Nov. 24: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

November 24, 2025

Retired financial writer reviews his first retirement moments

Any of us who have retired will remember, perhaps, the “I wonder what retirement will be like” moments we felt as the time clock for the last day at work wound down. We remember our last coffee run for the team, the last train ride home, and so on.

Rob Carrick of The Globe and Mail, a well-read personal finance columnist for many years, is now taking his first steps in the world of retirement.

“You have instant community when you retire – just go to a mall, diner or blood donation clinic early in the morning on a weekday,” he observes.

“Retiring is stepping into a different life with different rules. Let me tell you about a few of them based on personal experience,” he adds.

First, he writes, “regardless of your financial status, you are rich in time” once you are retired. “You can do what you want, when you want. And so, you go to the mall when it’s emptiest,” he adds.

Next, he adds, is the shift away from weekly or bi-weekly paycheques to monthly pension payments.

“Getting paid monthly means new thinking on how to save for big expenses. Right now, I’m carving off some of those monthly payments as soon as they’re received to cover recurring costs such as property taxes, insurance premiums and utilities. We have separate savings accounts for these, each labelled specifically. I find this really helps with organization,” he suggests.

Similarly, you must think a little harder about income taxes.

“Another expense to be covered is income tax, which brings us to one more way retirement differs from your working life. If you have an employer, the correct amount of taxes for your income is taken off the top of your paycheque. You may have a balance owing to Canada Revenue Agency when you file your annual income tax return, but it shouldn’t be anything unmanageable,” he notes.

Now, he continues, “my wife and I both have a 15-per-cent withholding tax applied to our pension payments. I set up yet another high-interest savings account to hold the additional amount of tax we expect to owe after we file our 2025 tax return next spring. With each pension payment, money is automatically transferred to that account.”

Carrick has an interesting take on the term “retirement” itself.

“One more life adjustment when you leave the full-time workforce is how the word `retirement’ sounds to your ears. Telling people you’re retired earns you all kinds of reactions – some envy, some surprise and some disapproval from those who can’t imagine their lives without the fulfilment and status of a job,” he notes.

He concludes with the good news that he’ll continue writing for the Globe on the topic of retirement and other personal financial subjects. We wish him the best in his new role.

While it is possible to self-fund a retirement through disciplined personal saving and a strong investment program, not all of us have the ability to stick with the program or the investment savvy to get started.

That’s where the Saskatchewan Pension Plan comes in. All you need to do is send us contributions, by pre-authorized contribution from a bank account or credit card, via online banking as a “bill,” by cheque – SPP is flexible. What we do is invest those hard-saved dollars in our low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. You can ramp up contributions as you earn more, and transfer in any amount from registered retirement savings plans you may have.

At retirement, you can choose the security of a monthly annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

The Globe and Mail

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