Retirement presents a unique set of challenges that many of us never think about even as we plan for it. Preparing for retirement is a different ballgame than what we played while working and building up our wealth. This is truer now than ever before as demographics continue to change and, as they do, so do our retirement needs. We're living longer, and the risk of outliving our money is very real for many of us. Add in other factors, like health care costs, taxes, inflation and volatility in the stock market, and retirement poses quite a few challenges.

It's helpful to know what to do to plan for retirement, but it might be just as important to know what to avoid, because there are plenty of missteps you can make. Here are five things you should not do as you look ahead to retirement:

1. Don't forget to do your research on advisers. Finding the right adviser is important as you plan your retirement. That sounds simple, but there are plenty of challenges as you look for the right adviser, especially as there are many of them out there.

One way to help find the right one is by checking out their backgrounds. Simply put, there are three "worlds" that financial planning advisers come from: Wall Street, banking and insurance. Sometimes advisers have backgrounds in all three worlds, but there are some advisers out there whose expertise is more limited. Examining potential advisers' backgrounds will help you determine who is an expert retirement planner and who is more of a specialist in one area. You need to do the necessary research, which should include a FINRA broker check, and find out what licenses a potential adviser has. Doing your homework here will pay off in the long run.