10 Money Habits Retirees Use to Help Their Savings Last

Some retirees manage to make their savings last for decades, while others with similar nest eggs run short far too soon. The difference usually comes down to habits, not just luck or the size of the portfolio.

In EBRI's Retirement Confidence Survey, 73% of retirees said they expected to have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, down from 78% the year before. Regardless of the overall outlook, the same avoidable mistakes keep showing up. Here are 10 of them.

1. Taking out the same amount regardless of market conditions

Retirees who never change their withdrawals, even during market declines, may be forced to sell more shares than planned. That can lock in losses and leave less money invested for a later rebound.

Fidelity's guidance calls for withdrawing no more than 4% to 5% of savings in the first year of retirement, then increasing that dollar amount for inflation each year. Its analysis uses a 90% success threshold, and the outcome depends on the retirement time frame and investment mix. Even so, that range is only a starting point, not a fixed rule. Many planners favor a more flexible approach that trims spending in weak years and allows a bit more in stronger ones.

2. Having no cash reserve for a rough year

A cash cushion can help cover expenses without forcing stock sales during a downturn. Without one, a bad year can leave a lasting mark on a portfolio.

For many households, cash reserves are thin. A 2019 EBRI analysis of Federal Reserve data found that only about half of workers said they had an emergency fund large enough to cover three months of expenses. Among families with a working head, just 20.1% had liquid savings above three months of income. Those figures refer to workers rather than retirees, but they show how common it is to have little or no buffer. T. Rowe Price suggests retirees consider keeping one to two years of spending needs in cash reserves.

3. Claiming Social Security early without doing the math

Starting Social Security at 62 instead of full retirement age can permanently reduce a monthly benefit by as much as 30%, according to the Social Security Administration. For someone whose full retirement age is 67, a $1,000 benefit would fall to $700 at 62. Doing the break-even math matters. Claiming at 62 would produce about $42,000 before the larger checks begin at 67. The extra $300 a month would then take roughly 140 months, or until about age 78 1/2, to catch up, before cost-of-living increases are included.

Waiting beyond full retirement age works in the opposite direction. For people born in 1943 or later, delayed retirement credits raise benefits by 8% a year until age 70. Jason Fichtner, executive director of the LIMRA Retirement Income Institute and a former acting deputy commissioner of Social Security, has said that people who can afford to wait should delay to 70, even with the program's long-term funding issues, because the higher benefit is inflation-protected for life. Those increases are meaningful: Social Security announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment that begins with January 2027 payments.

One change making headlines is purely cosmetic. Congress passed a bill that would rename the claiming ages so that 62 becomes the minimum benefit age, full retirement age becomes the standard benefit age, and 70 becomes the maximum benefit age. The House approved it in December 2025, and the Senate later followed, sending it to the president. It had not yet become law as of late October 2026, and it would not change the ages themselves or how benefits are calculated.

4. Entering retirement with high-interest debt

Debt does not disappear when someone retires, and it can hurt more without a paycheck coming in. In EBRI's Retirement Confidence Survey, 65% of workers said debt is a problem for their household, and 3 in 10 retirees said debt makes it harder for them to live comfortably in retirement.

Credit card balances and other high-interest obligations can force larger withdrawals just to keep up with interest. That drains a portfolio that is no longer being replenished by salary, which is why many retirees try to pay off expensive debt before leaving work.

5. Underestimating health care costs and the Medicare income lookback

Medicare's standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month. Higher earners pay more through an added charge called IRMAA, short for income-related monthly adjustment amount. The timing is the catch: the surcharge is based on a tax return from two years earlier, so current premiums are set using older income. A one-time income jump, such as a Roth conversion or a large capital gain, can increase premiums later, long after the money has been spent.

The surcharge starts in 2026 above $109,000 in modified adjusted gross income for single filers and $218,000 for married couples filing jointly. It rises in stages to an extra $487 a month at the top, which begins at $500,000 for single filers and $750,000 for joint filers. Medicare had not released later premiums or income thresholds as of late October 2026.

Long-term care is another expense retirees often underestimate. CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey put the national median cost of a private nursing home room at $355 a day, or $129,575 a year. The median cost for assisted living was $6,200 a month, or $74,400 a year.

6. Becoming the financial safety net for adult children

Many parents continue to help grown children financially. In a 2025 Ameriprise survey of parents with adult children, 63% said they pay ongoing expenses such as living costs and phone bills for children age 21 and older. A little help in any given month may feel manageable, but over time it can become expensive.

Deana Healy, vice president of financial planning and advice at Ameriprise, has said parents should consider how the support they give adult children today affects their own goals, especially retirement. Without a paycheck to replace what was withdrawn, a depleted retirement account can be difficult to rebuild.

7. Letting fees slowly chip away at returns

Fund expenses reduce investment returns, while advisory fees may be taken directly from an account. Either way, there may be less money available for retirement spending. A Morningstar analysis reported by AARP in 2022 found that paying 1% a year to a fund manager, an advisor, or both reduced the withdrawal rate a retiree could safely begin with by about 0.4 percentage points.

Over a retirement that may last 30 years, even a small ongoing fee difference can translate into a noticeably smaller balance or a shorter time horizon before the money runs out.

8. Keeping too much money in one stock or former employer

A large stake in one company, often in shares from a former employer, can seem reassuring because it is familiar. It is not. Trouble at a single company can hurt a retiree's finances in a way that a diversified portfolio would not.

When a big share of retirement income depends on one stock, the rest of the portfolio may not provide enough diversification to absorb the blow if that company stumbles.

9. Treating the 4% rule as a promise instead of a guide

The 4% rule was never meant to be a guarantee. Morningstar's December 2025 research estimated a 3.9% initial withdrawal rate for steady, inflation-adjusted spending over 30 years, aiming for a 90% chance that money would remain. Some flexible approaches supported starting rates as high as 5.7%, provided spending could change.

Other research suggests higher rates may work. Bill Bengen, the financial planner who created the original 4% rule, has said he recommends a starting rate of 5.25% to 5.5% for today's retirees, consistent with his 2025 book, A Richer Retirement. The gap between those numbers is the key point: a withdrawal rate works best as a guideline that can be adjusted, not as a law.

10. Skipping the annual review of withdrawals

The habit that ties this list together is a yearly checkup. Retirees whose money lasts tend to compare withdrawals with how the portfolio actually performed, then make adjustments.

A strong year may justify slightly higher spending. A weak year may call for pulling back temporarily. That annual review is what turns the 4% rule, or any withdrawal plan, from a one-time estimate into something that responds to real-world conditions.

Bottom line

Most of these mistakes are not really about how much someone saved. They are about habits: whether withdrawals change with the market, whether debt and fees stay under control, and whether the plan gets updated instead of running automatically.

Retirees who stay confident over time usually treat their withdrawal rate as a number to revisit every year, not a decision made once. For anyone who wants help turning that review into specific actions, a financial professional can run the numbers against a full financial picture. A clear income plan can also help retirees avoid running out of money in retirement.