We spend years trying to figure out how to retire. But there’s something about retirement I’ve never really planned for, and lately I’ve started wondering if it might be just as important as the money. What happens when you remove work? Not the paycheque. We spend plenty of time figuring out how to replace that. What should we invest in? TFSA or RRSP? How much do we need? How do we become more tax efficient? How do we eventually draw down all these accounts? And for those pursuing FIRE, how early can we make it happen? I’m talking about everything else work gives us. I was listening to episode 69 of The Wealthy Barber Podcast and something in the conversation really made me think about this differently. Work can provide purpose, contribution and connection. I’d add value and challenge to that list. What replaces those things when work disappears? This becomes even more interesting when you think about how long retirement could actually last. Statistics Canada says Canadian life expectancy at birth was 82.16 years in 2024. Once Canadians reach 65, the average remaining life expectancy is another 19.43 years for males and 22.15 years for females based on 2022–2024 data. Now imagine someone retires at 50 and lives until 88. That’s 38 years. I’ve been in the workforce for roughly 33 years. In that example, I could actually spend more time retired than I spent working full-time. That’s a lot of life to simply say, “I’ll figure out what I’m going to do when I get there.” Then I found something else that made me think about this even more. Statistics Canada studied social participation and mortality among Canadians aged 65 and older. They followed people for roughly 8 to 9 years and found that those with low social participation had a higher risk of death during the follow-up period, even after accounting for a number of health, behavioural and demographic factors. That doesn’t mean retirement causes an early death, and it certainly doesn’t mean being bored will kill you. But Statistics Canada also points to retirement and the loss of roles that can accompany it as circumstances that can contribute to social isolation. Maybe planning for retirement isn’t only about replacing your paycheque. Maybe we should also be thinking about how we’re going to replace some of the things work has been giving us for decades: Purpose. Contribution. Value. Connection. Challenge. I’ve actually had a couple of small examples of this recently. I didn’t get home from work until around 1 a.m. last night and I really didn’t feel like doing much when I got up this morning. But I took the dog for a walk and did a short workout anyway. Nothing spectacular, but it was enough of a challenge to get my brain moving and motivated for the day. Now I’m heading into my days off and I volunteered to go on my daughter’s three-day, two-night outdoor camping trip because they needed parent volunteers. I’ll get to spend that time with my daughter, but I’ll also get to connect with kids from her school, her teacher and some of the other parent volunteers. I hadn’t really thought about it this way when I volunteered, but that’s connection, contribution and challenge outside of work. And I think I’ve been building some of this in other ways without really intending to. Creating content challenges me. Investing constantly gives me something new to learn. Blossom has introduced me to people I never would have met otherwise. Some are my age, some are younger and many see investing completely differently than I do. Going to BlossomCon in Vancouver really brought that home. Meeting Moe at the airport, sitting down with Mr. Financial, Will and Jess at breakfast, and then meeting so many other people at the conference made those online connections real. Maybe I’ve accidentally started building part of my retirement life before I’ve actually retired. Because imagine having complete freedom over every day. No alarm because you have to go to work. No deadlines unless you create them. No workplace where you’re automatically surrounded by other people. Nobody necessarily needs you to show up. At first that sounds pretty amazing. But what challenges you? Where does your sense of purpose come from? Where do you contribute something of value? Where do your connections come from? We spend decades building the portfolio that will eventually allow us to stop working. Maybe we should spend some of that time building the life we’re going to retire to. So forget about your portfolio for a minute. If your job disappeared tomorrow, what would replace the purpose, contribution, value, connection and challenge it currently gives you? And maybe the bigger question is: are you building any of that now? https://open.spotify.com/episode/1FC6RRIieZwodJUSF8hJi8?si=YqPHhyuqQ42nvsbMe2InQw&utm_source=copy-link
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13 Comments
Ian G@retirement1967 · 28d
I enjoyed this, Mr. CCI. While I’ve been working steadily for 25 years, minus 2 years of going back to school, I have also looked after my mom since my dad’s death in 1989. I’ve realized that the last few years have taken a toll on me with my mom, but she is a big part of my sense of purpose. She is 98, and I am her primary caregiver, so when her time comes, I will definitely need to find a new purpose! Thank you for this!
Lindsay Ross@laross19 · 28dEdited
For me following the market and managing our money is a big part of this. Going to the gym and walking are important too as is volunteering at the local food bank. Always looking for new interests
Matt Gray
@matt.41 · 28d
Purpose after retirement is essential. Too many stories of people who retire, sit at home, health declines. You still need to keep busy. Volunteer, build your community, pick up a new hobby, the list goes on but you need to do something.
ETF Go
@etf.go · 27d
Great post and topic! I can attest that the ‘retirement struggle’ can be real. Not every day will be an ‘event’ or a ‘success’ so being able to push through the low days is important. This is something none of the ‘FIRE’ posts or ‘selfie videos’ talk about or show. Reality is when you retire early your spouse and/or friends are still working so people need to be comfortable on their own. Self motivation and routine/schedule are crucial. @Blossom is a nice creative outlook and way to engage but it still can’t replace the IRL interactions and experiences. 👍
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