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Key takeaways<\/p>\n
Most people build wealth at the expense of living, then have less ability to enjoy it later; timing matters as much as money.<\/p>\n
Money is most valuable when you have the health and energy to use it, so align spending with life stages, not just retirement.<\/p>\n
Experiences create long-term \u201cmemory dividends,\u201d making early-life spending on meaningful moments incredibly valuable.<\/p>\n
Helping your children earlier, especially with property, can deliver far greater financial and emotional impact than leaving an inheritance.<\/p>\n
The goal isn\u2019t to die rich, but to use your wealth deliberately to create a fulfilling life without regret.<\/p>\n
Most Australians think retirement is a fairly linear process.<\/p>\n
You work hard for 30 or 40 years, pay off your home, build a solid nest egg\u2026 and then, when the time comes, you ease into retirement and carefully draw down your savings so you don\u2019t run out.<\/p>\n
It sounds logical, even sensible.<\/p>\n
But the more I think about it, and the more I see it play out in real life, the more I\u2019m convinced many people are unknowingly getting it wrong.<\/p>\n
Because the traditional model assumes something that simply isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n
It assumes that time, health, energy and opportunity will all be waiting for you when you finally decide to enjoy your wealth.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where the cracks begin to show.<\/p>\n
For weekly insights, subscribe to the\u00a0Demographics Decoded podcast<\/a>, where we will continue to explore these trends and their implications in greater detail.<\/p>\n Subscribe now on your favourite Podcast player:<\/p>\n The real problem with the way we approach retirement<\/p>\n Fact is…most people spend the first half of their lives accumulating wealth, and the second half trying not to spend it.<\/p>\n But in my mind, that\u2019s not a strategy, it\u2019s a habit.<\/p>\n And it leads to a mismatch between when you have money and when you can actually enjoy it.<\/p>\n As Simon Kuestenmacher explains in this episode of Demographics Decoded…<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get any bonus points if you die with a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n That single sentence cuts through decades of conventional thinking.<\/p>\n Because if the purpose of wealth is to enhance your life, then hoarding it until the very end just doesn\u2019t make much sense.<\/p>\n Yet that\u2019s exactly what many Australians are doing.<\/p>\n Why we default to saving\u2026 even when we don\u2019t need to<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about ignorance; it\u2019s about psychology.<\/p>\n Most people develop a strong saving muscle early in life.<\/p>\n You budget. You sacrifice. You delay gratification. And those behaviours are essential when you\u2019re building wealth.<\/p>\n But the problem is\u2026 they don\u2019t automatically switch off.<\/p>\n Even when you\u2019ve \u201cmade it,\u201d the habits remain.<\/p>\n Simon describes this as a scarcity mindset: <\/p>\n \u201cYou are afraid of spending this money\u2026 you got hooked into the idea of accumulating.\u201d<\/p>\n And it shows up everywhere.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve met retirees living in multi-million-dollar homes\u2026 yet worrying about everyday expenses.<\/p>\n People who could comfortably travel, upgrade their lifestyle, or help their family, but don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Not because they can\u2019t. Because they\u2019re afraid.<\/p>\n Afraid of running out of money. Afraid of future uncertainty. Afraid of making the wrong decision.<\/p>\n Sure, those concerns are valid, but taken too far, they create a different kind of risk, the risk of under-living.<\/p>\n The concept that changes everything: time value of money\u2026 and life<\/p>\n We often talk about the time value of money.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s another dimension that\u2019s just as important, the time value of life.<\/p>\n In simple terms: A dollar spent at age 30 is not the same as a dollar spent at age 80.<\/p>\n Not because of inflation. But because of what that dollar can buy you in terms of experience, energy and opportunity.<\/p>\n Simon puts it this way:<\/p>\n \u201cMoney is more valuable when you can buy experiences\u2026 when you can physically enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a profound shift in thinking.<\/p>\n Note: It means financial planning shouldn\u2019t just focus on how much you have\u2026but when you use it. <\/p>\n Why experiences compound more than money<\/p>\n One of the most compelling ideas in this whole discussion is the concept of memory dividends.<\/p>\n Unlike financial assets, experiences don\u2019t just deliver a one-off return. They compound emotionally over time.<\/p>\n Simon explains:<\/p>\n \u201cYou have maybe 70 years\u2019 worth of remembering this thing\u2026 and you get this wonderful benefit of reliving those experiences.”<\/p>\n Think about your own life…<\/p>\n The trips you\u2019ve taken. The moments with family. The experiences that shaped you. <\/p>\n They don\u2019t fade; they become richer.<\/p>\n And importantly, they influence how you see the world, how you relate to others, and even how you make decisions.<\/p>\n Compare that to leaving everything until later in life.<\/p>\n Yes, you may have more money. But you\u2019ve missed decades of emotional return.<\/p>\n The danger of deferring life<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one recurring theme I see, it\u2019s this: People assume they\u2019ll \u201cget around to it some day.\u201d<\/p>\n Travel later. Spend later. Help the kids later.<\/p>\n But as Simon bluntly says:<\/p>\n \u201cQuite often you won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: Life doesn\u2019t operate on a neat timeline.\u00a0Health changes. Priorities shift. Energy declines.<\/p>\n And by the time many people reach retirement, their desire, or ability, to do certain things has diminished.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Simon notes that even the appetite for travel often reduces in later years.<\/p>\n So the idea that you\u2019ll suddenly become more adventurous at 75 than you were at 55 doesn\u2019t always hold up.<\/p>\n Why helping your children earlier is a game changer<\/p>\n![\"pencil](\"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/wp-content\/themes\/oldpaper\/img\/note.svg\")
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