Financial advisers have a vital role to play in helping clients feel confident about spending in retirement, according to new insights from Aegon’s latest Money:Mindshift podcast episode.
While retirement is increasingly flexible and personalised, many people are struggling with an unexpected challenge: spending the money they have worked for decades to save.
Aegon’s recent research shows that significant emotional barriers persist, with UK adults associating anxiety (26%), fear (18%) and guilt (15%) with spending their retirement savings.
Positive emotions such as excitement (15%), security (17%) and relief (10%) were less commonly reported.
In the podcast, Dan Haylett, financial planner and host of Humans vs Retirement, joined Dr Tom Mathar, Head of Money:Mindshift at Aegon, to explore why this hesitancy is so common – and how advisers can help.
Haylett said: “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.”
Haylett argued that spending in retirement is a skill in its own right, and one that is rarely taught.
He said: “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.”
To help reframe this behaviour, he encourages the use of a “memory fund” – a concept designed to help clients see retirement spending as an investment in joy, connection and legacy.
He also suggested that clients consider sabbaticals and meaningful breaks earlier in life, rather than deferring all enjoyment until retirement.
Dr Tom Mathar said advisers have a significant opportunity to reshape client outcomes by addressing these emotional barriers.
He said: “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.”
