Benetas Briefing: Your Permission Slip to Spend in Retirement

In this week’s episode of Wisdom for Your Wisdom Years, Matt explores something that rarely shows up in retirement projections: Spending hesitation.

 

Not because the plan is weak.

Not because markets are unstable.

But because writing the check still feels uncomfortable.

 

Over the years, we’ve seen a consistent pattern.

 

Clients with thoughtful plans. Conservative withdrawal rates. Strong Monte Carlo projections.

 

And yet… reluctance.

 

The software can model markets:

It cannot model regret. It cannot model fear. It cannot model what it feels like to spend during uncertain headlines or declining health.

 

When someone hesitates despite strong math, that’s not defiance.

It’s information.

 

The real question shifts from

 

“Can I afford this?” to “What am I actually afraid of?”

 

For most retirees, the fears are deeply rational:

 

• Outliving their money

• Unexpected medical costs

• Leaving a surviving spouse exposed

• Becoming a burden later in life

 

Those are values questions. Not return assumption questions.

 

And values don’t resolve themselves inside a spreadsheet.

 

There’s also something else happening beneath the surface.

 

Spending risk feels asymmetric.

 

Underspend? You quietly miss experiences.

 

Overspend? It feels catastrophic — even if the probability is small.

 

So many default to caution.

 

But not spending has a cost too:

Trips delayed until mobility changes. Experiences postponed until energy declines. Years spent protecting against scenarios that may never arrive.

 

Good retirement planning isn’t about maximizing spending. It’s about creating permission.

 

Permission grounded in reality. With guardrails. Revisited thoughtfully.

 

The hardest transition in retirement isn’t building wealth.

 

It’s trusting that preparation has earned the right to become living.

 

Listen to the Episode

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

 

Warm regards,

 

Matt Murphy, CFP®, AIF®

President, Benetas Wealth