Retirement worries are common — more people are saving later, and financial emergencies can force money out of retirement accounts at the worst possible time. Some of that anxiety comes from real risk. But a lot of it comes from myths that don’t hold up once you look closely. Here are five worth retiring for good.
1. You need a specific percentage of your current income to retire comfortably
Many rules of thumb suggest replacing 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income, but there’s no universal number. Your real target should be based on your anticipated retirement expenses, not your current paycheck — by the time you retire, you may have paid off your mortgage, downsized, or dropped work-related costs like commuting and professional wardrobe. A retirement calculator can give you a useful starting estimate, but the honest answer is that the number is personal, and it’s always better to save more than the minimum you think you need.
2. You can depend on Social Security
Social Security is designed to replace only part of pre-retirement income — for most retirees, roughly a third to 40% — not fund retirement on its own. In 2026, the average monthly benefit for a retired worker is about $2,071, which covers essentials for some but falls well short of a comfortable lifestyle for most. The program itself remains well-funded for regular benefit payments for the foreseeable future, but benefit amounts and eligibility rules can and do change over time, so it makes sense to treat Social Security as one leg of your income, not the whole structure. The same logic applies to Medicare — it doesn’t cover everything, so medical and long-term care costs deserve their own line in your retirement budget.
3. Retirement savings can wait
It’s reasonable to prioritize paying off high-interest debt or building a starter emergency fund first. But once those basics are covered, retirement savings deserve to be a priority, not an afterthought — compounding growth rewards money invested early far more than money invested later, even in larger amounts. That includes competing priorities like a child’s college fund: as difficult as it is to hear, most financial planners recommend prioritizing your own retirement over funding a child’s education, since students have loans, grants, and scholarships available to them, while there’s no loan available for your own retirement.
4. The safer your money, the better
Keeping retirement savings entirely in cash, CDs, or bonds feels safe, but low returns mean your money struggles to outpace inflation over a multi-decade retirement — which is its own kind of risk. A diversified mix that includes stocks generally gives your savings a better chance of maintaining purchasing power over 20 or 30 years, even accounting for market volatility along the way. If picking investments yourself feels uncomfortable, a fee-only financial advisor or a low-cost target-date fund can manage that diversification for you.
5. A few other myths worth retiring
A handful of states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and others — have no state income tax, which leads some people to assume relocating automatically saves money in retirement. In reality, many of those same states offset the savings with higher property taxes, sales taxes, or overall cost of living, so it’s worth running the full numbers rather than assuming a tax-free state is automatically cheaper.
Another common myth: assuming you won’t need much saved because you plan to work part-time or retire later. Life doesn’t always cooperate with plans — health issues, layoffs, or caregiving needs can force an earlier retirement than intended — and people are living longer than ever, which means the money needs to stretch further, not less far. And while it’s natural to hope family will step in if things get tight, adult children increasingly face their own financial pressures. Planning your retirement and long-term care needs around your own resources, rather than assuming help will be available, is the more resilient approach.
The bottom line: most retirement myths share a common thread — they offer a shortcut or a reason not to plan carefully. The retirees who fare best are usually the ones who replaced the myths with real numbers early and revisited them regularly.
PMV Consulting, LLC 
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