MML #052: The Permission You've Been Waiting For

I keep every thank-you note I've ever received from clients.

Not because I'm sentimental (okay, maybe a little). But because there's a recurring pattern that I see. 

Nobody writes to tell me how great their portfolio performed. Nobody sends a card about their asset allocation strategy.

Instead, they thank me for something completely different: permission.

Permission to spend. Permission to enjoy their retirement without the constant low-grade anxiety that they're doing something wrong.

The 40-Year Habit That's Hard to Break

The 40-year habit of saving is incredibly hard to reverse. You've spent your entire career maximizing contributions, living below your means at times, and building wealth. It’s a winning formula for wealth accumulation indeed.

But that same discipline might be keeping you in the office longer than you need to be there.

Most lawyers I meet assume they can't afford to retire because of their lifestyle. They think they need to keep saving. Or worse - they think retirement means cutting back on everything they enjoy.

But I have yet to meet a lawyer who felt this way and had sound analysis to back it up. It's just a hunch. A really persistent, anxiety-inducing hunch.

The math often tells a different story.

Take the research from David Blanchett on retirement spending patterns. He found what he calls the "Retirement Spending Smile" - retirees actually spend more in the early years when they're healthiest and most active. Spending typically declines in the middle years, then increases again later for healthcare.

What does this mean for you? If you wait too long to retire, you might miss the window when you're most able to enjoy what you've built.

The Trap Nobody Talks About

There's another trap I see that's even harder to spot: What if you reach your twilight years and you have too much?

Sure, leaving a legacy is great - if that's what you intended. But most of my clients would have much preferred to either enjoy that extra income or create a plan to use it wisely much earlier in their retirement. Travel while they could. Help their kids or grandkids when it would make the biggest difference. Support causes they care about.

What Permission Actually Looks Like

This is where having clarity isn't just a numbers game on paper. It's permission to enjoy the freedom you've built.

When you work through a sound retirement analysis, you get to see:

• Where you actually stand financially (not where your anxiety tells you that you stand)
• The real pitfalls to watch for
• The threats to your plan
• A strategy you can lean on and depend on

And then something shifts. The constant worry quiets down. You can enjoy activities you love without that nagging voice asking "Can we really afford this?"

If you're staying in your practice primarily because you're not sure you have "enough," it might be time to find out what enough actually looks like for you.

Because after 40 years of disciplined saving, you might have more permission to spend than you think.