Top of the regret list was failing to put a plan in place early enough to enjoy retirement. Retirement may be just around the corner for some people or a long way off for others, but a new survey conducted by Opinium indicates that almost four in 10 pensioners have regrets. Top of the regret list was failing to put a plan in place early enough to enjoy retirement (15%).
This was followed by one in ten wishing they had boosted pension contributions earlier, taken financial advice or understood the different retirement options. However, more than half of respondents (61%), said they had no retirement regrets. Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown says that “taking the time to plan ahead reduces the risk of knee jerk actions that you may come to regret”.
She explained: “No-one wants to reach retirement rueing missed opportunities to boost a pension pot, and yet almost four in 10 of us do. By far the most common regret is not having planned far enough in advance. It’s an understandable impulse to put it off when you are struggling in the here and now and retirement seems many years away.
” However, Ms Morrissey warns that the closer you get to retirement, the less you can do if you find you aren’t on track for the lifestyle you hoped for. She continued: “It’s a similar case with boosting contributions - one in 10 retired people wish they had set aside more for their pensions when they had the chance. Even boosting contributions by rela.