11 Signs Your Retirement Will Cost More Than You Thought

You Didn’t Factor Big-Ticket Items

One of the things you need to do before you retire is to create a post-retirement budget to estimate your expenses and how much income you’ll need to cover them. However, you might end up spending more than expected in retirement if you don’t factor in big-ticket items into your budget along with regular expenses, Littell recommended.

• What to Do

It’s easy to overlook expenses such as a new car or home repairs when creating a retirement budget. That’s a mistake. “When you’re building your retirement budget, make sure you pay attention to those things as well,” Littell said.

Make a list of big-ticket items you’ll likely need to pay for in retirement and an estimate of how much they’ll cost, then build an emergency fund in a savings account that’s big enough to cover those expenses.