I think one of the problems with advice from people near retirement is that they think about life decisions that would have benefitted them at their current age

I think one of the problems with advice from people near retirement is that they think about life decisions that would have benefitted them at their current age. So for example, being 65, they wish their younger self had saved on going out to eat, buying nice clothes, etc. so that their current happiness would be higher than it is. What they don't account for is that their younger self would've been less happy at that time. Perhaps their younger self would've burned out if not for "wasting" some money buying some happiness in the present.