Retirement planning: Top nine mistakes you should avoid

Not creating a plan: Investing randomly will never help you achieve your goals. Identify your investment goals clearly. Figure out the things you want to achieve through your investments and make a strategy to achieve them. Consult an expert when planning.

Thinking it's too early: Savings should begin as soon as you start earning. As your retirement years approach, saving and investment returns become your only sources of income. Therefore, the earlier you start, the bigger the retirement fund you can create.

Not estimating life expectancy: Most investors would like to have a nice sum of money set aside for their retirement. Individuals do not always consider life expectancy when making these calculations and end up with a limited amount.

Not calculating inflation: Investors generally forget the depreciating value of money in the future while planning for retirement. While calculating your future expenses you must factor in inflation to reach the desired corpus.

Not being patient: Be patient and watch your money grow when you it in an investment product. Be careful and don't get overwhelmed. It will only lead to disappointment and small returns if you are impatient. You must build up your patience over time.

Investing in one type of security: You should always diversify your portfolio as it reduces the risk. It also helps you to allocate funds to different profiting options so that you always have positive returns. But make sure that you should not over diversify your investments.

A little courage and a good strategy in place can go a long way to come out of that financial hole.

Ignoring Healthcare Expenses: As you get older, your risk of developing critical illnesses and your healthcare-related expenses will increase. The cost of even these crucial expenses can eat away at your savings. Therefore, if you plan on retiring, you should consider insurance and investments on health with utmost importance.

Taking early withdrawals from your retirement plan: Taking untimely withdrawals not only hampers your overall savings but also increases your tax liabilities. Untimely withdrawals from your retirement plan reduce the number of funds saved for your retirement. Hence, you should avoid this by having an Emergency fund.