It’s never too early and never too late. Here are a few retirement myths to start busting right now! Retirement planning myth articles might not be at the top of your weekend reading list but this one will take you less than three minutes to read and it could save you a lot of financial pain later.

Six Retirement Planning Myths

Myth #1. When I retire I won’t need as much to live on.

Hogwash! How do you know what the cost of living is going to be? Sure the kids are off on their own and the house might be paid off but medical bills and cost of living are unpredictable. You should be able to live on less but why would you want to?

Myth #2. I’m a young pup and retirement is far, far away!

Get real dude, time flies when you’re having fun and burning mun. Of course it’s much easier to save a measly $29 a week at 34 than it is to save a whopping $240 at 54! That’s about what it’s going to take to have $200k in the old nest egg at 65. So there you have it. You can do it the hard we or the easy way. You decide oh youthful one!

Myth #3. My adorable children will take care of me.

Whoa! Haven’t you been watching TV? Your kids are more likely to move back in with you than they are to take care of you! Think back a bit… didn’t you preach to your kids about personal responsibility and good old independence? Keep your kids in your life but keep them out of your retirement planning.

Myth #4. I’m counting on social security to save my bacon!

Yeah, that will be the day when pigs fly. Uncle Sam hasn’t figured out if there will even be any social security in another decade or two. If you want to hold onto a weak retirement strategy then just count on Uncle Sam to be there with that retirement check when you need it. You are better off counting on your own discipline and resourcefulness. You can start drawing social security at 62 but depending on your age, you might be better off to consider that as a bonus than a sure thing.

Myth #5. I don’t have enough money to save or invest for retirement.

That might be true but then… maybe not. Take a hard look at where your money is going. Have you maximized your contributions to your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plans? Have you considered leveraging your home equity or other under-performing assets into safe and secure investments? Have you scrutinized your spending habits? Do you really need that satellite dish and 500 channels of mind numbing video? Do you really need the newest and shiniest shoes and chicest Chevy’s? Even if you can only save a small amount each week, start now. Be consistent and automatic with savings and investing. You might never feel like it’s enough but that is no reason to not to start.

Myth #6. I can’t afford a financial planner.

Many financial planners are compensated by the companies they represent and therefore charge nothing to you unless you do business with them. Others charge for their time on an hourly or fee-based schedule. Find someone you trust and get references. Take your time, go slow and do a little homework. Retirement planning is all about the future but it needs to start today.

Many people in our society are clinging to retirement myths, despite the publicity and information available. Holding on to these myths as truth can be very harmful to your happiness in retirement.

To help you avoid holding on to these detrimental myths, I’d like to offer my take on some of the most widely held retirement myths.

Myth #1: Retirement is an event that occurs on the last day of your career. This is false. Retirement is a new phase of your life, quite unlike any previous stage of living. Few people step from the career phase of life to the retirement phase in a single action. The truth is that there will be a transition period of moving into a new lifestyle. The truth is that it will probably take a year or more for you to create your new retirement lifestyle.

Myth #2: Someone or something else will take care of me in retirement. This is unlikely today. Whether myth is that Social Security will take care of you or that you will be taken care of by an inheritance from your parents or by your children, it is increasingly unlikely that someone else will take care of you. Many retirees cannot subsist on Social Security alone. Many pensions have evaporated. Your parents now face the same economic challenges you are facing and will probably need to use much of their savings. Your children will also face these economic challenges, will need to be attending to the needs of their children, and must be saving for their own retirement. While I don’t think Social Security will disappear in the next ten years, as some predict, I do think it likely that retirement income from the government will decrease in the future.

Myth #3: I won’t need much to live on. The truth of this statement depends on how you define “much.” A recent study indicated that the average retiree will spend $250,000 on medical expenses between age 65 and death. We can expect to live another 18 to 30 years after retirement. As the cost of many essentials for living continues to rise, you might need to be thinking seriously about how you will supplement your retirement income.

Myth #4: Retirement is easy – it’s just one great long weekend. For the vast majority of people, this is simply not true. We all need meaning and purpose in our lives – this does not end when we retire from a job. The retirement transition can be difficult and can result in depression. Many people enter the second phase of life (retirement) with the attitude that they will spend the rest of their lives relaxing on a beach somewhere or pursuing other leisure activities. Most discover within one to three years, that a steady diet of leisure and relaxation creates a pretty empty and shallow existence. Our rest needs to be balanced by activity; our relaxation needs to be balanced with purposeful activity.

Myth #5: Retirement will be wonderful because I’ll spend all of my time with my spouse or significant other. Spending all of your time with your spouse or significant other will introduce new challenges to your retirement lifestyle. Many couples actually spend only about 20% of their time with their spouse before retiring. They don’t realize there must be some adjustment to spending significantly more time with their spouse. Statistics are indicating now that the highest divorce rate is with couples over age 55.