Engaging book delivers financial literacy in clear, enjoyable lessons: The Wealthy Barber (2025)

In this latest update of The Wealthy Barber, author David Chilton has a brother, sister, and their friends – all in their 20s and 30s — learning the ropes of personal finance from the famed Roy Miller, aka The Wealthy Barber.

Despite the surprising twist of everyone in the book being fans of both the Detroit Tigers and Lions, the friends learn key lessons about life and finance in a series of group sessions with Roy.

Roy, the book explains, was forced to drop out of university to look after his mom and siblings, and took over the family barber shop in Sarnia. A lesson he himself learned was to pay attention to successful people, and to learn from them the tricks of living within one’s means while saving for the future. He was happy to pass on his knowledge to a younger generation, including Matt, sister Jess, and friends Kyle and Sourov.

Roy starts off by telling the group “you can do this,” writes Chilton. “There is absolutely nothing we’re going to cover that you’re not capable of fully understanding and implementing successfully. You can start managing your money very well quite soon.”

His first bit of advice, the book continues, is about “the golden rule: invest at least 10 per cent of all you make for long-term growth. If you follow that one simple instruction… someday you’ll be quite well to do.”

Roy also tells the group about “the magic” of compounding, noting that “when your returns build up and earn returns and then all that together earns returns… et cetera, et cetera,” that’s “where the magic happens.”

Saving, he tells the group, is crucial for most of us. “Unless you come from a very wealthy family or marry into one – both excellent strategies by the way – you’re going to have to save money. You’re going to have to spend less than you make. You’re going to have to live within your means,” the book continues.

As well, Roy explains, “the only way to save…(is) to pay yourself first,” the book notes. “The most effective approach is to have the money come right off your paycheque, or directly out of your bank account, before you have a chance to spend it.”

Asked why savings should be invested, rather than being left “under a mattress,” Roy explains to the group that their savings are like a snowball at the top of a hill… “we invest to get it rolling… to harness the power of compounding returns.” Your savings, like the snowball, get larger as they roll along, he notes.

Roy says that even those without any investment knowledge can do well by investing in index funds (such as exchange traded funds). Instead of trying to pick stocks, which Roy likens to finding needles in a haystack, “we’re going to buy the whole haystack. The whole market, or at least, all the big companies.”

He warns the young (future) investors to be careful about fees, as even a seemingly small two per cent charge can eat into the growth of your investments.

A later chapter points out the importance of starting earlier in life on the savings path. There’s a detailed section of the difference between saving in a registered retirement savings plan (where assets grow tax-free and aren’t taxed until withdrawn) and a Tax Free Savings Account (where after-tax money can be saved and withdrawn tax free).

On joining workplace pension plans, Roy says that many such programs offer matching contribution by employers. Roy tells Matt, a teacher, that he has “a tremendous benefit at work that the rest of us here aren’t blessed with — a wonderful pension plan.” A defined benefit pension plan, the book explains, can provide members with pensions that pay out “60 per cent or more of their last working year’s income!”

The book discusses the other workplace pension options out there, such as defined contribution plans and group RRSPs as being easy ways to save automatically for your post-work future, and how programs like the First Home Savings Account and Home Buyers’ Plan can help you buy a home.

Other ideas Roy Miller shares with the group:

• Buying a smaller house means you will have a smaller mortgage that you can pay off more quickly.
• Be careful with credit cards and lines of credit – “debt doesn’t just offset growing assets, it often becomes so expensive to service that future saving is squeezed out.”
• If you are having problems living within your means, find a way to make more money – such as getting a promotion or a second part-time job.

Roy’s final advice to his students “is simply this. Fancy tax shelters, far-out-of-the-money option contracts and meme stocks all make for great conversations at dinner parties. Forced saving, owning the thing that own the things and compounding returns simply make for great dinner parties.”

This is beautifully written, entertaining and engaging book that takes the mystery out of being in charge of your finances.

If you don’t have a workplace pension program to join, then the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be just what you’ve been looking for. You decide how much to contribute – you can have an amount directly transferred to the plan from your bank account on payday, or make lump sum contributions, or transfers in from other RRSPs you have – and SPP does the heavy lifting for you.

SPP will invest your hard-saved loonies in our professionally managed, low fee pooled fund. When it’s time to retire, your options include the security of a monthly lifetime annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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The Ultimate Cat: Telling the story of the struggles of retirement, caring for older parents

If ever you want to figure out what life will be like when you are older and no longer working, pick up a copy of The Ultimate Cat by Naomi P. Lane.

In an honest, no-holds-barred style, Lane walks us through her life – caring for both her mom and her husband’s as they transition away from work into retirement.

When the moms both go into care, almost at the same time, she and her husband are “gobsmacked… suddenly, all the possibilities of living on our own flash before us.”

There’s still the work of clearing out two houses, though. “Thankfully, both homes sell quickly, and there’s enough money to pay for the mothers’ care homes in perpetuity.” She and her husband can afford to retire, and spend more time with their respective mothers, the book continues.

She talks about the transition from working to not.

“We can sit and drink coffee and read the news or do a crossword for as long as we like…. There is no mini-celebration at the end of the workweek and no alcohol-fed burnout session,” she writes. Weekends are no longer that big a deal, and when their first pension cheques arrive, “we cannot believe we are being paid to do nothing.”

There’s more time than they bargained for, she notes.

“We realize we are sleeping way too much but we don’t care,” she writes. “Make a big breakfast? Nap. Go out shopping and visit the mothers? Nap. Entertain visitors? Nap,” she writes.

“For the first time in our lives we do exactly as we please and it is wonderful!”

They note that while the odds of grandkids in the near future seem slim, “we will have to entertain ourselves. This is the ultimate challenge of retirement.”

In a chapter talking about revitalizing old friendships and making new ones, Lane offers some sage advice. “At this age,” she confides, “it is time to let go of friendships that are no longer working for you,” even with some family members. “There’s no time for hurtful relationships at this point in our lives,” she writes.

A later chapter outlines what it’s like to lose a parent. In addition to the pain and loss, there is a ton of stuff to do, Lane notes.

You are “running around closing bank accounts and care home accounts, cancelling payments and memberships to every organization she belonged to, closing pensions, picking up signed copies of death certificates and wills, notifying all the friends and neighbours, placing an obituary notice in the newspaper, mailing cards overseas to distant relatives, making funeral arrangements and ordering flowers… then thanking everyone,” she writes.

As you get older, a later chapter tells us, you need to look after your health and fitness. “The trick is to keep moving,” she writes. “Even my 94-year-old mother tried to walk a lap around the care home with her walker until the last six months when she was wheelchair bound.” Her mom used to tell her “you must let me do as much as I can, even if I’m painfully slow at it.”

You also need to stay busy, she writes. She and her husband both did some volunteer work, for the social connections and satisfaction such work provides. Other friends use retirement “to make an impact on a broader scale,” doing such things as running an orphanage in Kenya, or teaching English in Guatemala.

They thought about moving somewhere warmer and smaller. But things to consider, she writes, are whether or not your new rural area offers good access to healthcare or hospitals. Will you be able to replace the friends and comforts of your present home in a new locale?

If you face health challenges – like cancer – later in life, “please ask for help from your inner circle or from volunteer organizations like the local cancer society. There is plenty of help available across many areas of daily life, such as volunteer drivers, shoppers, people who deliver medical supplies and peer support groups,” she writes.

In a chapter on attending a high school reunion decades after graduation, she writes “we are shocked to see that everyone we remember from high school looks so ancient! How did they get so old? We suddenly realize, like a slap in the face, that this is how we look to them as well.”

A chapter near the end of the book focuses on the importance of having a will and designating people as powers of attorney for health and finance. “Now is the time to share your wealth, if you have any, with the people who are important to you,” she advises. Take family out to supper, or on a vacation, or buy toys for grandkids. “If you don’t have money, give them the gift of your time.”

Retirement, the book concludes “is the time to embrace the best part of your life and enjoy every day to its fullest.”

This is a great read, and many of us of a certain age will totally identify with the situations and characters faced by the author. This will give you a real sense, if you are younger, of the triumphs and challenges that await you in the life after work.

If you are fortunate enough to have a retirement program at work, be sure to contribute as much as you can to it. If not, an alternative do-it-yourself approach is available via the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (www.saskpension.com). You decide how much to contribute, SPP does the rest.

Your contributions are grown through investment in a professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund, now nearing $1 billion in value.

At retirement, your options include receiving a monthly lifetime SPP annuity, or the more flexible Variable Benefit. Check out SPP today

Making the transition to retirement easier – My Retirement, My Way

We certainly wish we had had a copy of My Retirement, My Way, by Veronica McCain, when we retired from full-time work back in 2014.

It’s difficult to explain clearly what retirement is like, or is going to be like, to those still working, but McCain does it in a friendly, informative way equipped with plenty of worksheets, lists, and anecdotes.

“Retirement is one of the biggest transitions in life,” she begins. “I recall counting down the days to my own retirement and how excited I was to cross out each day on my calendar.”

“When I closed my office door for the final time, a flood of emotions came over me. This was the end of this chapter in my life. My work, which was a significant part of my daily life for 32 years, was no more.”

And while work, perhaps getting married and having kids, provided a “life road map” to follow, “when you retire, the way ahead may not be as clear…. Retirement is when you make life happen. The road is wide open, and you can take any direction.”

An early chapter suggests that the newly retired look for activities they enjoyed when they took time off work. “Journal and reflect on your expectations of yourself as a retired person,” the book advises. Follow your interests through books, articles, and podcasts, and consider becoming “a volunteer for different organizations to discover how you most enjoy helping out.”

Worksheets and quizzes help you figure out your “retirement outlook” and readiness, another helps you look back at what benefits your career provided.

McCain notes that the notion of success, “often defined by one’s position, salary, expertise, and knowledge” in the time before retirement, will change. “Now that you are retired, your job will no longer determine how successful you are.” Instead, you should think of success “as a journey that evolves over time.” A series of thoughtful exercises and worksheets then follow to help you envision success in life after work.

A later chapter reminds the reader that once one is retired, many will think you now have the free time to help them out. Learn, she advises, to say “no… (if) these requests are getting in the way of what you want to accomplish.”

A helpful pros/cons chart lets you refine whether incoming requests get a yes or a polite no.

When looking at finances in retirement, McCain observes that “until now, your primary focus has likely been growing your retirement nest egg.” Now, she continues, you shift from “accumulation to distribution.”

“Your retirement savings need to outlast you,” she explains. She provides a few tips to stretch your retirement dollars – looking for deals on travelling, and travelling in the off-season: going to one vehicle, tweaking life insurance, and focusing on your health to avoid medical expenses.

There’s a look at whether your present home will work for you once you age – and checklists to help see if a move would be a good or bad thing. Another chapter looks at the importance of keeping old friends while meeting new ones.

There are support information and worksheets on what to do if you have “boomerang” children who move home just as your retirement is getting going.

We read an awful lot of books about retirement – this one is one of the better ones. Many different scenarios are discussed in a thoughtful way, and for sure this book would take the fear many feel about retirement out of the equation.

“There is no one-size-fits all approach to a happy retirement. It is what you make it. You have worked hard to develop a plan to help guide you; now execute it and have some fun. Don’t hold back! Now is the time to go full throttle ahead.”

These days, many of us are having to save on their own for retirement.

If you are in this situation, a great saving partner can be found via the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You provide the money – you decide how much – and SPP does the rest, investing your savings in a low-cost, professionally managed, pooled fund.

At retirement, your options include a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

What Golf Can Teach You About Financial Planning reveals links between fairways hit and dividends collected

You might not naturally see a connection between the game of golf and financial planning.

But Minaz H. Lalani, an actuary, investor and golfer does see a strong connection. That’s the focus of his clever, entertaining book entitled What Golf Can Teach You About Financial Planning.

He starts by noting that both golfers and investors assess their own strengths and weaknesses prior to teeing off – a “SWOT analysis, or evaluation of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,” before starting off a game or building a portfolio.

“Golf and finance both require mastery of timing, temperament, and terrain. A golfer must adjust to wind, slope and the pin’s position. An investor must respond to interest rates, inflation, and market sentiment. In both, content matters — and adaptability is not just a valuable skill but an essential one,” he writes.

Moments of pressure, he continues, can test golfers and investors.

“You are three holes from finishing your best round, and tension tightens your grip. You are approaching retirement, and a market downturn challenges your confidence,” he explains.

Whether you are protecting a lead or trying to catch up, you will need to make “decisions that align with your strengths and goals,” he writes.

“Are you a long hitter who takes bold shots? You might favour growth investing. Are you a precision player who avoids mistakes? You might prefer dividend stocks or bonds,” he continues.

To improve at either golf or finance, Lalani tells us, requires setting SMART goals – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

In his example, John, age 45, has a 20 handicap and wants to get to 10. He also has limited retirement savings and mounting credit card debt. So a SMART approach to both objectives, writes Lalani, would be:

• Take one golf lesson per month
• Track stats on fairways hit, greens in regulation, and putts per round
• Practice three times a week focusing on weakness (short game).

For finance:

• Set a SMART goal to save $100,000 in five years
• Use an app to track spending
• Reallocate investments to low-fee exchange traded funds
• Pay down high interest debt first

The golf/finance parallels continue. Where golfers improve by using “a pre-shot routine to control nerves,” investors should “follow a regular review process for budgeting and investing.”

A bad hole – a double bogey – “is just one hole, learn and move on,” similarly, “a bad investment does not define your plan; assess and adjust without self-blame,” he writes.

Later, he notes that key golf attributes – grip, posture and swing path – have financial cousins. “Savings are your grip – your control over future options,” he notes. “Budgeting is posture, your ability to stand balanced against monthly pressures. Net worth is the swing path – a reflection of your long-term form and rhythm.”

Just as golfer take note of the numbers of fairways they hit, greens reached in regulation, and penalty strokes, investors should conduct regular “round reviews” of their finances.

“Did I save or invest at least 15 to 20 per cent of my income? Did I stay within budget this month? Did I pay down any debt? Did I review my portfolio performance? Did I avoid emotional spending or rash investment decisions? Am I closer to my key goal than I was 30 days ago,” he writes.

Just as Jack Nicklaus used to “visualize” every shot before swinging his club, we can all try to use the same approach with our finances, writes Lalani.

“What does financial success look like for you? Is it living mortgage-free? Retiring early? Supporting your children’s education?” he explains.

Take note, Lalani adds, of your “qualitative” success.

Recovering well after a bad hole, or maintaining your composure, are examples of experience that matter, he writes. In finance, “a six-figure income does not mean financial health if you are drowning in debt. A modest salary can still lead to financial peace if you manage it wisely.”

It’s a long game, he concludes.

“You do not fix your whole game in one round,” he explains. “You keep swinging, reflecting, and adjusting.”

This was a very entertaining read, and we plan to make a gift of the book to a long-hitting friend who is all-in on tech stocks, just to show that maybe there’s more than one club in the investment bag!

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a great savings partner. SPP is open to all Canadians with registered retirement savings plan room.

Have you got a bunch of small RRSPs sitting around? SPP members can consolidate their savings nest egg by transferring in RRSP funds (the RRSP can’t be locked-in) into SPP. Our team will then grow that enlarged nest egg by professionally investing your savings in a low-cost, pooled fund.

When it’s time to turn savings into income, SPP options include cash for life via a monthly lifetime annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

At the beginning of her entertaining and informative book, The Well-Lived Life, Dr. Gladys McGarey – age 103 at time of writing – says she is often asked “the secret of a long, healthy, happy life.”

“No, I don’t run. I do occasionally do Pilates. And yes – I do eat cake. In fact, I really love cake. I even popped out of one for my 95^th birthday,” she writes. But the secret, she continues, has “nothing to do with vitamins or supplements,” but “a simple shift in perspective.”

“To be truly alive,” she notes, “we must find the life force within ourselves and direct our energy toward it.”

She distills this general idea into six “secrets,” the first one being, “you are here for a reason.”

“Each of us is here for a reason, to learn and grow and to give our gifts,” she explains. “When we are able to do so, we’re filled with the creative life energy that I call the `juice.’”

The juice, she continues, “is our reason for living. It’s our fulfillment, our joy.”

“Lives filled with juice become lives filled with purpose. And that has a profound effect not only on our mental healthy but on our physical health,” McGarey states.

Her second secret is that “all life needs to move.”

“Life itself is always in movement, so aligning with our life force means that we must always look for the flow within us,” she writes. “Children understand this. That’s why they’re always wiggling. I never stopped wiggling…. Wiggling is good for us – it indicates that life is happening around and through us. It moves our lymph, lubricates our joints and keeps our muscles from getting tight.”

The third secret is that “love is the most powerful medicine.”

“Our life force is activated by love. Love has an uncommon ability to transform everything it touches,” she explains.

The next secret is that “you are never truly alone.”

Social connections are essential, she explains. “Connective with community amplifies our individual life force by re-aligning it with the collective life force,” she writes.

The fifth secret, an especially wise one, is that “everything is your teacher.”

Even bad things carry a lesson, she states. As we get older, “we begin to extract more and more from the pain of the past. We realize that we can keep gaining lessons out of our old hurts, and they can affect how we approach what comes next.”

Finally, she advises, you must “spend your energy wildly.”

This last secret needs to be integrated with the first five. “When we align our energy with life, we create a give-and-take, sharing relationship with the source… we invest the energy we have in life. Then when we’re running low on what we need, we simply borrow it back.”

In the end, she concludes, we need to “flip our understanding on its head, from thinking that we are in life to understanding that life is in us.”

This is a mesmerizing journey of a book, well-told and filled with exercises and examples to keep your thinking on track.

A long, well-lived life will require some savings.

And if you’re saving on your own for retirement – or want to get started – look no further than the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP offers a voluntary defined contribution pension plan to any Canadian with available registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room.

You can make annual contributions to SPP up to your RRSP limit, and can transfer in any amount from other non-locked in RRSPs you may have.

SPP’s role is to grow those savings in our professionally managed, low-cost, pooled fund. When it’s time to log off for the last time at work, your retirement income options include the security of a lifetime SPP annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

When former U.S. President Jimmy Carter authored The Virtues of Aging in 1998, he could not have then known that he would continue his long and productive retirement for a further 26 years.

The book provides some nice insights about making your “golden” years the best years of your life.

“I was just 56 years old when I was involuntarily retired from my position in the White House,” he begins. “What made losing the job even worse was that it was a highly publicized event, with maybe half the people in the world knowing about my embarrassing defeat.”

Worse news lay ahead – the family peanut business, run in a blind trust while he was president, had hit a bad patch due to “prolonged drought” in Georgia and was a million dollars in the red.

With a young daughter heading off to college, their short-term financial picture looked dim, and “it was natural for us to assume – like many other retirees – that our productive lives were over.”

Instead, things began to improve. The farm business was bought by a large agricultural firm, both Carters received offers to write about their lives, and soon they were on the college lecturing circuit.

Instead of facing retirement with despair, the Carters worked to “ensure that our retired years would be happy, and maybe even productive.”

It’s Carter’s view that older citizens should not be nudged out of the workforce at retirement age. A survey taken at the time the book was written found “93 per cent of respondents believe that the elderly should be allowed to work as long as we wish… and 75 per cent think wisdom comes with age.”

After all, he continues, “during the past 25 years the number of people over the age of 85 grew almost six times more rapidly than the overall population. The faster-growing group of all, however, is those over a hundred!” In fact, there were 100 times more centenarians by 2000 than there were in 1956, the book notes.

After worrying that the U.S. Social Security system might eventually be unable to keep up with payment demands of retiring boomers, Carter observes that the U.S. savings rate was far lower than that of other nations – around two per cent per year, “less than a quarter as much” as the Japanese savings rate. “Most baby boomers… will have little if any savings when they retire,” forcing them to rely on government programs which are underfunded, the book continues.

The Carters began their long retirement together by staying active at such things as tennis, fly fishing, going for a run, and hiking in the hills.

In “retirement,” they established the Carter Center, an organization devoted to the advancement of human rights, promoting peace, and alleviating suffering around the world. The former president won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for these and other humanitarian efforts.

Perhaps the high level of activity and engagement helped the Carters value their time in retirement more highly.

“There is no doubt we now cherish each day more than when we were younger. Our primary purpose in our golden years is not just to stay alive as long as we can, but to savour every opportunity for pleasure, excitement, adventure and fulfillment,” he writes.

A later chapter talks about the pleasure of developing adult relationships with grown children, enjoying “the indescribable bless of aging – grandchildren.” Because of the logistics of getting the family of 20 kids and grandkids for Christmas or Thanksgiving (competing with other in-laws for the privilege), the Carters try to organize an annual trip where the whole family comes along, say for skiing in Colorado or cruising the Caribbean.

Asked by others how he has managed to stay in good health well past retirement age, the former president summarized the advice of experts as following:

• “Do not smoke.
• Maintain recommended body weight.
• Exercise regularly.
• Minimize consumption of foods high in cholesterol and saturated fats, sugar and salt.
• Do not drink excessively and never drive when drinking.
• Fasten seat belts.
• Have regular medical checkups, including blood pressure tests.”

Later, he quotes some findings from the McArthur Foundation, which “concluded that the three indicators of successful ageing are avoiding disease and disability, maintaining mental and physical function, and continuing engagement with life.”

The engagement part involves “keeping up relationship with others and performing productive activities,” he explains.

It can also include volunteering, he writes.

“There is still a tremendous potential to expand the present level of volunteerism among elders,” he notes. “Although more than 80 per cent of us do work around our homes and 70 per cent provide some assistance to friends and relatives… two out of three older people do (no volunteering) and most active volunteers contribute less than four hours a week.”

“You are old,” the book continues, “when regrets take the place of dreams.”

“When I have mentioned the title of this book too a few people, most of them responded `Virtues? What could possibly be good about growing old,’” he writes. “The most obvious answer, of course, is to consider the alternative to ageing.”

This is a great read, and the energy and sense of purpose of the Carters is quite something to behold.

The book talks about how people are saving less than they used to and how having your own savings can improve your income if – without savings – you are fully reliant on government programs.

The book mentions how people today save far less than their parents and grandparents did. As well, the book warns of the dangers of – without personal savings – having to rely solely on modest government programs for your retirement income.

If you are alone on the savings journey, why not partner with the Saskatchewan Pension Plan? With SPP, you decide how much to chip in – you can make annual contributions up to your personal registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room level, and can transfer in any amount from other RRSPs.

SPP looks after the growth of those saved loonies, via a pooled, professionally managed and low-cost fund. At retirement, you can choose how you want to convert savings into income – options include a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Retirement planning in a novel format: Retire Younger Canada

Russell Roy’s Retire Younger Canada not only offers solid information on how to take control of your finances (and your life), but is a well-told, gritty novelized life story of fictional engineer Sam Jackson. We follow Sam’s life from his very early retirement at 48 until his death, in his 70s.

The author begins by telling us that he is “just a regular working Joe Schmoe who hated his job enough to be motivated to investigate and understand what I needed to do to retire early.”

As Sam prepares to clear out his desk at work, he gives a younger co-worker some important lessons “I learned as a kid,” specifically, “delayed gratification,” or learning to “save and plan,” the “impact of children on personal finances,” the importance of getting a higher education and “you get out what you put in, so work hard.”

Later, in a post-retirement party discussion, his wife Cindy remarks that many people don’t really enjoy their jobs, adding “I think that the people who truly enjoyed their jobs were the ones who chose to work for themselves.” This discussion led to thinking around the value of trying to retire as early as possible so that you can enjoy life after work in good health.

In retirement, Sam tells us, you get “freedom on so many levels. Freedom from work anxiety. You know I already feel freer to speak my mind… it feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Thinking about how he was able to retire at 48, Sam recalls that “as a young, bona fide working citizen, Sam saved a down payment and bought a house. This was the first, and most important and key financial decision he made.”

In a section about living off savings (decumulation) Sam talks about the ideas of spending four per cent (or 3.5 per cent) of your nest egg each year, with the goal of not outliving your money. He discusses the “bucket” plan where your nest egg is divided into “a cash bucket for the short term… a bonds bucket for the intermediate term and maybe stocks bucket for the long term.”

He goes into detail on how to track your income and expenses via a spreadsheet, and factoring in any upcoming big expenses. A second spreadsheet should track the progress of your investments, and a third, the “big picture” or grand total of all savings and investments.

He talks about the dangers of high investment fees. “You know, here in Canada, mutual funds will take an average of 2.2 per cent of your cash each year just to manage your money,” he explains to a young friend. Even if the indexes double, the annual fees eat up much of your growth, he explains. Instead, Sam reveals, he and his wife switched out of mutual funds into a portfolio of stocks – the Canadian ones eligible for the dividend tax credit – and fixed income, which he describes as “loan(ing) the money you save to others…. (so that) the money (interest) will slowly flow to you. The work of others will go into your pocket.”

He later goes on to explain that you need to be aware of the tax consequences of every type of income you will be receiving in retirement, so that you can plan to opt for a route that offers the least taxation possible.

In looking at his parents’ and in-laws’ finances, Sam noticed the risk of risk aversion had put them in the highest income tax bracket, since nearly all of their income came in the form of interest. Being anxious about investment risk, Sam observes, is a common trait. “It seems fear, more than anything, cripples people as they get older. They are afraid of more and more so they do less and less.”

“That is just another reason to retire early and live life now,” Cindy responds.

“Every day is Sunday in retirement,” the book notes, but without the dread of returning to work Monday.

The book concludes with this bit of advice.

“One parting thought. Few of us can afford the savings it would take to live forever. Retirement isn’t necessarily the end of anything. What it really is, is the freedom to make the best of the last years of your life on your own terms. Get after your bucket list, live your life to the fullest, and have fun.”

This is a very unique, creative, story-telling approach to the topic. It’s a highly recommended addition to anyone’s retirement library.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a voluntary, defined contribution plan that is open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan room. If you don’t have a workplace retirement plan, SPP may be just the ticket for you. You decide how much you want to save, and SPP does the rest, investing your hard-saved loonies in a low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. At retirement, your income options include a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Jim Green’s Retirement Reimagined makes the important point that while traditional retirement at 65 may not work (or be available) for everyone, there are other options, such as “intermittent retirement” or the FIRE approach, to consider.

In discussing the traditional “retire at 65” approach, Green writes that “more and more Canadians are discovering that having all the time in the world doesn’t necessarily make you happy. In fact, too much free time – without purpose, challenge or community – can leave you feeling lonely, bored and even depressed.”

But there are alternatives to traditional retirement, such as “the FIRE movement – Financial Independence, Retire Early” or the Travis McGee plan, “retiring in chunks. Picture this: work hard for a few years, save up, then take a full break.”

In the section on traditional retirement, Green notes that 65 “became the standard” for government retirement programs and company pensions because, years ago, “life expectancy wasn’t much higher…. In post-World War II Canada, a male teacher retiring at 65 had a life expectancy of just 66. One quiet year of rest – and that was it.”

While some people – notably those in public service jobs with defined benefit pensions – do fine with the traditional “retire at 65” plans, many others don’t. Green notes that the average registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) balance by age 65 is just $129,000. The Canada Pension Plan pays “roughly $9,600 a year” on average, he continues, with Old Age Security adding, on average, another $8,400 annually. Only 37 per cent of Canadians have a workplace pension, he notes. These modest amounts then must stand up to the “unwanted houseguest” of inflation.

The old model isn’t broken, but it has cracks, Green writes. If you are on the path to a traditional retirement, you need to ask yourself “what will I do with my time? How will I stay engaged, healthy and connected? Can I afford the lifestyle I picture – or is it based on assumptions from my parents’ generation?”

Planning helps. You need to know, in advance, your retirement income from all Canadian sources, Green writes. Max out retirement savings vehicles where you can and create a “purpose plan” to make the most of your free time.

Another approach is the FIRE plan, Green writes.

For this to work, you need to “earn a lot (or at least more than average.” You then “live on very little… FIRE fans are masters of minimalist living.” You need to “save aggressively – like 50 per cent of your income…. Your bank account grows while your social life… doesn’t,” he warns. This money must then be invested wisely. “No crypto. No lottery tickets. Just good old index funds, ETFs, and compound interest doing its thing over time.”

FIRE can work. The book cites the example of Priya in Mississauga, who was able to “retire” at 39, mortgage-free. “Freedom. No bosses, no commutes,” writes Green, adding that many FIRE devotees will still do part-time work they like to cover expenses, but are retired from full-time work they didn’t like.

On the negative side, FIRE “can also turn into a pressure cooker of frugality and spreadsheet obsession.” You will, writes Green, be saying no to things now “so you can say `yes’ later,” and driving a more modest car, but “the magic lives” in the moment where your investments cover your expenses. “That’s when you can start living differently, and you can do it decades before 65,” he adds.

The final idea presented in the book is the “retirement in chunks” or Travis McGee approach.

“Take on a risky but well-paying job. Earn enough for a comfortable break. Sail off, read, relax, restore. Repeat when funds (or purpose) ran low.”

“It’s a little like sabbaticals, seasonal work, or freelance life – but with better tans and more tequila,” Green adds.

Green describes “retirement in chunks” as a “middle way” between traditional retirement at 65 and FIRE.

“You work, when it suits your finances and your passions. You pause, to reset, travel, raise kids, study or just breathe. You return, not out of desperation, but because you’ve still got gas in the tank – and curiosity that needs satisfying.”

Interesting side benefits of this strategy include doing your travelling while you are young, rather than waiting until you are older and less healthy, Green writes. “When you live intermittently retired, you stay in the world. You meet people. You try new things and keep adding colour to your life canvas.”

This is a great book, particularly if you are younger and still planning your future life. The idea that there is more than one way to approach life after work is a strong one, and Green lays out the strategies clearly, with lots of references to Canadian resources, handy checklists, and a very good sense of humour. An excellent read!

No matter how you approach the inevitable end of full-time work, money will be very handy to the future you. As the book mentions, a mere 37 per cent of us have access to workplace pension plans. If you are among the 63 per cent who don’t have a workplace plan, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be just what you have been looking for.

You save the money in your SPP account, and we invest it, professionally, in a low-cost pooled fund. At retirement, you can choose from such options as a lifetime annuity payment or our flexible Variable Benefit.

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Inspiring book helps you face challenges, manage negativity and adversity

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

This quote from Thomas Jefferson launches you into The Mental Toughness Handbook by Damon Zaharaiades.

“Mental toughness,” he writes, “is required to overcome hurdles that threaten to derail us from our goals. This state of mind can literally mean the difference between success and failure,” he adds.

He continues by noting that “mental toughness is durability in the face of adversity.” Faced with stress, “do we crumble or persist? Do we give up or stay the course?”

There are emotions, too, notes Zaharaiades. “How do we deal with our anger and disappointment when life seems unfair to us?” Are we resilient – “do we dust ourselves off and get back on track, or complain and blame others for our predicaments,” he asks. Finally, there’s grit – “do we press onward or concede defeat” when goals are going to be hard to achieve.

The book outlines some of the attributes of those who have mental toughness, while also offering steps we all can take to boost these qualities in ourselves.

An example is adopting “practical optimism,” he explains. “Mental toughness is usually found in those who have a positive attitude… optimistic about the future,” and striving “to make the best of every situation rather than being ‘gloomy and pessimistic.’”

Among the challenges to combat is listening to hard to your “inner critic,” writes Zaharaiades. “It’s the voice in our heads telling us that we’re not good enough, smart enough, or attractive enough… it finds fault in everything we do and asserts that others will do the same.”

The book outlines ways to “showing your inner critic who’s the boss,” he continues.

Other things to overcome include fear, laziness, perfectionism, self-pity and self-doubt, emotionalism, and self-limiting beliefs.

Zaharaiades notes that self-awareness holds great value. We need, he writes, “to be acutely aware of our thoughts, beliefs and convictions.” Rather than trying to be detached from our emotions, he continues, we need to “embrace them… by acknowledging our fear, frustration and other negative emotions when things go wrong, we’re able to evaluate them, determine their veracity, and regulate the ones that are unrealistic,” he writes.

With emotions, control is possible through reflection, scrutiny of negative emotions, meditation, and confronting “your inner critic whenever it `speaks,’” he explains. Recognize “circumstances you can influence and circumstances you can’t influence.” Finally, take action, even when you’re uncertain of the outcome. This will train your mind to be proactive,” he notes.

On catastrophic thinking, he notes that “if we fail to prepare psychologically for the challenges we’re sure to face every day, our minds will slowly perceive every obstacle to be more consequential than is true.” He advises us to “push back” against any catastrophic thoughts as they emerge.

He presents a technique to use to develop good habits – “start small.”

“For example, suppose you’d like to start exercising on a daily basis. You might be enthusiastic and tempted to start your new habit with a 45-minute workout on Day 1. Don’t do that. Instead, take baby steps. Start with a five-minute workout…. (then) make slow, incremental progress.”

Near the end of the book, in a chapter focusing on tactics to boost your mental toughness, Zaharaiades suggests we “stop spending time with negative people… they complain, criticize, and can put a negative spin on anything… guard your time. Don’t allow negative people to monopolize it.”

The book concludes by noting if you build up the “muscle” of mental toughness, “you’ll be able to rely on it whenever life presents you with unanticipated challenges and obstacles.”

This is a really well-written, well-researched and helpful guidebook, well deserving of a spot on your bookshelf.

Many people know they should be saving for retirement, but never get around to it, perhaps because they think it will require a big effort and/or a big outlay of cash. As the book suggests, an approach is to start small and build your savings rate incrementally.

This is entirely possible for members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan as you, the member, decide how much the contributions will be. You can start very small and ramp things up over time. The heavy lifting of investing your contributions in a professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund is done by SPP. And when it is time to turn savings into income, your SPP options include a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

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If your knowledge of investment terminology is limited – or even if you have done a bit of it over the years – Bob Kaye’s How To Avoid Not Having Enough Money To Live On After Retirement delivers a lot of info in a fun, crossword-laden way.

While the book is aimed at U.S. readers (several chapters are devoted to the ins and outs of the tax system south of the border) the investment overview material is good for anyone.

The first chapter reassures us with a quote from the great Warren Buffett – “to invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from eroding that framework.”

On inflation, Kaye warns that “if inflation moves upward at four per cent, then the cost of living will double every 18 years…. (and) in 36 years, $1 million will be worth only $250,000.” That’s why people need higher returns on investments than the rate of inflation, he explains.

He makes a distinction between long and short-term investments. “Due to the frequent ups and downs of stock investments, they are usually only a correct investment for the long term, four to five years, or more.” If you are saving not for say, retirement, but for a short term goal, “a time horizon (of) less than four to five years,” it is better to invest in a savings account or “fixed income” investments.

He sees stocks as the most important investment category for long-term investing.

“Stocks should constitute the overwhelming proportion of all long-term, financial portfolios. Based on historical evidence, even the most conservative investors should place most of their financial wealth in common stocks,” the book quotes Jeremy Siegel as saying.

Stocks provide you “a share of ownership in a company,” and the value of them “goes up and down with the value of the company.” Bonds, on the other hand, “are a loan from you to a government or large corporation” that is paid back with interest.

Kaye sees equity investment as “insurance against living too long” as they tend to appreciate in value over time and often pay you income via monthly or quarterly dividends. Bonds tend to pay you interest twice a year, the book explains.

He notes that a “small cap” investment refers to shares in a company that is valued at $300 million to $2 billion; “medium-cap” is $2 to 10 billion and “large cap” refers to companies values at more than $10 billion, such as “Microsoft or Disney.”

Kaye also explains the difference between “value investing” and “growth investing.”

“The manager… who buys stocks at a bargain and waits for them to increase in value is said to be managing a `value’ fund,” he writes. If the goal is to “buy stocks which are steadily increasing in value,” it’s a growth fund. “Neither of these two strategies may be superior, but rather, they complement each other,” he notes.

“Rebalancing” refers to “periodically rebalancing the percentages of (securities) in a portfolio to their original allocations.” As one security will do better and another worse, rebalancing “automatically sells high and buys low, which is a positive way to earn more income on investments.”

He presents a “diversification scale” which explains that if your portfolio contains “a few stocks and bonds in the same asset class” it is not diversified. If you have a portfolio containing “10 to 20 stocks and 10 to 20 bonds” you are, Kaye writes, “barely diversified.” He sees a “well diversified” portfolio as having “several mutual funds in different asset classes,” along with many dozen stocks or bonds.

Kaye concludes his book, which is laden with crosswords, interesting famous investing quotes, graphics and charts, by hoping readers are now “more proficient in the basic terminology which is the foundation of investments and retirement planning.”

A message of Kaye’s book is that a diversified basket of investment “eggs” is preferable to owning only one or two things. Members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, open to all Canadians with registered retirement savings plan room, can rest assured that their savings are well diversified. The SPP Balanced Fund features investments in Canadian, U.S. and Non-North American equities, real estate, infrastructure, bonds, mortgages, private debt and short-term investments.

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