When is Enough...Enough?

Most of the people I meet have done very well. They saved consistently. They invested wisely. They built significant net worth. On paper, they are financially independent.

And yet many are still asking the same quiet question they were asking at 45: “Should we be doing more?”

More growth. More strategies. More optimization. Here is what often gets overlooked. There comes a point when the goal shifts.

In your working years, your job was to accumulate. In retirement, your job becomes converting what you built into dependable income and a lifestyle you can actually enjoy.

I recently met with a couple who had more than enough assets to travel the way they had always planned. But they were still flying economy and postponing bigger trips “until the market feels better.” When we stress-tested their plan, even with flat markets for several years, it still worked comfortably. The issue was not math. It was mindset.

At this stage, the real work is not squeezing out another half percent of return. It is building a clear income strategy, understanding your tax exposure, and knowing how much volatility your plan can absorb without affecting your lifestyle.

This stage of life calls for different questions:

• What income level truly supports your lifestyle?

• How is that income generated across Social Security, investments, and other sources?

• How much investment risk is necessary versus habitual?

• Are you still building for security, or are you ready to start building for experience?

Knowing your total assets is not enough. You need to understand your income durability, your tax efficiency, and your margin for error. When you have that clarity, spending becomes intentional instead of hesitant.

If it has been a few years since you pressure-tested your retirement plan, this is a good time to do it. Markets change. Tax laws change. Your life goals change. A thoughtful review can help you move from continual accumulation to confident enjoyment. You worked hard for this stage of life. Make sure your plan supports living it. If you would like help defining what ‘enough’ looks like, our team would be glad to walk through it with you.