Retirement Quick Tips with Ashley

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the all-too-common problem of being too frugal and underspending in retirement, how this frugality can rob you of a fulfilling retirement, and steps you can take to find a better balance with spending and preserving financial security in retirement.

Today, I'm talking about intentional spending = meaningful life. I touched on this yesterday, but I want to continue with intentionality today, because I think it's really the key to living an anti-frugal and fulfilling retirement.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the all-too-common problem of being too frugal and underspending in retirement, how this frugality can rob you of a fulfilling retirement, and steps you can take to find a better balance with spending and preserving financial security in retirement.

Today, I'm talking about finding the right balance between overspending and over-frugality in retirement.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the all-too-common problem of being too frugal and underspending in retirement, how this frugality can rob you of a fulfilling retirement, and steps you can take to find a better balance with spending and preserving financial security in retirement.

Today, I'm talking about why it's so hard to spend for so many of you.

Welcome to a new week here on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast! I'm your host, Ashley Micciche.

Nearly two in three Americans (64%) worry more about running out of money than death, according to the 2025 Annual Retirement Study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement. I talked about this at length in last week's theme.

This week, I want to continue that discussion and talk about one of the unfortunate and all-too-common outcomes of a deep fear of running out of money in retirement - being too frugal and not enjoying your retirement years as you should because you underspend.

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: Americans Now Fear Running Out of Money MORE than Death!

In case you missed any episodes this week, here's the recap…

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about a study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement that found something striking: 64% of Americans are more worried about running out of money in retirement than they are of death itself.

Today…So far this week, I've talked about how you can address the very common fear of running out of money in retirement. There are a number of strategies you can use, but their effectiveness really depends on how close you are to retirement.

For example, saving more makes the biggest impact the farther away you are. So if I'm talking to someone my age—around 40—the advice is simple: reduce expenses, cut out the things that are keeping you from saving more, and then be more aggressive with how much you save. That alone can take you a long way toward reaching your goal of accumulating enough so you don't have to worry so much about running out of money in retirement.

But if you're closer—say one to five years out—saving more won't move the needle nearly as much. At that stage, the best solution is usually just to work a little bit longer. A couple extra years of work can have an outsized impact on retirement security.

Now, what we haven't yet addressed this week is: what if you're already retired? Many baby boomers in this survey, all over 60 now, are in that exact situation. They're still worried—rightly so—about running out of money. But it's too late to save more, and too late to delay retirement. At that point, the one arrow left in the quiver is maintaining a safe withdrawal rate. That is the key to not running out of money once you're retired.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about a study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement that found something striking: 64% of Americans are more worried about running out of money in retirement than they are of death itself. I

When you're worried or fearful about anything in life, one of the best ways to kill that fear is to build some knowledge and better understand what you need to do in order to conquer that fear. And it's no different with planning for retirement.

I think a lot of the fear about running out of money in retirement comes from the simple fact of not knowing. Not knowing when I can retire. Not knowing how much money I can spend in retirement. Not knowing how much is enough.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about a study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement that found something striking: 64% of Americans are more worried about running out of money in retirement than they are of death itself.

Yesterday, I talked about how spending less and saving more is one of the best ways to prepare for retirement and avoid running out of money. But here's the catch—that strategy works best if you still have plenty of time before retirement.

Let me give you an example. If you start saving just $100 a month at age 20, and it grows at 7% a year, by age 65 you'll have around $350,000—even without ever increasing that contribution. That's the magic of compounding.

But what if you don't start until much later? Let's say you add $1,000 a month, but you're only five years away from retirement. At the same growth rate, that only gets you about $70,000. The lesson? Time is the real driver of growth. Without it, saving more—while still important—has a much smaller impact.

So what do you do if you're close to retirement and feeling behind? The answer is simple: work longer.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about a study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement that found something striking: 64% of Americans are more worried about running out of money in retirement than they are of death itself.

Yesterday, I talked about the fear of running out of money in retirement, and why so many of us struggle to save enough. A big reason comes down to current expenses—too much house, too much debt, or just day-to-day costs that crowd out long-term saving. Retirement feels far away, until suddenly it's here—and then it's too late to catch up.

So what's the solution? Especially if you're still at least 5 years or more from retirement, the answer is simple: spend less and save more. I know that sounds obvious, but many people don't realize where their money is actually going.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about a study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement that found something striking: 64% of Americans are more worried about running out of money in retirement than they are of death itself.

Today, I want to dig a little deeper into why that fear is so common…