Failing to Sign Up

• Failing to sign up with your employer's retirement plan means you won't have funds available after you retire. You should be able to find some kind of plan option you are able to sign up for, which allows you to put a portion of your earnings away for retirement.
  
  While some plans are truly bad ---- those that enrich the employer and expose the employees to a high level of risk come to mind, there are good retirement plans. Employers generally offer a good range of retirement investment plans with good fees and a decent company match, writes Liz Weston.
  
  

Wrong Investment Mix

• The employee who does sign up for a retirement plan may sign up for the wrong mix of investment options. Some of these employees invest more heavily in speculative stocks and mutual funds, believing they'll get a better financial return. But they fail to balance their portfolio with a more conservative mix of bonds and stocks.
  
  

Overspending

• Spending your disposable income before retirement rather than investing it in retirement accounts ensures that your retirement will be completely messed up. Instead of buying fancy electronics or an expensive vehicle you don't need, sacrifice now and put that extra money into your future, suggests Sheyna Steiner of Bankrate.
  
  

Not Diversifying

• The IRA. Individual 401(k). SEP-IRA. Tax deferred savings. All of these are savings and investment strategies you can take advantage of as you plan for retirement and invest your earnings. The SEP-IRA and individual 401(k) are devised specifically for the self-employed, allowing them to protect their retirement futures. If you are self employed, you are still able to invest a portion of your earnings ---- all you need to do is study what your options are and choose the ones that best fit your future retirement needs.
  
  

Investing in Employer's Stocks

• When Enron went belly-up in 1999, many of the company's workers lost their retirement packages. Called "drinking the company Kool-Aid," putting too much of your money into your employer's stocks is a risky move. Instead, limit your investment exposure to no more than 10 percent of your portfolio balance.
  
  

Overestimating Earnings

• The employee who overestimates what his retirement portfolio is earning will definitely mess up his planned retirement. Investing too little of your money, then "hoping" the compounding interest will make up the difference won't work. Put sufficient amounts from each paycheck away and don't assume that those funds will maintain a constant rate of growth.
  
  

Investment Ignorance

• Remaining uneducated about the types of investment options can also throw a wrench into your retirement plans. Even though you are putting money away against your future, if you put too much money into several of the same kinds of funds, you will hold your investment progress back. Rather than do this, diversify the retirement funds you select.