What is your retirement dream? Traveling, spending time with family, going back to school? Will you have enough money saved to make those dreams a reality? A sound retirement requires careful planning.

The fewer mistakes you make along the way, the more likely you will be to have the savings to fund those dreams. Take a look at these 8 common retirement mistakes to avoid.

1. Not starting early, taking breaks or cashing out. Starting early and saving consistently is the best gift you can give your future self. If you delay saving or cash out your retirement funds you are not taking advantage of compounding interest and you may miss out on matching programs and other retirement benefits your employer offers.

2. Not setting goals. How do you want to spend your time in retirement? When do you want to retire? How much will you need to fund your retirement? If you do not ask yourself (and your spouse) these questions, it will be difficult to adequately fund your retirement. You need to know where you want to go in order to develop a sound plan to help get you there.

3. Putting college savings ahead of retirement savings. It’s tempting, especially today when a college education no longer seems optional, to put money aside for your children’s college instead of retirement. However, there are other options to fund college – grants, loans, scholarships, etc. – but there are no other options for funding your retirement. If you are unable to start early and save for both at the same time, it may be prudent to save for retirement first.

4. Not understanding your sources of retirement income. When are you eligible for Social Security? How much will your receive? Do you get a pension through your employer? Are you contributing the maximum to your IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) plan and taking advantage of any employer matching programs? Determine if what you are saving is likely to generate enough income to meet your retirement needs. If not, then take steps to increase what you’re saving through these programs.

5. Counting on your home value. Even if your home has maintained much of its equity with the recent market turmoil, it may be difficult to extract the gains to fund your retirement. Do you really want to move out of your home? Are you willing to relocate to an area where the real estate is more affordable? Have you considered taxes and moving costs? Your home may be one component of your overall plan, but don’t count on it to subsidize a significant portion of your retirement.

6. Not considering long-term care insurance. Among people age 75 or older, women are 60 percent more likely than men to need help with one or more activities of daily living. Long-term care insurance is designed to help protect personal assets from the cost of a long-term expenditure, maintain financial independence and provide the options necessary to receive quality care and services.

7. Investing too conservatively. If you are too conservative you may not lose what you’ve invested, but you do risk not having any real growth of your money – that is, your return after inflation, taxes and fees. Your Financial Advisor can help you develop an asset allocation that balances your risk preferences with your return objectives.

8. Not diversifying your investments. We’ve all heard the adage “don’t put all of your eggs into one basket.” Sound advice, yet people often don’t follow it. Diversification not only can help you spread investment risk, but it also helps make your portfolio less vulnerable to the ups and downs of a single holding or the market, potentially resulting in steadier returns.

Planning for your retirement is a journey you don’t have to take alone. Talk to your financial and tax advisors about your goals and how to create a comprehensive plan to help get your there.

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