Retirement Spending Anxiety: EDU #2605

The Retirement and IRA Show

Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP®

Business, Investing

4.3 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris’s Summary
Jim and I discuss spending anxiety in retirement using a Washington Post article written by a personal finance columnist describing her fear of spending after her husband retires. We look at why the shift from saving to spending can feel destabilizing even when pensions and Social Security are in place, and why fear can persist despite adequate planning. We also address the difference between spending income and spending savings, and how that distinction often affects behavior once retirement begins.

Jim’s “Pithy” Summary
Chris and I use a Washington Post article as a jumping-off point to talk about the moment retirement stops being theoretical and the fear around spending often shows up. The part that stuck with me in this situation is that nothing went wrong. One spouse retires. The other is still working. Pensions are there. Social Security is there. The house is paid off. And the fear shows up anyway. That’s what made me save the article in the first place. She writes about personal finance for a living, and she’s still cutting small expenses, feeling better for five minutes, and then right back to worrying. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—I don’t expect to be immune to that when it’s my turn.

What keeps coming up for me is how differently people react to where the money comes from. Most people are comfortable spending a pension check or a Social Security deposit. It’s like a bottomless cup of coffee—you don’t think about the last sip because another one’s coming. But savings? That’s different. Even when the math works, even when the plan says you’re fine, drawing from something you’ve built for decades feels heavier. That’s where the spending anxiety shows up. Spending slows down. Decisions get second-guessed. Things get pushed out a year at a time. Not because people can’t afford them, but because the shift from saving to spending is uncomfortable.

Show Notes: Article: My husband just retired. I’m scared of running out of money.

The post Retirement Spending Anxiety: EDU #2605 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Retirement and IRA show represents the words and views of the show hosts exclusively and should not be construed as investment, legal, or tax advice. All information is believed to be from reliable sources, however, we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance information is historical in nature and is not indicative of any future results. Any indices mentioned on the show are unmanaged and cannot be invested indirectly. Diversification and asset allocation strategies do not
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0:24.5	Never make any investment or financial decisions based on
0:26.5	information offered on this show without first consulting
0:28.5	your financial legal or tax advisor.
0:30.4	Financial planning services offered through Jim Solnier and
0:32.3	associates LLC, a registered investment advisor.
0:43.1	Thank you. a registered investment advisor. This is the retirement and IRA show coming to you from beautiful Northern Colorado.
0:48.5	Join us as certified financial planner Jim Sondier, as well as Colorado State University
0:53.5	Finance instructor and certified financial planner Chris Steinnier, as well as Colorado State University Finance instructor and
0:54.8	certified financial planner Chris Stein, teach you about IRAs, borrowen case, annuities,
1:00.8	social security, pension plans, and estate planning in a fun and enjoyable show. Whether you are
1:06.6	listening live in Colorado or streaming from their website or iTunes podcast, Jim and Chris want
1:12.4	you to know that they're available to help you plan for your retirement. Just visit their website
1:17.2	at Jimhelps.com. That's Jim H-E-L-P-S dot com and click the Meet the Team button on the homepage.
1:25.4	Now here's Jim and Chris with today's show.
1:30.1	Well, hello everybody and welcome to the Retirement and IRA show, EDU edition for this week.
1:37.0	On this week's show, we are going to tackle an article that Jim archived to cover on a future show, and that show is today, came
1:49.1	from the Washington Post.
1:51.2	And it was kind of an interesting article, as you're hopefully going to see, that one of the
1:56.7	personal finance columnists that writes for the Washington Post and a few other publications,
2:05.8	it appears, had her spouse retire.
	...

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