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Retiring with a sizable nest egg can give you peace of mind, but it can also lull you into a false sense of security. For instance, the average savings in retirement accounts (1) for those aged 65 to 74 was $609,230 as of 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.

That sounds like a lot — until you look at the median retirement savings. The median retirement savings was just $200,000 (2), meaning that 50% of Americans aged 65 to 74 had $200,000 or less saved up for their golden years.

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And both of those figures pale in comparison to the $1.46 million (3) that the average American believes is the "magic number" for retirement, according to a 2026 Northwestern Mutual study.

Even if combined with other income, such as Social Security and personal brokerage accounts, these numbers suggest that most retirees will probably want to be mindful of their expenses. After all, staying comfortable throughout retirement requires careful planning and money management.

Still, you might have a seemingly solid plan, but there are some expenses that catch many retirees off guard.

Here are five of those expenses.

You're probably accounting for some healthcare expenses in your retirement plan, but are you budgeting enough? More than half of pre-retirees believe Medicare will cover all their health expenses (4), according to Fidelity's 2026 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate study.

But that's often not the case.

If you're 65 and retire today without workplace retirement benefits, you can expect to pay an average of about $185,500 on healthcare and medical expenses through your retirement, according to the Fidelity study.

This includes premiums and other costs associated with Medicare A, B and D, but it doesn't include over-the-counter medications, most dental expenses or long-term care — all of which can add substantially to out-of-pocket spending. To make matters worse, these costs increased 7.5% from the previous, meaning they are rising faster than inflation — which was 3.4% in August 2026 (5).

This out-of-pocket spending can be even higher if you have a chronic condition, as is the case for a vast majority of retirees, with the CDC reporting that 93% of older adults dealing with at least one chronic condition (6), such as arthritis, cancer or coronary artery disease.

Long-term care costs can also burn through your nest egg. A person turning 65 will spend an average of $120,900 on long-term care (7), according to a 2022 projection by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And, like chronic conditions, you may want to assume this will affect you, as it's expected that more than half (56%) of Americans turning 65 will at some point require long-term care.

Perhaps the simplest way around this problem is to plan for the costs of medical expenses in retirement.

One way of doing that is to open a Health Savings Account (HSA), which offers tax-free contributions, tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals for qualifying medical expenses. However, not everyone qualifies: You have to be enrolled in an IRS-qualified high-deductible health plan to contribute.

For those who don't qualify, you still may want to keep emergency cash on hand — but you'll want that money to keep working for you while it sits there.

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A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.

A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%.

That's 10 times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC's July report.

Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/month minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.

With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8 million FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.

In 2025, 28% of U.S. households led by someone 65 or older spent more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs (8), including mortgage or rent, homeowner's insurance, utilities and taxes. That effectively makes them "house poor."

Even if you've paid off your mortgage, you're not necessarily out of the woods. Some retirees fail to account for the costs of maintaining an aging home — and this doesn't mean replacing the wall-to-wall orange shag you were so proud of in 1975.

Almost half (49%) of home improvement projects were related to routine repairs required to maintain the home's value (9), according to a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

What's more, if you plan on aging in place and need to make your house more accessible, such as installing a stair lift or zero-step entrance, renovations can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Major repairs or renovations can leave you struggling to pay off debt. If you find yourself in this situation, you might want to consider consolidating your debts into a single loan by using a platform like Credible.

With a debt consolidation loan, you'll have one predictable payment to manage each month instead of juggling multiple monthly payments.

Through Credible's online marketplace, you can comparison-shop for the lowest interest rates with just a few clicks. If you owe a substantial amount, you may want to see if you qualify for a debt relief program.

With Freedom Debt Relief, you can speak with a certified debt relief consultant for free. If you're eligible, they can negotiate settlements with your creditors until all of your enrolled debt is resolved.

If you want to avoid costly repairs or aging-in-place modifications, consider that moving will also come with out-of-pocket expenses you may not have budgeted for — and that home insurance and state taxes in a new location may create higher monthly housing costs than you were anticipating.

Fraud is an expense that virtually no retiree budgets for. But if you're a victim, it can put a serious dent in your retirement savings.

Older adults lost more money to investment scams (10) than any other type of scam, but they've also lost money to romance, tech support and government impersonation scams, among others, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

For those 60 and older, fraud losses increased from $600 million in 2020 to a whopping $2.4 billion in 2024, according to the FTC.

In many cases, this is hurting retirees where it hurts: their retirement savings.

But with the increased sophistication of scammers' methods — including the use of generative AI that can be used to personalize attacks — it's getting harder to stay safe online.

One resource that could help is the free AARP Fraud Watch Network (11), which can help you learn how to spot scams and guide you through what to do if you're the victim of one.

In fact, joining a senior-focused organization like AARP also offers money-saving perks, as well as access to guides that can help you make the most of Social Security, choose the right Medicare plan and uncover other government benefits — potentially saving you thousands of dollars.

If you sign up with AARP today, you'll even get 25% off your first year.

When you retire, it can be tempting to treat yourself with a new RV, boat or sports car. Although it's okay to enjoy the fruits of your labor — you've earned it — you might also want to avoid spending too much of it too early, which could jeopardize your ability to fund essential expenses down the road.

After all, the median income for a household (12) headed by a person over 65 was $59,680 in 2025, and that's unlikely to support an extravagant lifestyle.

Another area that tempts retirees is providing financial support to their adult children and grandchildren. Almost half of parents (48%) and grandparents (41%) planned to provide financial assistance to adult children (13) last year, according to a BMO survey.

While it's okay to treat yourself — and to help out your adult children and grandchildren — you probably want to avoid putting your nest egg at risk. Working any gifts (to yourself or others) into your retirement budget is always a good idea, as is learning to say "no" if it's going to stretch you too thin.

An advisor can help you weigh your future finances against dream purchases and family gifts, among other things. Managing withdrawals, minimizing tax exposure and ensuring long-term sustainability in retirement often require greater coordination and strategic planning.

In these cases, working with a financial advisor can help reduce costly mistakes.

For instance, if you have a portfolio of $250,000 or more, platforms like WiserAdvisor can connect you with vetted professionals who specialize in this kind of planning.

Once you answer a few questions about your savings, retirement timeline and overall investment portfolio, WiserAdvisor reviews its network to match you — for free — with up to three vetted advisors aligned with your specific needs.

You can then schedule no-obligation consultations with your matches to determine who's the best fit for your long-term goals — whether it's buying an RV or helping your grandkids through college.

WiserAdvisor is a matching service and does not provide financial advice directly. All matched advisors are third parties, and specific financial results are not guaranteed.

If you spend 30 years or more in retirement, it can pay to maximize the monthly payments you get from Social Security. And the easiest way to do that is to wait until you've reached full retirement age (FRA) before claiming your monthly benefit.

For those turning 65 this year or later, your FRA is age 67 (14), meaning that you'll receive 100% of your benefit if you opt to claim Social Security at that age. You can claim as early as 62, but for each month before 67, your lifetime benefit will be permanently reduced by up to a maximum of 30%.

On the other hand, your benefit will increase permanently for every month you wait beyond 67 until you hit age 70, when you'll receive a maximum of 24% more than your full benefit at FRA.

However, you also might want to avoid being in a situation where you have to withdraw from your portfolio during a market downturn just to pay the bills, so deciding when to claim — depending on your retirement portfolio and tax strategy — is a critical one. This is another situation where an advisor could help.

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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

U.S. Federal Reserve (1), (2); Northwestern Mutual (3); Fidelity Newsroom (4); Bureau of Labor Statistics (5); Centers for Disease Control (6); ASPE HHS (7); JCHS Harvard (8), (9); Federal Trade Commission (10); AARP (11); U.S. Census Bureau (12); BMO Newsroom (13); Social Security Administration (14)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.