There’s a time, in life, when it’s important to SAVE money. (From today’s Denver Post)

 But after 60, the objective should change — not because saving is useless, but because the goal changes. It’s no longer to maximize wealth but rather to maximize life while you still have the health, energy, mobility and relationships to enjoy it.

Many people never make that mental shift. They keep playing the accumulation game long after they’ve won, scrutinizing small expenses even with seven figures invested. They tolerate daily discomfort because spending still “feels wrong.” Their net worth keeps rising while their time to use it shrinks.

At some point, that’s no longer prudence — it’s fear.

Housel distinguishes between utility and status. Utility improves your actual life, while status merely signals to others that you have something. Most financial advisers warn against overspending on status, and rightly so. But retirees often suffer from the opposite: They underspend out of habit. Their identity warps into being “disciplined,” even when spending would clearly improve their quality of life. They treat money as their trophy instead of a tool.