EP # 205 | The Retirement Spending Smile: Why Your Costs Don't Just Drop Over Time
Your Retirement Planning SimplifiedShow Notes
The go-go years are real. But does that mean you should spend everything early and hope for the best? Not quite. In this episode, Joe adds the honest counterweight to the last few weeks of conversation, because building a plan around a fixed timeline is its own kind of risk. The go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases of retirement show up on average. But that phrase - on average - is doing a lot of work. Some people stay active and adventurous well into their 80s. Others slow down earlier than expected. Spending in later years does not always drop; sometimes it just changes shape, moving from active travel to river cruises, or from personal spending to helping family. And health costs can push spending right back up at the end. Joe explains why flexibility beats trying to predict the future, and how to build a plan that holds up no matter which version of retirement you actually get.
In This Episode The go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases are a pattern, not a schedule. Nobody gets a warning when one phase turns into the next, and your own timeline may surprise you in either direction. The retirement spending smile means spending often rises again near the end of life, driven by health and care costs. A plan that assumes spending just falls off a cliff halfway through retirement is planning for a curve most people do not actually follow.
Later spending does not always shrink, it often shifts. Travel moves from active itineraries to river cruises. Gifts and support to children and grandchildren step in where other spending steps back. The budget changes shape more than it disappears.
A guaranteed income floor lets you take bigger trips or make larger purchases with confidence, because you know the essentials are covered no matter what. For people who lean toward the income protection retirement income style, this floor is what finally makes spending feel safe.
The guardrails approach builds in room to adjust without requiring you to rethink your spending every year. When things are going well, you live fully. If the long-term picture shifts in a meaningful way, you make a small correction. That flexibility protects you in both directions.
About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.
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