Retirees spend earlier
JP Morgan's 2026 Retirement Guide finds retirees spend more in early retirement on travel and home renovations, with spending dropping only in the late 70s — a shift that affects income‑drawdown planning and annuity positioning. The pattern suggests income‑smoothing and tax‑aware distribution conversations now need to account for front‑loaded retirement spending. (x.com)
J.P. Morgan Asset Management released the 14th edition of its Guide to Retirement on Feb. 26, 2026, built on anonymized household data and proprietary analytics that draw from more than 5 million de‑identified Chase households. (am.jpmorgan.com) The Guide reports that partially and fully retired households with $250,000–$750,000 in investable assets experienced an annual inflation‑adjusted change in spending of roughly 1.65%. (finance.yahoo.com) J.P. Morgan documents a transient spending surge in the few years immediately before and after retirement, with that surge most apparent for households with pre‑retirement incomes below $150,000 and for partially retired households. (supplements.pionline.com) Several slides in the Guide are titled to show that “More guaranteed income = less fear of spending” for households with total retirement wealth of $1m–$3m and $3m–$5m, and the publication explicitly notes growing interest in guaranteed income strategies. (retirementandinvestmentgroup.com) The Guide contains a tax toolkit—slides on tax implications, a slide labeled “Evaluate a Roth at different life stages,” and a 2026 tax‑rate appendix—designed to inform timing of conversions and distribution sequencing. (am.jpmorgan.com) J.P. Morgan devotes slides to “spending volatility in retirement,” “effects of withdrawal rates and portfolio allocations,” and a comparative look at the 4% rule using projected outcomes versus historical experience. (retirementandinvestmentgroup.com) Across its charts the Guide highlights that liquidity needs peak at mid‑life, recommends annual emergency reserves, and frames diversified funding sources plus guaranteed income as means to manage front‑loaded spending and the year‑to‑year volatility documented in the dataset. (retirementandinvestmentgroup.com)
