On a new episode of Prudential's Life & Longevity podcast, host David Blanchett, Prudential's head of retirement research, sat down with CloudResearch co-founder and Chief Research Officer Leib Litman, Ph.D., to talk about a problem most retirement advice ignores. Saving for retirement is one challenge. Giving yourself permission to spend those savings is a separate one.
The conversation draws on Prudential's 2026 Retirement Pulse, a study of 3,023 U.S. adults aged 50 and over that CloudResearch fielded on Engage, the company’s AI-moderated survey and interview platform. Its headline finding: 86% of respondents don't feel entirely free to spend what they've saved. As Litman puts it, permission to spend "isn't simply a financial challenge, it's a psychological one."
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts (22 minutes)
Permission to spend “isn’t simply a financial challenge, it’s a psychological one.”
| About the study | 2026 Retirement Pulse |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Prudential Financial |
| Fielded by | CloudResearch, on its Engage platform |
| Sample | 3,023 U.S. adults aged 50+, balanced to represent pre-retirees and retirees |
| Field dates | July 27 to August 2, 2026 (online) |
| Method | Mixed methods: closed-ended questions plus AI-moderated conversational open-ends with follow-up probes |
| Published | October 1, 2026 (Prudential press release) |
Key Survey Takeaways
- Most retirees feel blocked from spending. 86% don't feel fully free to draw on their savings for enjoyment.
- More money doesn't solve the problem. Even among people with $500,000 or more in investable assets, 61% feel the same hesitation.
- Guilt plays a large role. Majorities feel guilty spending on trips (61%) and entertainment (63%), and 67% struggle to justify paying for help around the house.
- Planning is a permission slip. Pre-retirees with a clear plan are 56% more likely to feel comfortable spending on enjoyment, yet only 23% have one.
- The real shift is emotional. The core task, Litman says, is "helping people emotionally transition from saver to spender."
- New research methodologies make qual at scale possible. Engage paired closed-ended questions with AI-moderated follow-up probes, giving Prudential interview depth across a national sample in a week.
Saving Is One Skill. Spending Is Another.
For decades, retirement messaging has focused on one behavior: put money away. People who followed that advice did the hard part. But the habits that make someone a good saver, such as delayed gratification, vigilance, and pride in a growing balance, don't switch off at retirement.
The Pulse data shows how sticky those habits are. About a quarter of respondents say they feel proud that their balances haven't gone down. Among savers, almost 40% would rather leave money behind than risk running out. Blanchett summarized the result simply: people "are just too hesitant to enjoy what they've got."
Guilt, Regret, and the Saver's Identity
The hesitation isn't only about running out of money; often, there’s an underlying feeling of guilt. In the Pulse survey, 61% feel guilty spending on big trips, 63% on entertainment, and 86% on bucket-list purchases. Two-thirds find it hard to justify paying for help like painters, gardeners, or housekeepers.
When spending feels difficult
The experiences people hesitate to enjoy
Share of respondents who feel guilty spending on each category
- Big trips
- 61%
- Entertainment
- 63%
- Bucket-list purchases
- 86%
Source: Prudential’s 2026 Retirement Pulse.
That guilt comes at a cost. About 42% say they struggle to enjoy retirement and live in the present, and 26% of savers already expect to regret missing out. From a behavioral science view, this is an identity problem as much as a math problem. People who built their sense of security around accumulating wealth now have to act against that identity.
Why More Wealth Doesn't Solve the Hesitation
If hesitation were purely financial, it would fade as balances grow. It doesn't. Among respondents with $500,000 or more in investable assets, 61% still don't feel comfortable spending for enjoyment.
This is the gap Litman's work focuses on: the distance between what people can afford and what they feel allowed to do. Closing it takes more than a bigger number on a statement. It takes a reason to trust that spending today won't put tomorrow at risk.
A Plan Works Like a Permission Slip
The most encouraging finding is that structure helps. Compared with their peers, respondents were more likely to feel comfortable spending on enjoyment when they had:
- A clear retirement plan: 56% more likely
- A withdrawal strategy: 52% more likely
- A pension, annuity, or other guaranteed income: 43% more likely
What helps people feel comfortable spending?
Confidence starts with a plan
More likely to feel comfortable spending on enjoyment, compared with peers
- A clear retirement plan
- +56%
- A withdrawal strategy
- +52%
- Guaranteed income
- +43%
Relative differences in likelihood, not percentage-point increases. Guaranteed income includes a pension, annuity, or other guaranteed income.
Source: Prudential’s 2026 Retirement Pulse.
Yet few people have that structure in place. Only 23% of pre-retirees have a clear plan, and just 16% of respondents have a withdrawal strategy. Two-thirds of working respondents would choose a guaranteed monthly lifetime check over a lump sum, and 54% say the main reason is added permission to spend. Certainty, it turns out, is what unlocks enjoyment.
How AI-Moderated Surveys Captured the "Why."
The fear of running out of money in retirement is well studied, but much less is known about why people who have saved enough still hold back from spending. A typical survey can show how many people hesitate, but not the reasons behind it. Interviews can get at those reasons, but they usually involve a few dozen people, so researchers have generally had to pick between depth and sample size.
For the 2026 Retirement Pulse, CloudResearch used Engage to do both through AI surveys. Respondents answered closed-ended questions, which showed how common each pattern was, and then open-ended survey questions in a conversational survey format. When an answer was vague or raised a new point, Engage's AI moderator asked a follow-up, much as an interviewer would. By following this process with 3,023 participants, the study could report both that 86% of respondents hold back and, in their own words, why.
How the research worked
From answers to the reasons behind them
3,023 U.S. adults aged 50+
One national sample. Closed-ended questions and conversational open ends.
- Survey questions
Closed-ended questions measure how common patterns are.
Conversational open ends let people explain in their own words.
- Adaptive follow-ups
Engage asks a follow-up when an open-ended answer is vague or raises a new point.
- Breadth + depth
Patterns in the numbers + reasons in people’s words.
Both across the study sample.
Source: Prudential’s 2026 Retirement Pulse. Fielded July 27–August 2, 2026, by CloudResearch on Engage.
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Hear Leib Litman and David Blanchett discuss the psychology of saving and spending, and how planning can help people enjoy what they've built.
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