Aging & the "Good Problem" - Shifting from Saving to Spending

The formal name for this growing problem in aging is "decumulation." Essentially, that's the phase in aging when you begin to prudently withdraw from the funds you've saved/invested. 

And for too many of us, even guided by a financial advisor, that generates existential angst.  Yes, it's a "good problem" but still a problem. As The New York Times documents bearing witness to the numbers going down bit by bit conjures up mindsets of worst-case scenarios:

Will there be a stock market crash

Inflation could get lots worse

What about a healthcare event not covered by Medicare and its supplements

Having to ask children to help out financially

Not being able to leave anything to the next generation

And, yes, winding up homeless.

As a result, a lifestyle can be circumscribed. 

For instance, you would like to join the current tourism trend, especially to Europe, but don't. 

Everything in you screams that the LCOL (low cost of living) location you relocated to is a bad fit. You also miss the grandkids. But you hesitate to move to a more promising one that's a little more expensive. That's despite the reality that you can afford the added overall cost.  

You put off that local trip to the lake. The cost of gas, course. And food along the way isn't cheap either. 



Does turning 80, which the oldest of the Boomers has done, reduce the intensity of the spending angst? 

I have been hoping that.

That's why I am getting serious about spending money to exit a LCOL area to try out another location. Although I wouldn't have to shake loose funds from investments the numbers in my checking account would go down. Sure, since I'm still bringing in income from intuitive coaching/tarot reading, I can rebuild that reserve. But in the meantime the decision is tough. 

What makes it tougher is this: There are myriad Debbie-Downer savers who sternly warn me to not to do that. If I don't, they point out, I may even be able to continue saving. The voice is familiar. It's that of my immigrant extended family who struggled through The Great Depression. They were incapable of optimism or joy. 

Have we Boomers who rebelled against all that darkness wound up in the same pickle?

Careers. Forget all that. It’s about earning a good living, no matter what.

Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova, StreetSmart Coaching (janegenova374@gmail.com)


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