Many retirees struggle with the emotional side of spending their savings, with 26 per cent feeling anxiety, 18 per cent fear and 15 per cent guilt, according to Aegon.
According to the research, positive emotions are less common, with only 15 per cent feeling excitement, 17 per cent security and 10 per cent relief.
The findings highlight a growing challenge in retirement planning, which is that while people spend decades saving, many find it difficult to enjoy the money once they stop working.
Aegon’s Money:Mindshift podcast tackles the issue in its latest episode, where financial planner Dan Haylett, host of Humans vs Retirement, joins Aegon’s Dr Tom Mathar to discuss why spending can feel so uncomfortable and how advisers can play a vital role.
Aegon urges advisers to help clients overcome the fears and doubts they may feel about spending in retirement. Mathar’s highlights the value of reframing spending as an investment in joy, connection, and legacy, through ideas such as a “memory fund” or taking meaningful breaks earlier in life.
They argue that advisers can guide clients in moving from saving to spending and support them in defining what a good life looks like, giving them the confidence to enjoy their retirement.
Haylett says: “Clients often have more than enough to live well, but they still hesitate to spend. They’ve spent 30 or 40 years building the habit of saving. Flipping that switch – especially when it means drawing down capital that won’t be replaced – is emotionally challenging.
“We’re nudged to save, but we’re not prepared for the transition into spending. That’s why so many people reach later life with regrets about what they didn’t do.”
Mathar adds: “Advisers have a powerful opportunity here. By helping clients define what a good life looks like, and giving them the confidence to live it, financial advice becomes truly transformative.
“It’s a strange problem to have: to an economist, there’s no such thing as ‘saving’, only deferred spending. Yet many people, even those who’ve saved more than enough, struggle to spend.
“But when we understand the emotional complexity of modern life, it makes perfect sense. Never have we had to navigate such intricate trade-offs between our present selves and our future selves.
“These are exactly the kinds of challenges we explore in the Money:Mindshift podcast. Spending money shouldn’t feel like a problem, but for many, it is. And that’s why learning how to spend well is a skill worth nurturing.”
