Investors Share Their Biggest Retirement Fears

Within Robert Burns' famous poem "To a Mouse" there are two stanzas that issue a message of timeless wisdom:

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley." It's more recognizable dialect-free, of course: Our best laid plans often go awry.

And so it goes for our retirement plans as well; despite our careful planning, so many things about retirement just can't be anticipated. We recently asked Morningstar.com readers "What is your biggest fear about retirement?"

We were surprised by the responses we received, particularly because the majority were more personal than financial. Readers were very candid and intimate in sharing their fears. Some respondents said they were afraid they would die early or become so infirm that they would not be able to enjoy their retirement to the fullest. Other readers feared that retirement would leave them feeling isolated, alienated, or irrelevant. Still others were concerned that deteriorating health or mental faculties would cause them to be a burden on loved ones, or that they or their spouse would spend their golden years alone.

Of course, we also heard financial- and investment-related concerns. Many readers said they are concerned that they won't be able to afford healthcare or health insurance. Others mentioned concerns that changing tax policies and inflation will leave them with less money in retirement than they had anticipated.

Finally, an interesting intersection of personal and financial concerns was pointed out by those who said it's possible to be too conservative in saving for retirement, and too frugal in your spending. You only live once; you might as well enjoy it, these readers pointed out.

The following is a summary of the many thoughtful responses we received. To read the full thread and weigh in yourself, click here.

'Retiring can be a huge culture shock.' --Mickeg "My concern is staying relevant and engaged after I check out of the daily grind and retire from working 50 hours a week," said phil56. "That is, relevant to friends and family while staying mentally agile."

"My biggest concern was too little social interaction with others," said johnep. "Most of my friends and social interactions came through work. After retirement, interaction with those friends declined and six years later, I do not have much contact with my work friends. I have compensated by establishing new contacts and friends through my church, volunteer organizations, and professional organizations."

"… Actually being one of 'them'--that invisible senior class no longer having a voice that matters (e.g., irrelevancy)," said GTB1954.

Ministeed said: "Before retirement, my biggest fear was having enough assets to have a comfortable life. After retirement, my fears have become health status decline and being bored and feeling that I don't 'belong' anymore."

'My greatest fear is being alone.' --lancepalmer "A year ago, it didn't even occur to me that I might be alone for the rest of my life," said sschullo. "My biggest fear at that time was growing older and what to do to take care of ourselves as a couple. That changed in one terrible week last October when my spouse of 40 years suddenly and shockingly died at a relatively young age of 74. Being a widower for 10 months, my biggest fear now is what other unpredictable surprises can life unveil. Based on my experience this past 10 months, the question should be how will you react to life's inevitable surprises, not what is your worst fear."

"Biggest fear of retirement? Not making it. I'm 62 now with no debt sufficient savings for me and my wife to live 30 years, but I have a brain tumor and should have been dead a year ago … My wife has wonderful travel ideas but I just can't let go of my world," said Big Red.

"My wife (58) and I (62) have no children. We have prepared all of our lives for retirement and we have more than enough money. But who will make decisions, if we are still alive, but our mental capacity has declined? … I am also very much concerned about my wife, should I die before her. There is nobody that will take care of her every need, even with the long term care insurance we have," said Zachary.

"My biggest fear when younger was growing old alone. Well it's here and I don't see it changing," said Bruzer. "Another fear is the inevitibility of not being able to take care of myself and losing my independence (this, of course, is tied to being alone)."

'Healthcare is the biggest unknown.' --FD1000 "My number-one concern is healthcare," said Grundlichkeit. "The degradation of my wife's medical insurance policy under the Democratic-passed [Affordable Care Act] has significantly increased costs for my MS-afflicted wife. As a result, we have reduced our lifestyle expectations as we pass through our first year of retirement."

"My biggest fear is that health issues and general living costs will eat up all the money I've saved with the sole intention of leaving it to my daughter, who has some pretty serious medical issues of her own and may at some point need every nickel she can get," said Floete.

"Medical Insurance and medical expenses. You can estimate your living expenses, food, car, taxes, property insurance, utility bills ... even inflation, but who knows what the requirements for medical insurance will be and what our out-of-pocket costs will be over the next 30 years?" said Daudleyg.

"My biggest fear is shared by many fellow readers--medical costs and long-term care costs," said FingerlakesGuy. "While my wife and I have set aside a fairly substantial portfolio to augment our pensions, the reality is that the portfolio could be depleted quickly if either one of us had to go into a long-term care facility for an extended period of time."

'Runaway inflation.' --hctim7 "I've been retired now for 25 years, and last year our expenses exceeded our income from many sources. So now we're spending savings," said monkeylover. "The government says, through the CPI, that inflation is less than 2% so no Social Security [COLA] increases, but can you think of anything--taxes, drugs, food, clothing, utilities, Jim Beam--that is less or even the same price as last year? The only thing I can think of that is lower in price is gasoline."

"My biggest fear is that my investment will be sucked away by inflation. I mean, its rate is increasing, while banks don't really desire to increase their rates," said MargaretLavigne.

"Inflation as measured by the CPI understates the increasing costs that retirees see. Thus, many on a fixed income will see declining real incomes," said mickeg.

'Not having enough time left to do everything I've put off while saving for retirement.' --Redmoo "I have contributed the maximum contribution to an IRA each year, and balanced investments between Roth, Trad IRA and taxable. I have a nice triangle. At retirement I'll have a decent, but not 'wow,' stockpile of money," said Advis1165. "But who wants to have a huge stockpile of money at the end of life if you had to sacrifice living a fulfilling one to get it?"

"One 'mistake' I see too often among retirees is not spending enough money. I know an 85-year-old woman worth over $3 million who lives in squalor and is such a penny-pincher that she buys those tasteless tomatoes that could stop a .22 caliber bullet instead of splurging on the more expensive heirloom tomatoes that are sweet and juicy," said Chang.