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Some near-retirees should ditch the savings plan and drop serious cash on their dreams .

By Jennifer Lea Reed

This is the opposite of the “ save until you ’ re 70 ” mentality that many clients and some advisors can ’ t let go of . The idea has been around for a dozen-plus years ; it revolves around a counterintuitive virtuous circle and now is being revisited in practice , often in new ways , by advisory firms large and small .

Instead of socking away as much money as possible , clients are sometimes being advised to stop saving and instead drop $ 15,000 to $ 20,000 on something they ’ ve always wanted — a magnificent trip , a month on a summer house rental , a new car . And not do it just once , but over and over again .

“ If you ’ re going to sit here and tell me how burned out and stressed you are , you need to work on rightsizing your life ,” says Marguerita Cheng , a certified financial planner and CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg , Md . “ Some people are scared to spend . Conditioned not to spend . But spending $ 20,000 of a $ 1.3 million portfolio to go somewhere with your wife when your kid graduates from college is OK .”

It ’ s completely different from the way prior generations retired , and there ’ s good reason for that , experts say . Workers can maintain better health through their 50s and 60s , and increased longevity is bringing retirees well into their 80s and 90s .

“ The concept of retirement has really only been around 100 years . People didn ’ t retire . They worked until they died ,” says Tim Doehrmann , a retirement specialist and the founder of Eagle Ridge Wealth Advisors in Morton , Ill . “ Retirement ac- counts have only been around 40 to 50 years . Roths , 25 . Our whole mindset has evolved as well . It ’ s an advisor ’ s job to help clients become aware of their options .”

And there ’ s also something extremely 2023 about it . “ The pandemic was a huge storm ,” says Michael Doshier , vice president and senior retirement strategist at T . Rowe Price . He points to the terrifying and isolating lockdowns , stock market drops and jitters , and , of course , the loss of health and life .

“ Now there ’ s all this focus on mental health , and financial wellness has benefited from this because people are really thinking about what it is that they need to be healthy , to have enough money ,” he says . “ To be happy .”

A Counterintuitive Strategy

Doshier ’ s colleague , Marcie Daniel , the vice president and head of practice management , agrees . And the people at T . Rowe Price should know . A former advisor at the investment company named Christine Fahlund came up with a concept called “ practice retirement ” more than a dozen years ago , and turned it into a playbook for advisors , although the concept has evolved since then .

JULY / AUGUST 2023 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 51