Most retirees believe the key to a successful income strategy lies in the products — specifically, the right pension wrapper, withdrawal rate, or investment mix. But here’s the truth: it’s not about products at all. It’s about permission.

In this episode, I challenge the obsession with spreadsheets and simulations, revealing why confidence to spend doesn’t come from perfect plans — it comes from understanding, repetition, and emotional safety. You’ll discover the Permission Pyramid, the secret behind guardrails-based freedom, and why your financial plan should feel like permission to live, not a restriction on joy.

• Why most retirees don’t need better products — they need better permission

• The myth that spreadsheets create confidence

• The three levels of the Permission Pyramid: Numbers Clarity, Emotional Confidence, Behavioural Permission

• How guardrails create freedom (not restriction) in your income strategy

• The real role of a retirement plan — to give you permission to live well

• Three key questions to help you feel confident spending your income

👉 Write your own Retirement Spending Permission Slip.

Literally. Write it down and make it visible.

“I, [your name], give myself permission to spend money in retirement that:

• aligns with my values

• fits within my plan

• creates joy, meaning, and memories

• honours the work I did to earn it

• and supports the life I want now — not just a future I might never meet.”

Stick it on the fridge. Make it your phone background. Repeat it until it feels real.

• The Permission Pyramid — My 3-level model for income confidence

• Guardrails-Based Spending — freedom within boundaries

Coming up in Episode 7: Your Retirement Plan Is a Lie (But You Still Need One)

We’ll explore why traditional financial plans often give false security, what happens when life refuses to behave, and how to design a living, breathing plan that adapts as you do.

You’ve worked hard. Saved smart. Invested wisely. You’ve built a life where money is no longer the problem. But here’s the awkward truth: spending it freely, without guilt, hesitation, or second-guessing, is the part no one prepared you for.

In this episode, I unpack why so many retirees struggle to permit themselves to spend, where that scarcity mindset comes from, and how to start using money to create joy, connection, and memory dividends. Saving was your superpower. Spending is your next skill.

• Why spending in retirement isn’t a maths problem, it’s a psychological one

• The “permission gap” and why most retirees hesitate to enjoy what they’ve saved

• How money guilt shows up (and why you’re not alone in feeling it)

• The hidden costs of under-spending... memories, experiences, and lost joy

• What “good spending” really looks like: values, memory dividends, and well-being

• Practical tools, from guardrails to pre-spending permission slips, to help you spend with confidence

👉 Plan one guilt-free spend, and do it.

• Not research it.

• Not think about it.

• Not ask five friends if it’s sensible.

Just spend. Choose something that creates a memory, feels indulgent, and is true to you. Then, when that little voice says, “Should I really?” — answer, “Yes. Future Me will thank me.”

• Schroders UK Retirement Study (2022): On retirees struggling to spend freely

• Bill Perkins, Die With Zero — The principle of converting money into meaningful life experiences

• Retirement planning tools like Guardrails, Bucket Planning, and Spending Statements

Coming up in Episode 6:
Retirement Income Isn’t About Products — It’s About Permission
We’ll explore why true confidence to spend comes from psychology, not portfolio returns, and how your retirement income strategy should feel like freedom, not fear.

Retirement isn’t about how much time you have; it’s about how much time you feel. In this episode, I dive into one of the most misunderstood aspects of life after work: time perception. From brain science to everyday challenges, I uncover why retirement can sometimes feel like a blur and how you can make the most of your time, stretch it, and truly enrich it.

• Why your brain experiences time differently once work ends

• The science of time compression (and why some days vanish while others feel full)

• How “Memory Dividends” can transform your retirement years

• The three biggest retirement time traps, and how to avoid them

• Why time isn’t linear but psychological, and how that changes everything

• How to redefine what “a good use of time” really means in retirement

👉 Design your Ideal Day

• Grab a notepad (or open Notes on your phone)

• Write out your perfect Tuesday in retirement: when you wake, who you’re with, what you do, what you eat, where you are

• Then bring one small part of that ideal day into your life this week

• Dr. David Eagleman – Neuroscientist and author on time perception

• Bill Perkins, Die With Zero – Explore the idea of “Memory Dividends”

• Previous episodes of Humans vs Retirement on purpose, identity, and designing life after work

Stay tuned for Episode 5: The Skill No One Taught You — Spending Money.

I’ll explore why retirees struggle to permit themselves to spend, how scarcity creeps in even when you have “enough,” and what it takes to break free and truly enjoy your wealth.