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Permission to Spend: Why Saving Was the Easy Part

Let me tell you about a conversation I have more often than you’d think.

A couple sits across from me. They’ve done everything right saved diligently for thirty-five years, maxed the RRSPs, stayed the course through every market storm. Their plan is solid. Their retirement is funded. And then one of them says, almost apologetically:

“We were thinking about business class for the flight to Portugal… but it seems like a lot.”

These are people who can comfortably afford it. And they’re asking my permission.

The muscle you built is the one you now have to relax

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about retirement: the habits that got you here can quietly work against you once you arrive. For decades, your financial identity was saver. Watching the balance grow felt like progress. Spending felt like losing ground.

Then retirement flips the entire equation. Now the plan literally calls for the balance to go down on purpose, on schedule and it feels wrong. Researchers call this the “decumulation problem.” I call it forty years of good habits refusing to take a vacation.

What underspending actually costs

We talk endlessly about the risk of running out of money. We almost never talk about the opposite risk: reaching 85 with more money than you started retirement with, and a list of things you never did.

The hike you didn’t take while your knees were willing. The trip with the grandkids while they still thought travelling with grandparents was cool. The years when “someday” was still available. Health and energy have their own timeline and it’s usually shorter than the money’s.

How we build permission into the plan

We name the number. Vague worry loves vague plans. When your plan shows exactly what you can spend each year tested against bad markets, inflation, and a long life, the guilt loses its grip. It’s not indulgence. It’s line item four.

We create a “living fund.” Some clients do best with a dedicated account for travel and joy, refilled annually. Spending from a bucket labelled for exactly this feels completely different than “dipping into savings.”

We schedule the spending. The couples who actually take the trips are the ones who book them. In our reviews, we don’t just check the portfolio we check the calendar. What did you do this year that you’ll still be talking about in ten?

So if you’ve caught yourself hesitating over something you’ve dreamed about and you’re not sure whether the plan can handle it come ask. Nine times out of ten, my answer is the best part of my job: “Yes. Go. That’s what it’s for.”

Warmly,
Jen

“Wealth isn’t just about your money. It’s living along the way.”

Jennifer Jackson  |  (519) 640-7643  |  jennifer.jackson@cibc.ca  |  jenniferjackson.ca