Retirement is Not a Straight Line: From 'Micro-Batch Relocation Trials' to 'Spending Guilt'—Those Late-Life Knots Only Seen in Hindsight

I recently finished a new book called How to Retire Well. My biggest takeaway wasn't about money, but rather: you have saved enough, but have you ever learned how to spend it?

Many people hold beautiful illusions about life after retirement, yet the reality is often quite harsh.

The "Micro-Batch Trial" a Year Ahead: Don't Let Beautiful Dreams Fall into Harsh Realities¶

The book shares a highly practical perspective: when planning for retirement, it is best to start "micro-batches" a year in advance. You need to experience the life you plan to live beforehand to discover the unexpected bottlenecks you haven't considered.

This reminds me of my recent experience moving house. Because I was moving to a place with a significantly longer commute, I debated and wrestled with the idea for a long time. Eventually, I decided to run a "micro-batch trial" first. I took a few actual trips, experienced the parts of the neighborhood I cared about most, and only fully executed the move after proving it was viable. The result? Once I actually moved, I found that daily life wasn't much different from my test trials.

Many people assume retirement means moving to the countryside to grow vegetables and live a peaceful life, only to find that it causes backaches and is full of mosquitoes. They give up in less than three months. That is the price of skipping the trial phase.

The Breakdown of Wealth-Ladder Habits: High Savings vs. Spending Guilt¶

Another fascinating concept is the "retirement smile curve." When people first retire, they travel extensively and spend more; in the middle phase, activity levels drop and expenses decrease; finally, in late life, healthcare and caregiving costs pull expenses back up.

The book puts it bluntly: if you focus entirely on how to avoid spending money rather than how to spend it meaningfully, you are not living an abundant life.

This points to a collective bottleneck for many Taiwanese elders. Having saved diligently all their lives, their savings rate is exceptionally high, but the moment they try to spend money on themselves, they feel deeply uncomfortable. This is not just a lack of security; it is a form of guilt. Simply put, it is like the "wealth ladder" concept — you need different strategies on different rungs. The frugal habits that work perfectly during the saving phase fail to serve you well during the spending phase of retirement.

If you plan to retire at 65, it is best to start adapting to this mindset shift two or three years in advance. Learning how to switch from "saving mode" to "spending mode" requires practice.

The Solitary Watershed of 80: What Have You Saved Besides Money?¶

The latter half of the book moves into wills and hospice care. To young people or recent retirees, this might feel far away. But from a hospice doctor's perspective, the book highlights a brutal reality: when facing the final moments of life, almost no one reminisces about how hard they worked; they look back at what they achieved and experienced.

Moreover, age 80 is often a watershed. Before that, you might feel perfectly fine and free living alone. But after 80, as bodily functions decline, loneliness typically sets in.

How do you avoid falling into the solitary bottleneck of age 80?

I believe people always need their own interests. Activities like working out or hiking not only help maintain physical strength but also make it easy to meet new friends naturally. Once your physical health declines in old age, many things truly become impossible.

To Be Honest, Reality is a Constant Tug-of-War¶

The book doesn't offer any grand, flawless solutions. The reality is that as we age, our bodies decline. We do what we can. Our best bet is to run micro-trials, force ourselves to spend money on the right things, and build up physical stamina and hobbies during the golden decade of 65 to 75.

Life in old age isn't sacred, but at the very least, we can make it less harsh.