Here's an interesting contrarian point of view, and one with which financial planners will surely disagree: You may be saving too much for retirement.

According to the Department of Labor [survey results here], as age increases, spending decreases in all categories other than health care.

However, the facts won't get in the way of financial planners' advice:

Bob Veres, who runs a newsletter and forum for financial planners, thinks most advisers will stick to the way they're currently projecting retirement needs. The consequences of being wrong -- of advising an earlier retirement or a more aggressive withdrawal rate -- are simply too great.

The MSN article points out two "holes" in the revised spending theory: The data doesn't include long term care expenses and well-off retirees spend more in early retirement as they travel around the world.

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