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The Top Five Regrets of Older Retirees
And how to avoid them
A viral video from My Retired Life recently highlighted the top five regrets of an admittedly tiny sample of retirees in their 70s and 80s.
In spite of the small sample and unscientific nature of the results, few of the octogenarian and nonagenarians I know would argue with the overall tone of the video. And yes I know a fair few. I’m a carer for my 90-year-old mother, and closely involved with her same-age friendship group.
Yet many of these regrets are avoidable, so let’s take a look at them, and what the workarounds might be.
Retiring too late
This is an interesting one for a couple of reasons. Older retirees wish they retired sooner. However:
- Many Americans don’t have the opportunity to retire young, and one in three think they’ll never retire fully.
- While it seems like a reasonable regret, there’s evidence to show that retiring can actually be detrimental to wellbeing and happiness.
This is one that really needs to be put in context. It makes sense that many older retirees who worked traditional jobs and retired at 65 have regrets. An earlier retirement would have allowed them to enjoy the leisure and travel opportunities retirement brings at a…