Most people treat retirement planning like an Olympic sport, building spreadsheets, forecasting returns, and trying to engineer certainty in a world that’s anything but certain. But here’s the truth: no plan survives contact with real life.

In this episode, I unpack why traditional retirement plans often do more harm than good, creating false security, stifling adaptability, and ignoring the human side of money. You’ll learn why the best retirement plan isn’t a fixed prediction, but a living process that evolves with you. Because the plan isn’t the point... You are.

• Why most traditional retirement plans fail (and how they create false security)

• The difference between planning and plans, and why adaptability wins every time

• The 5 elements of a Living Plan that actually work in the real world

• How to balance numbers with meaning and flexibility with confidence

• The question every retiree should ask: “Is my plan protecting me, or preventing me from living?”

👉 Audit your plan — or your mindset about planning.

Ask yourself:

• Is my plan giving me clarity, confidence, and control, or just false certainty?

• Where am I clinging to a version of the future that no longer fits?

• What’s one thing I could loosen, update, or rethink to make my plan feel more alive and aligned with who I am today?

You don’t need to tear it up. Just tune it up, so it becomes a compass, not a cage.

• Quote: James Clear — “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

• The Living Plan Framework: values-led, flexible, regularly refreshed, guardrails-based, emotionally supportive

Coming up in Episode 8: Tax, Death, and Rock ’n’ Roll

Yes, we’re going there. I dive into tax planning, inheritance, and legacy design… but without the doom and gloom. Expect honesty, humour, and a fresh take on how to make your final chapter feel meaningful... not morbid.

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.