Undre/Getty Images
Commitment to our readers
The GOBankingRates editorial team is committed to providing you with unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methods to evaluate financial products and services – our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our review methodology for products and services.
20 years
Helping you become richer
trusted by
millions of readers
Clay Cooper, Wealth Management Advisor Clearview Financial PartnersThought he had a solid control over his budget. Then his credit card company sent him his annual spending summary for 2025 and he decided to take a closer look at it.
“My wife and I canceled over a dozen subscriptions when we started looking around,” Cooper said. He mentioned this to his Boomer business partner, who also followed the same procedure and canceled about two dozen subscriptions. With that in mind, here are 10 autopay bills that could be ruining boomers’ budgets.
1. Streaming Services
Streaming subscriptions fly under the radar because the individual fees seem small. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and others add up fast when you’re paying for multiple services.
Many were started during high-earning years and never seen again. Cooper said that when payments are automated, there is no friction and no prompt to revalue the value.
2. Fitness App Subscription
Gym memberships, yoga apps, fitness trackers, and wellness platforms continue to charge monthly fees, even when you stop using them. These memberships often renew annually, sometimes at higher rates.
3. Cloud Storage
Many retirees pay for storage they don’t need or use through Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, and other cloud storage services.
4. News Subscription
Digital newspaper subscriptions, magazine apps, and news aggregators have piled up over time. Cooper recommends asking everyone a simple question: “Am I really using this?”
Cutting $50 to $150 a month in forgotten subscriptions could free up meaningful cash flow in a year, he said.
5. Timeshare Maintenance Fees
For retirees who spend winters in warm climates, timeshares may be part of the lifestyle. Annual maintenance fees often increase by 3% to 5% per year, and those increases go unnoticed on autopay.
Cooper encouraged an annual review of the current fee, how much it has increased and how often the property is actually used. Sometimes autopay simply hides the rising costs.
6. Cable Bill
Geoff Balkcom, President of BAI Financialsaid that cable cutting has become the latest incident among their retiree customers. With the rise of streaming services, high cable bills have become obsolete in many homes.
“Anywhere dollars can be saved and placed in my client’s pocket rather than allocated for monthly living expenses,” Balkcom said.
Cable bills often increase due to equipment fees, broadcast surcharges, and increases in channel packages that occur automatically.
7. Home phone landline
Balkcom also mentioned landlines as an expense that retirees should reconsider. Cell phones have replaced the need for home phone service in most homes.
Landline bills can range from $30 to $50 per month for a service that many retirees rarely use. That’s $360 to $600 annually for the phone that receives the most robocalls.
8. Additional Life Insurance Coverage
Daniel Pifer, a partner and private wealth advisor Northwestern Mutual’s Heartwood Planning GroupThat said, many retirees continue to pay for life insurance they no longer need.
Once the mortgage is paid off and the children become financially independent, large life insurance policies may no longer serve the same purpose. Reviewing coverage in the context of estate planning and legacy goals can prevent unnecessary premium payments.
9. Multiple vehicles
Retirees generally drive less, yet owning an extra car means continuing insurance, maintenance and registration costs. Consolidating vehicles can be an easy way to reduce annual expenses, Pifer said.
The second car often remains parked in the driveway while the insurance, registration and maintenance bills continue on the autopay. Selling it reduces annual costs by hundreds or thousands.
10. Old phones and internet plans
Many retirees are eligible for senior discounts or lower-tier plans that better reflect their usage. Pifer said a quick review of telecommunications bills can often reveal easy savings.
problem with autopay
Cooper explains how charges slip away even when you think you’re paying attention. Half of their charges were quarterly or yearly rather than monthly, so they missed them when they checked their credit cards from time to time. Others were bundled into bills like his cellphone.
“Some were easy to cancel online. Others required checking through a customer service portal and multiple 1-800 calls,” he said. It took him about a week to get rid of all this.
Cooper believes these companies don’t want to make it easy to cancel. For retirees living on a fixed income, autopay can destroy the budget faster than most people realize.
big picture
Cooper explained that in retirement, budgeting changes from monthly tracking to annual cash flow planning. Income is often determined through Social Security, pensions, and portfolio withdrawals. This makes expenditure growth more effective.
One strategy they suggest is to create a retirement pay check where a set amount is transferred into the check every month. This creates structure and improves visibility.
“Autopay is not the problem. Invisibility is the problem,” Cooper said. “When money goes without awareness, it diminishes it deliberately.”
Many retirees also make recurring charitable donations during peak income years. The intention is admirable but retirement cash flow is different. Cooper often helps retirees review total annual contributions and structure their giving more intentionally.
Balkcom stressed the importance of avoiding high-interest debt in retirement. Credit card autopay can hide minimum balance increasing amounts that impact fixed income.
action steps
Cooper recommended a quarterly review of recurring charges. Also a financial advisor, he had a dozen subscriptions.
He said, “The goal is not perfection. It’s a mistake.” A quarterly review can restore control and protect long-term financial confidence.