Permission to Spend: Why Retirees Feel Guilty Enjoying Their Savings (and What the Bible Says)
You saved for forty years. You skipped the new car, maxed out the 401(k), and finally made it to retirement. So why does booking the trip feel like you're doing something wrong?
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Prudential's 2026 Retirement Pulse survey, released October 1, found that 86% of Americans 50 and older lack confidence about withdrawing and enjoying their retirement savings (InvestmentNews, Oct. 1, 2026). Only 14% said they feel comfortable using their savings each month on things they enjoy, and 29% said an unchanged bank account is a source of pride (PlanSponsor, Oct. 2, 2026). Even among people with $500,000 or more saved, 61% feel uncomfortable spending for enjoyment.
Prudential's head of retirement research, David Blanchett, summed up the problem with a question every saver should sit with: "If people can't enjoy their retirement savings, what was the point?" (PlanSponsor, Oct. 2, 2026). The industry has a name for what's missing: permission to spend.
As Christians, we have to ask a deeper version of that question. Not just "Is it okay to spend?" but "Who gives the permission, and what is this money actually for?"
Two Ways to Get Money Wrong in Retirement
Most retirement conversations warn about one danger: running out of money. That's real. But Scripture warns about a second danger that's just as real, and the Prudential data suggests far more retirees are falling into it.
Danger One: Spending Without Wisdom
Proverbs doesn't romanticize living for today:
"Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it."
— Proverbs 21:20 (ESV)
A plan matters. Withdrawing too much, too fast, or without accounting for taxes, health care, and a long life can turn a comfortable retirement into a stressful one.
Danger Two: Hoarding Out of Fear
But Jesus told a parable about a man who did the opposite. He wasn't reckless. He was a saver. His crops did well, so he built bigger barns and planned to sit back and enjoy them someday:
"And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
— Luke 12:19–21 (ESV)
Notice what Jesus condemned. Not saving. Not even enjoying. It was the man's trust in his barns and the fact that none of it was aimed toward God. The servant in the parable of the talents made a similar mistake for a different reason. He wasn't greedy, he was afraid:
"So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours."
— Matthew 25:25 (ESV)
Burying it felt safe. His master called it wicked and slothful. Fear-driven hoarding can look like prudence, but it can also be a quiet refusal to trust God and use what He's entrusted to us.
God Actually Gives Permission to Enjoy
Here's something many faithful savers have never been told: enjoying the fruit of your work is not a guilty pleasure. Scripture calls it a gift.
"Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God."
— Ecclesiastes 5:19 (ESV)
And Paul, writing to Timothy about wealthy believers, doesn't tell them to stop enjoying anything. He tells them where to put their hope:
"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."
— 1 Timothy 6:17–19 (ESV)
That passage is a complete retirement philosophy in three sentences. Don't trust the balance. Trust God. Enjoy what He provides. And put your money to work doing good.
John Piper puts the heart of it well:
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."
— John Piper, Desiring God
A retiree who can't spend a dollar without guilt and a retiree who spends every dollar on himself have the same problem: their satisfaction is tied to the account, not to God.
Generosity Is the Missing Category
The Prudential survey asked about trips, entertainment, and bucket-list items. Those are good things. But for a Christian, the most freeing permission to spend may be the permission to give.
Many retirees will hold onto money for decades "just in case," and then pass it on at the end with no say in how it's used. Meanwhile, the people and ministries they love could have been blessed while they were still here to see it. Randy Alcorn has written for years about why this matters:
"Giving is the only antidote to materialism."
— Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle
Giving while you're living doesn't compete with leaving an inheritance (Proverbs 13:22). For many families, a planned approach does both, and qualified charitable distributions from IRAs or a donor-advised fund can make that giving more tax-efficient.
How a Plan Gives You Permission
One of the most telling numbers in the survey: 56% of people with a retirement plan felt more confident about spending, yet only 16% of all respondents had a withdrawal strategy (PlanSponsor, Oct. 2, 2026; InvestmentNews, Oct. 1, 2026). Guilt usually isn't a spiritual problem alone. Often it's a clarity problem. You don't know what's safe to spend, so you spend nothing.
Here's what we walk through with clients to replace that fear with clarity:
Know your number. A written withdrawal plan tells you what you can reasonably spend each year, based on your assets, income sources, and timeline. Not a guess. A plan.
Give every dollar a job. We like four simple categories: needs, wants, giving, and legacy. When each has a planned amount, spending on a want stops feeling like stealing from a need.
Build in guardrails, not guesswork. Rather than a fixed rule, a flexible approach lets you spend a little more in strong markets and tighten up in weak ones. That keeps you from overspending and from underspending.
Lean on reliable income. Social Security claiming strategy (and, for some, other guaranteed income) can cover core expenses so your portfolio can fund the rest.
Invest with discipline, not headlines. With the S&P 500 hitting record highs this week (TheStreet, Oct. 6, 2026), it's tempting to either chase or hide. We'd rather own a broadly diversified, low-cost portfolio built on decades of research, the kind that lets you stop checking the news to decide whether you can afford dinner out. As Ecclesiastes 11:2 (ESV) puts it, "Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth."
Review it every year. Your plan should update as life changes, so your permission to spend is based on today's facts, not old fears.
Number Your Days
Moses prayed, "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12, ESV). Retirement is a season of limited, precious days. Wisdom isn't hoarding them, and it isn't wasting them. It's using them, and the resources God has provided, with open hands.
So yes, take the trip. Visit the grandkids. Fund the mission project. Fix the roof. Give generously. Do it with a plan, and do it with gratitude. The permission you're looking for doesn't come from a survey or a spreadsheet. It comes from the God who "richly provides us with everything to enjoy."
Talk to a Christian Financial Advisor Who Shares Your Values
If you've saved faithfully but feel stuck when it comes to actually using what you've built, you don't have to figure it out alone. At Kingdom Wealth Advisers, we help Christian families build retirement plans rooted in biblical stewardship and sound, evidence-based investment principles, so you can spend, give, and leave a legacy with confidence. It's the same conviction behind Nick Lombardozzi's book, Your Retirement, God's Kingdom.
Schedule a free 15-minute call to talk about your situation.
This article is offered for general education and spiritual encouragement. It is not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular security or investment product. No strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Every family's situation is different, and we would love to talk with you about yours.
Nick Lombardozzi is the founder of Kingdom Wealth Advisers and the author of Your Retirement, God's Kingdom. He helps Christian families integrate biblical financial stewardship with sound, evidence-based investment principles.
Sources
InvestmentNews, "When it comes to retirement, Americans struggling with 'permission to spend,' says Prudential," Oct. 1, 2026 — investmentnews.com
PlanSponsor, "Prudential: Unease Over Discretionary Spending in Retirement Is Commonplace," Oct. 2, 2026 — plansponsor.com
TheStreet, "Stock Market Today (Oct. 6, 2026): S&P 500 sets new record," Oct. 6, 2026 — thestreet.com
ESV Bible, esv.org — Proverbs 21:20; Luke 12:19–21; Matthew 25:25; Ecclesiastes 5:19; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; Proverbs 13:22; Ecclesiastes 11:2; Psalm 90:12
John Piper, Desiring God — desiringgod.org
Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle — Eternal Perspective Ministries, epm.org