Can You Afford to Spend More and Give More? You Might Be Surprised by the Answer!

When I started my career in financial planning over 12 years ago, I discovered a deep passion for helping others navigate important life decisions such as retirement. What I didn’t realize at the time was just how difficult it can be for clients to feel comfortable spending money and giving away their wealth to family or charities they feel good about (and the regret that can come later in life by these decisions). I’ve come to term this as “financial immortality,” which is quite common among clients and was the inspiration for writing a new eBook, Merriman’s Guide to Living Fully in Retirement: How to Feel Comfortable Spending and Giving More.

No matter where you are on your financial journey, this new book covers topics and strategies suggested by our advisors to help you Live Fully in retirement. Whether you are currently retired, soon to be retired, or just looking ahead to the future, you can learn about options and make smart decisions that may enable you to spend more and give more. Perhaps you can make that vacation home purchase you have always dreamed of. Maybe starting a home-based business to dabble in during retirement is within reach. Or perhaps you’d like to spread your wealth across the family. Maybe there is a cause you’d like to support in a meaningful way. The giving part can be the act of gifting resources to loved ones or to charitable organizations. The point is, with the right plan of action, you can likely do more with your money!

A client of mine passed away in her late 90s with enough resources to survive two to three additional lifetimes relative to her spending needs. While her heirs were grateful for their inheritance, they kept sharing versions of the same story: “Aunt Susan always lived so frugally and was never comfortable with spending money. I wish she had traveled more.” From my conversations with her, I know she wished she had too.

Another client of mine reached financial independence in his mid-40s with three children. The problem was that each year he kept moving his own personal goalpost, pushing him to continue to work in a high-pressure role that he didn’t enjoy anymore. It took several planning sessions to build his comfort around the plan, and he was able to step away to spend more time with his family and work on something that he was actually passionate about.

If you recognize traits like these in yourself or someone you care about and want to explore ways to positively change attitudes about saving, spending, and giving, we can help! We are happy to share our new eBook, Merriman’s Guide to Living Fully in Retirement: How to Feel Comfortable Spending and Giving More.

Learn more about:

• defining financial immortality and the importance of having a financial plan to help determine if you can afford to spend more and give more
• spending and giving as it relates to different withdrawal rates and methods and from which account to withdraw
• actionable strategies to help you save on taxes, donate to charity, and how best to transfer wealth to your family
• common roadblocks or distractions that clients encounter

This book offers great perspective as a collaborative effort from our team of Merriman advisors. To help explain these strategies, each section is filled with real-life examples from over 200 years of our collective experience, including stories from the following advisors: Jeff Barnett, Tyler Bartlett, Aimee Butler, Paige Lee, and Paresh Kamdar. CLICK HERE to get your copy!

Do you need help figuring out if you can afford to spend more and give more? Schedule a time with a Merriman advisor to build your own personalized plan and assessment because we truly enjoy helping others LIVE FULLY in retirement.

Disclosure: All opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes and constitute the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of the report. These opinions are subject to change without notice and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. The material has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however Merriman cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source.  Merriman does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such.