Dear Friend,

If we were having coffee, I’d slide one sheet of paper across the table and say: “These are the landmines. Step on even a few and you’ll feel it for the rest of your life.” So here it is—the short, sharp list of retirement mistakes I see over and over. Some are tiny choices with big consequences. Others are obvious… until you’re the one under pressure.

Read it now. Circle the ones that make you flinch. Then fix them—before they get expensive.

Mistakes With Irreversible Decisions (Benefits & Pensions)

1. Claiming Social Security too early (or too late) without integrating taxes, longevity, and spousal benefits.
2. Ignoring spousal/survivor benefits coordination (leaves the surviving spouse exposed).
3. Choosing a lump sum vs. monthly pension on gut feel instead of modeling cash flow, risk, COLA, and survivor options.
4. Electing the wrong pension survivorship option because it “pays more today.”
5. Not checking for a pension COLA (inflation slowly strangles flat payments).
6. Walking away from employer benefits (retiree health, HSA continuation, NUA opportunities) without reading the fine print.
7. Failing to verify Social Security earnings history—errors there domino through your entire plan.

Tax & Withdrawal Mistakes (The Silent Wealth Leak)

1. Withdrawing from the wrong accounts in the wrong order (IRA/Roth/taxable) and paying avoidable taxes.
2. Missing RMDs (or taking the wrong amount) and inviting penalties.
3. Skipping Roth conversions in low‑tax years (and overpaying later when brackets, RMDs, and Social Security taxation collide).
4. Triggering IRMAA Medicare surcharges by bunching income without a plan.
5. Ignoring the 0% long‑term capital gains opportunities (or harvesting gains at the worst time).
6. Not using QCDs (qualified charitable distributions) to give efficiently once RMDs start.
7. Forgetting state tax differences on pensions and Social Security.
8. No plan for estimated tax payments/withholding—year‑end surprise bill.
9. Failing to coordinate tax lots and capital‑loss harvesting in taxable accounts.
10. Leaving company stock tax breaks (e.g., NUA) on the table.

Investment Mistakes (Perfectly Avoidable… Painfully Common)

1. Owning a portfolio that matches your opinions, not your cash‑flow needs and risk capacity.
2. Going too conservative right before retirement (starving long‑term growth)… or too aggressive (sequence‑of‑returns knockout).
3. No rebalancing—letting winners become accidental concentrations.
4. Chasing last year’s hot fund or headline stock.
5. Ignoring fees, trading costs, and tax drag.
6. No Investment Policy Statement (means decisions are made by emotion).
7. Holding the same asset class in every account instead of smart asset location.
8. Neglecting international/diversification entirely.
9. Using margin/leveraged products to “juice” returns (bad timing turns temporary dips into permanent losses).
10. Treating cash as either all or nothing—no purpose‑built cash bucket for withdrawals.

Cash‑Flow & Inflation Mistakes (Death by Paper Cuts)

1. Underestimating inflation over a 20‑ to 30‑year retirement (medical costs can outrun CPI).
2. No written spending plan that separates essentials, lifestyle, and one‑offs (cars, roofs, weddings).
3. Front‑loading spending without guardrails (great decade, lousy back‑nine).
4. Forgetting taxes are an expense when you budget.
5. No cash reserve for 12–24 months of withdrawals (forces sales at bad prices).
6. Not adjusting spending after market shocks (small, early tweaks beat big, late cuts).

Healthcare & Medicare Mistakes (The Booby Traps)

1. Missing Medicare enrollment windows (late penalties stick).
2. Choosing a Part D plan without checking your actual meds each year.
3. Triggering IRMAA brackets by accident (tax planning prevents “accidents”).
4. Retiring at 62 with no plan for pre‑Medicare coverage.
5. Treating Long‑Term Care as a wish instead of a plan (fund, insure, or risk).
6. HSA errors: not maxing in final eligible years, or spending instead of investing HSA dollars for future healthcare.
7. Assuming your old employer’s retiree plan is “good enough” without comparing alternatives.

Estate, Beneficiary & Legal Mistakes (Easy to Fix—If You Look)

1. Out‑of‑date beneficiary forms (divorce, death, adoption, new grandkids).
2. No contingent beneficiaries (assets detour to probate).
3. No will, powers of attorney, or healthcare directives—leaves your family in a mess.
4. Naming your estate as IRA beneficiary (unintended taxes and timing).
5. Ignoring SECURE Act rules on inherited IRAs (10‑year clock traps heirs).
6. Forgetting to coordinate TOD/POD designations with your will and titling.
7. No plan for charitable intent (QCDs, donor‑advised funds, or bequests).

Housing, Debt & Big Ticket Mistakes

1. Paying off a low‑rate mortgage too fast… or keeping a high‑rate one too long.
2. Downsizing without tallying transaction costs, taxes, and HOA math.
3. Treating home equity as untouchable when a buffer (HELOC/reverse mortgage) could prevent forced portfolio sales.
4. Forgetting rising property insurance and taxes in the retirement budget.
5. Cosigning loans that hijack your retirement cash flow.

Administrative & Operations Mistakes (The “Back Office” That Saves You)

1. Not consolidating old 401(k)s/403(b)s—lost statements, lost strategy.
2. Ignoring benefit elections and HR deadlines in your final work year.
3. No annual review of assumptions and plan updates (life changes; keep the plan current).
4. Failing to document a year‑by‑year “Retirement Paycheck” (Expenses, Income, Withdrawals, Options) you can actually follow.
5. Skipping Monte Carlo/what‑if testing—you’re guessing instead of stress‑testing. Results are hypothetical and input‑sensitive; use them to inform—not predict.
6. No plan for digital security, passwords, and account access for your spouse.

Behavior & Decision‑Making Mistakes (Where Good Plans Go To Die)

1. Selling low in scary markets and buying high after euphoric headlines.
2. Confusing news with signals (your plan should drive moves, not pundits).
3. Taking advice from people you like instead of people with a process.
4. Making a once‑and‑done plan and never touching it again.
5. Treating a projection like a promise (projections are not guarantees).
6. Believing “free” advice is actually free (commissions and product constraints hide in the fine print).

How We Keep You Out of the Holes You Don’t See

At Seastrunk Financial, your plan is built and monitored the way airline pilots run a checklist—before takeoff, during turbulence, and after landing:

• CFP®‑led planning in plain English—no mystery meat.
• Written Base Facts pages you can audit: Expenses, Income, Withdrawals, “Looking at Everything,” and Options—so you know exactly how lifestyle is funded year by year.
• Tax‑aware withdrawal sequencing, RMD coordination, and Roth conversion windows mapped to your cash‑flow needs.
• Stress‑testing (e.g., Monte Carlo) to frame decisions with probabilities—not nerves. Hypothetical, assumption‑driven, and used to guide (not guarantee).

Next Step: If three or more of these mistakes made you wince, let’s talk. Book a brief Retirement Readiness Call. We’ll pinpoint your top risks and give you a clear, prioritized fix‑list. If there’s no fit, we’ll still point you in the right direction.

To your freedom,

Seastrunk Financial
Retirement Planning & Investment Management

P.S. The most expensive words in retirement are, “We’ll figure it out.” Don’t guess on Social Security timing, pension elections, or withdrawal sequence. These decisions deserve a plan you can see on one page—before you pull the trigger.

Compliance & clarity notes (plain English): This is general information, not individualized financial, tax, or legal advice. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Projections and Monte Carlo analyses are hypothetical and based on assumptions; they are not guarantees of future results. Review your plan at least annually or when your life changes.