American workers are socialized to spend their careers aggressively building a nest egg, often treating their 401(k)s and other savings as funds that must remain untouched. However, when the time comes to finally tap into those resources, many discover that the psychological transition from a saver to a spender is far more challenging than anticipated.
Data from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement’s 2026 Annual Retirement Study, released in July, highlights this widespread hesitation. The survey revealed that 39% of current retirees feel reluctant to spend their savings. Furthermore, 71% of working-age Americans admit they expect to experience similar anxiety regarding spending their funds once they reach retirement.
Financial planners often describe retirement as consisting of two distinct stages: the accumulation phase, where individuals grow their portfolios, and the distribution phase, where they must begin drawing them down. For many, this second act feels counterintuitive. Dallas-based certified financial planner Melissa Cox notes that about half of her clients grapple with this change. She describes the difficulty of encouraging clients to make even small purchases, noting, “It’s hard to get somebody to even go out and spend five dollars for a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven when they’re so used to saving everything.”
This reluctance can have tangible impacts on a retiree’s quality of life. Cox recalls a favorite client she is “literally begging” to spend money, yet he refuses to take a vacation despite clearly needing one. Similarly, Houston-based planner Jonathan Swanburg explains that while we are conditioned to spend paychecks, spending from a portfolio while watching the balance decline can be deeply stressful. He notes that retirees face a unique pressure where their income is largely fixed, unlike their working years, when they might have addressed a large expense by negotiating a raise or seeking a higher-paying job.
Gerry Elam, a 68-year-old from Opelika, Alabama, experienced this shift firsthand after retiring early from General Electric in 2020. Despite his planner confirming he had more than enough money for his needs, Elam finds it difficult to adjust his mindset. “I think the biggest change for me is going from saver to spender,” he says. “I over-analyze every major purchase, and by major, I mean over a couple hundred dollars.”
St. Louis-based financial planner Peter Lazaroff, author of a forthcoming book on investing, observes that the most disciplined savers often make the most difficult spenders. Because they have spent a lifetime ensuring money does not leave their accounts, the act of withdrawing funds triggers a sense of discomfort. Lazaroff emphasizes that retirees face two competing risks: the danger of running out of money versus the risk of living or dying with deep regret because they denied themselves enjoyable experiences.
Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz, identifies the fear of exhausting funds as the top concern for those approaching retirement—a worry some Americans cite as being greater than their fear of death. While acknowledging the validity of this concern, LaVigne cautions against allowing it to overshadow life’s enjoyment. “If all you do is worry about running out of money, you’re not going to spend enough, and you’re going to end up dying with regret,” he warns. Swanburg adds that this mindset often prevents people from taking long-awaited trips or splurging on luxuries, as they remain fixated on the high costs of these endeavors rather than the value they provide in the final chapters of life. The report also notes that retirees have to embrace a new reality in which their income is largely beyond their control. The report also notes that he said, was learning to spend it, the only problem. The report also notes that “People who build up a sizeable portfolio over their lifetimes are good savers,” he said. “And good savers, almost by definition, are bad spenders. The report also notes that part of the problem, Lazaroff said, lies in the “mindset adjustment” that your retirement savings are no longer off-limits. The report also notes that “I get it that you don’t want to run out of money,” LaVigne said. “But you also don’t want to put off things that are really worth it to you.”. The report also notes that a retiree might balk at fulfilling a bucket-list item, like taking a long-delayed vacation, or flying first class, for fear of overspending. The report also notes that in retirement, “you’ve lost that paycheck, and now you’re trying to take this trip that is really, really expensive.”.
