Why Maxing Out Your Retirement Fund May Hurt Your Finances

If there's one piece of financial advice that is touted ad nauseam, it's that it's crucial to save as much as you can to prepare for retirement.

There's a good reason why this advice is thrown around so often. Approximately 45% of baby boomers have no savings at all, according to a report from the Insured Retirement Institute, and of those who do have savings, more than a quarter have less than $100,000 socked away. Considering you may spend several decades in retirement, that money won't go very far.

It may seem, then, that the logical thing to do if you're behind on your savings is to start loading your 401(k) or IRA with as much money as possible. In some cases, that's a smart move. But sometimes, maxing out your retirement fund can do more harm than good.

Source Fool.com