they had a rainy-day fund that could cover three months of expenses. Among families with a working head, just 20.1% had liquid savings worth more than three months of income.

Those numbers cover workers rather than retirees, but they show how common it is to have little or no buffer. T. Rowe Price suggests that retirees consider a cash reserve that could cover one to two years of spending needs.

Claiming Social Security early without running the numbers

Claiming at 62 instead of full retirement age permanently lowers a monthly benefit by as much as 30%, according to the Social Security Administration. For someone whose full retirement age is 67, a $1,000 benefit drops to $700 at 62. Running the break-even math helps. Claiming at 62 would bring in about $42,000 before the larger checks start at 67. The extra $300 a month would then take about 140 months, or until roughly age 78 1/2, to catch up, before counting cost-of-living increases.

Waiting past full retirement age works the other way. For people born in 1943 or later, delayed retirement credits increase benefits by 8% annually until age 70. Jason Fichtner, executive director of the LIMRA Retirement Income Institute and a former acting deputy commissioner of Social Security, has said that people who could afford to wait should delay to 70, even with the program's long-term funding problems, because the larger benefit is inflation-protected for life.

Those increases are real money: Social Security has announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment that starts with January 2027 payments.

One change making news is cosmetic. Congress has passed a bill that would rename the claiming ages, so 62 becomes the "minimum benefit age," full retirement age becomes the "standard benefit age," and 70 becomes the "maximum benefit age." The House passed it in December 2025, and the Senate followed at the end of September 2026, sending it to the president. It hadn't been signed into law as of late October 2026, and it wouldn't change the ages themselves or how benefits are calculated.

Carrying high-interest debt into retirement

Debt doesn't retire when its owner does, and it hits harder without a paycheck coming in. In EBRI's 2026 survey, 65% of workers said debt is a problem for their household, and 3 in 10 retirees said debt hurts their ability to live comfortably in retirement.

Credit card balances and other high-interest debt could force bigger withdrawals just to cover interest payments. That drains a portfolio that no longer gets refilled by a salary, which is why many retirees try to clear expensive debt before they stop working.

Underestimating health care costs and the Medicare income lookback

Medicare's standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026. Higher earners pay more through a surcharge known as IRMAA, short for income-related monthly adjustment amount. The catch is the timing: the surcharge is based on a tax return from two years earlier, so 2026 premiums are set using 2024 income.

A one-time income spike, such as a Roth conversion or a big capital gain, could raise premiums two years later, long after the money was spent.

In 2026, the surcharge kicks in above $109,000 in modified adjusted gross income for individual filers and $218,000 for married couples filing jointly. It climbs in steps to an extra $487 a month at the top, which starts at $500,000 for single filers and $750,000 for joint filers. Medicare had not released 2027 premiums or income cutoffs as of late October 2026.

Long-term care is the other cost retirees tend to lowball. CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released in March 2026, put the national median price of a private nursing home room at $355 a day, or $129,575 a year. The median for assisted living was $6,200 a month, or $74,400 a year.

Becoming a financial backstop for adult children

Plenty of parents keep helping grown kids with money. In a 2025 Ameriprise survey of parents with adult children, 63% said they cover ongoing expenses, such as living costs and phone bills, for children 21 and older. In any single month, that help might feel manageable. Over years, it adds up.

Deana Healy, vice president of financial planning and advice at Ameriprise, has said parents should be mindful of how the help they give adult children today affects their own goals, especially retirement. Without a paycheck to refill it, a drained retirement account could be hard to rebuild.

Letting fees quietly erode returns

Fund expenses reduce investment returns, while advisory fees may be charged directly to an account. Both could leave less money available for retirement spending. A Morningstar analysis reported by AARP in 2022 found that paying 1% a year to a fund manager, an advisor, or both lowered the withdrawal rate a retiree could safely start with by about 0.4 percentage points.

Across a retirement that might run 30 years, a small, steady fee difference could mean a noticeably smaller balance or a shorter runway before the money runs out.

Holding too much in a single stock or former employer

A big position in one company, often shares from a former employer, might feel safe because it's familiar. It isn't. One company's bad news could hit a retiree's income in a way a mix of investments wouldn't.

When a large share of retirement income depends on one stock, the rest of the portfolio may not provide enough diversification to cushion the fall if that company stumbles.

Treating the 4% rule as a guarantee, not a starting point

The 4% rule was never meant to be a promise. Morningstar's December 2025 research estimated a 3.9% starting withdrawal rate for consistent, inflation-adjusted spending over 30 years, targeting a 90% probability of funds remaining. Certain flexible strategies supported starting rates as high as 5.7%, in exchange for changes in spending.

Other research points to higher rates. Bill Bengen, the financial planner who came up with the original 4% rule, has said he recommends a starting rate of 5.25% to 5.5% for today's retirees, in line with his 2025 book, "A Richer Retirement." The spread between those numbers is the real lesson. A withdrawal rate works best as a guide a retiree could adjust, not a law.

Not reviewing the withdrawal rate every year

The habit that ties this whole list together is an annual check-in. Retirees whose money lasts tend to compare what they're withdrawing against how the portfolio actually did, then adjust.

A strong year might support a little more spending. A down year might call for pulling back for a while. That yearly review is what turns the 4% rule, or any withdrawal plan, from a one-time guess into something that responds to real conditions.

Bottom line

Most of these mistakes aren't about how much someone saved. They're about habits: whether withdrawals flex with the market, whether debt and fees stay in check, and whether the plan gets a fresh look instead of running on autopilot.

Retirees who stay confident years in tend to treat their withdrawal rate as a number to check every year, not a decision made once. For anyone who wants help turning that check-in into specific moves, a financial professional could run the numbers against a full financial picture. A clear income plan could also help retirees avoid running out of money in retirement.

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