It’s hard to shift gears from diligently saving for retirement to spending so you can enjoy what you’ve accumulated. Richard Sheffield’s Spend Your Damn Retirement Money! Beat the Spending Fear to Find Your Dream Retirement is a provocative manifesto for retirees who feel trapped in the paradox having achieved financial security yet are feeling emotionally frozen by the prospect of spending down their retirement savings. Sheffield, a former UPS executive turned writer, brings honest reflection to this common challenge: figuring out how to spend your well-earned savings without guilt or fear.
Leveraging his personal experience and observations of other retirees, Sheffield notes that many retirees get stuck in a scarcity mindset. They’ve accumulated enough money to retire but lack the emotional permission to actually enjoy it. He rejects the idea of retirement becoming a slow fade into withdrawal and isolation. Instead, he points out that addressing this issue can be a catalyst for reframing these post-working years as “prime time” for creative, fulfilling living. The book explores how outdated expectations, societal pressures, or simply the lingering voice of one’s financial advisor can all combine to hold you back from the intentional, joyful spending that can make your retirement take off. He encourages readers to stop procrastinating and leap into a bolder, more vibrant life now:
“Retirement felt like a really nice waiting room—but waiting for what?”
– Richard Sheffield
Sheffield shares the story of his personal turning point when he fired his financial advisor. He did it not because the advisor was incompetent, but to reclaim authority and control over how he spent his resources. This led to a shift from overly cautious planning to more expressive living. He invites readers to question the consensus-driven retirement advice they’ve received from the media, financial advisors and friends and family. He advocates taking charge and personal responsibility for redesigning your retirement plans, rejecting an overemphasis on fear.
I’m a big fan of Richard Shefield’s Medium essays. He’s a talented and humorous writer who gets right to the point and helps you think about issues in retirement differently. The messaging, in my opinion, is not to carelessly throw caution to the wind but instead, find a balance that works for you and avoids a more isolated life as a financial hoarder.
In Spend Your Damn Retirement Money! Richard Sheffield delivers both a heartfelt memoir and an empowering guide to tackling a key issue many retirees tell me is paralyzing. He urges retirees to step back and assess their beliefs about spending and move toward living fully, spending intentionally, and treat their nest egg not as a safety net to hoard, but as a foundation for crafting the new life they’ve earned – and deserve.
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Read Spend Your Damn Retirement Money! Beat the Spending Fear to Find Your Dream Retirement
Listen to my podcast conversation with Richard Sheffield
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