A More Flexible Way to Think About Retirement
What if I’m being too conservative? What if I spend too much too early and regret it later? What if I don’t enjoy retirement because I’m afraid to touch my money? What if the way I’m spending now doesn’t have to be the way I spend forever? These are quiet questions many people might carry into retirement planning. Not because they haven’t thought it through, but because the stakes can feel high.
Surveys consistently show that running out of money is one of the top retirement fears.¹ When that fear sits in the background, retirement can start to feel like a one-shot decision. Spend too much early on, and you worry about regret later. Hold back too much, and you wonder what you might be missing while you’re healthy enough to enjoy it.
That pressure alone can lead people to hold back on spending even when they’ve planned carefully. The tension isn’t really about money. It’s about making the wrong call at the wrong time.
This is where retirement research offers an interesting perspective. When analysts look at how retirement actually unfolds in real life, they tend to see patterns that challenge the idea of a single, steady path.²
Instead of one long, steady chapter, retirement often moves through three distinct phases, each with its own patterns and pressures.
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Three Chapters, One Retirement
“Full Speed”
(Early Retirement, roughly ages 60–69)
Retirement often begins with momentum. Travel moves from wish list to itinerary. Projects long postponed finally take shape. The early years tend to be the most active and experience-driven.
Households ages 60 to 69 spend an average of $72,300 per year, roughly $12,000 more than those in their late 70s.³
For many, this phase reflects freedom in motion. Not excess. Intention.
“New Rhythm”
(Mid-retirement, roughly ages 70 to 79)
Eventually, the pace softens. Travel becomes more selective. Routines feel familiar. Big-ticket experiences give way to steadier patterns of living.
By age 69, retirees spend about 10% less than they did at age 60, driven largely by reduced discretionary spending rather than essentials.⁴
Spending tends not to drop off suddenly. It adjusts. This phase is often less about acceleration and more about alignment.
“What Matters Most”
(Late-retirement, roughly age 80+)
In later years, spending often becomes more concentrated. Travel and entertainment tend to fade, while healthcare, prescriptions, specialist visits, and in-home support take a larger share of the budget.
Even without full-time care, these expenses can build gradually. When more advanced support is needed, costs can rise quickly. The median cost of a private nursing home room averages $10,646 per month.⁵
At this stage, financial planning often centers on maintaining stability, preserving independence, and preparing for decisions that may arise.
Why Retirement Often Changes Over Time
One insight from this research is that retirement rarely unfolds as one long, steady experience. Spending patterns often change over time, with more activity and discretionary spending earlier on, followed by a natural slowdown in later years.
From that perspective, the pressure to plan every year the same way can be overstated. Retirement tends to allow for change, rather than demanding perfect balance from the start.
Instead of one long, steady chapter, retirement often moves through three distinct phases, each with its own patterns and pressures.
Questions Worth Thinking About
Seeing retirement through this lens can naturally raise new questions. Not about right or wrong answers, but about expectations and trade-offs. For example:
- How do you imagine your early years of retirement compared with later ones?
- Which parts of retirement feel most important for you (or you and your partner) to enjoy while you’re healthy and active?
- What assumptions are built into your current retirement plan (individually or as a household) about how life stays the same or changes over time?
- Looking back at your own retirement so far, which chapter resonates most with where you are today — and what would you want the next chapter to look like?
These are the kinds of questions that often lead to more thoughtful, flexible planning conversations.
If you’re curious how these patterns might show up in your own planning, that’s a conversation worth exploring. Sometimes, asking the right questions is just as valuable as finding the answers.
- AARP, 2024 [URL: https://www.aarp.org/press/releases/2024-4-24-new-aarp-survey-1-in-5-americans-ages-50-have-no-retirement-savings/]
- Morningstar, 2025 [URL: https://www.morningstar.com/content/cs-assets/v3/assets/blt9415ea4cc4157833/bltb73b87c5d0c70ead/692f43f57737a31596684522/working_file_11.19_FINAL_REVISE.pdf#page=11]
- JP Morgan, 2025 [URL: https://am.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm-am-aem/americas/us/en/insights/retirement-insights/retirement-by-the-numbers.pdf]
- Bank of America, 2025 [URL: https://institute.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/economic-insights/evolution-of-retiree-spending.pdf]
- Genworth, 2025 [URL: https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/genworth-and-carescout-release-cost-care-survey-results-2024-2025-03-04]
