Moms and Daughters Trade Advice

Retired moms and working-age daughters were asked: If you could give each other one piece of advice about planning for retirement, what would it be?

Moms said: "Don't live beyond your means and save more money for retirement so you can deal with the unexpected."

Daughters said: "Spend more money and enjoy yourself."

"It is foolish for retirees to deprive themselves of things they want to do or have and that they can readily afford," admonished Humberto and Georgina Cruz in their column, Retire Smart. "But it's also foolish -- and irresponsible -- to overspend while young and fail to save adequately for retirement."

There's a definite generation gap between how mothers and their daughters are approaching retirement, according to a recently released MetLife Mature Market Institute study titled, It's Not Your Mother's Retirement. More than a thousand women were interviewed for the study which found that older women are far more conservative than their daughters when it comes to saving and spending. Two-thirds of the women interviewed said they were enjoying an excellent retirement. Those who weren't cited money troubles as their biggest problem.

Daughters seemed less concerned about money. Although they had higher consumer debt (generally $25,000 or more plus any mortgage), they anticipated an active retirement. Travel, further education, managing investments and caring for relatives were among their anticipated retirement activities. Of course, many of these things cost money, but daughters planned to work longer to earn more -- 17% until they're 70 and 6% said may never retire!

Personally, I think I'll save a little more now so I can afford to retire later!