11 Signs Your Retirement Will Cost More Than You Thought

You Didn’t Consider Fees

Retirement can cost more than expected because of the high fees people are paying on investments and retirement accounts. Somebody with $100,000 in a retirement account and terms of 2.5 percent over 30 years, they could be paying about $40,000 more in fees over that time than if the fees on their account had been just 1.5 percent.

“This could ultimately take a huge chunk out of your retirement savings over a long period of time,” Hardy said.

• What to Do

Check your retirement account statements to see what fees are being charged. If the investments you have chosen have high fees, it might be time to switch. “We advocate for the average investor to have a passive, low-cost retirement portfolio to protect from the loss of value over time from fees,” Hardy said.

If your retirement account offers low-cost index or target-date funds, consider those. An index fund is a mutual fund that tracks the performance of a major index, such as the S&P 500.