Accounting

Quitting work too soon. One-third of all retirees will live to be over 91 years of age. Avoid the mistake of rushing to retire as soon as possible. Working until age 66 instead of 62 will increase your social security benefits by 25 percent. You can expect social security payments 75 percent higher if you wait until you’re 70 years old. Overestimating investment returns. Stock market returns can be depressed for 10 years or more. Just because the average return is 7.0 percent after adjusting for inflation doesn’t mean it’s seven percent every year. Be realistic in your assumptions about future returns.