Women's Wealth Canada
Women's Wealth Canada
Downsizing Series - Part 1: Envisioning Your Life in the Next Chapter
Today, we’re starting our new Downsizing series. In Part One, we’ll talk about the big picture, envisioning this life you want to create for yourself.
Which type of retiree will you be?
How can you best prepare for success in retirement?
Top tips before you take the leap!
Resources in this episode:
"The Nine Types of People You'll Meet in Retirement" by Advance Capital Management
Home Exchange
TuGO Travel Insurance
BCAA Travel Insurance
Green Shield Supplemental Health Insurance
Home Trust Preferred Visa Card
31 Journal Prompts for Personal Growth and Self-Discovery
Life Coach for Women: Antonia Medeiros
Hosted by Glory Gray, BSc Finance, MFA
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Glory Gray 0:16
Welcome to Women's Wealth Canada, I'm Glory Gray. Happy New Year to you. Is it just me or does this New Year feel particularly renewing and refreshing. I myself I'm a goal setter but maybe you're someone who doesn't usually make goals, but this year is different in so many ways, isn't it? So, maybe you're inspired to make some changes this year. Is this the year you're thinking of downsizing? There could be many reasons why you're downsizing maybe you're retiring this year. Or maybe you're already retired but it's time to do a little tweaking in the life you've made for yourself in retirement and moving as part of that.
Maybe you're not retired yet but you're in the middle of buying a home that you eventually will retire to, we see that often here on Vancouver Island where folks who live in other places in Canada, slowly transition to our island life by buying a vacation home here before they move here permanently. The point is, if one of your goals is to make room for a new life by clearing out the old and bringing in the new through downsizing then Today's episode is for you. Today, we're starting our new downsizing series.
Here's what we'll be covering in the next few episodes of women's wealth Canada. First we'll talk about the big picture, envisioning this life you want to create for yourself. In the following episode, we'll do the important prep work you need to set yourself up for success. And in the final episode in the series, we'll get down to brass tacks making the move and what happens next for you in this next chapter.
As we go along. I'll be mentioning a number of resources for you and you'll find links to the resources I mentioned in the show notes of our women's women's wealth Canada website which is Womenswealth.ca The resources are organized by episode numbers so when you're looking for that today's episode is episode number one.
Okay, let's say that the reason you're thinking of downsizing is because you're getting ready to retire soon. This is the most common reason why someone will contact me for advice, it's because they're thinking of retiring.
I think we can all agree that retirement today in Canada is different than that of our grandparents and great grandparents right? We live longer. We can choose to work part time because the physical demands of work aren't as difficult as they were 100 years ago. So there's many reasons why it's different. And everyone's experience of retirement is unique. That's one of the things I find so enjoyable, in what I do, it's taking all these unique journeys with my clients, as we move through the years together.
But there have been numerous studies made on the life experiences of retirees in North America, enough that we can make some generalization some characterizations of their experiences in retirement. There's a financial planning practice in Illinois, Advanced Capital Management that did a good job of summarizing this and they came up with "nine types of people you'll meet in retirement." I'll put a link on our website to the original article so you can read about all nine of them but today I want to touch on the three types that I see most often. As we go through, think about which one most relates to you, which types or types you see yourself becoming in retirement.
The first type is the workhorse. This is the person who chooses to continue working beyond their retirement from the most recent career. We're not talking about those who must work to provide basic needs. Just those who choose to work. Many people view retirement as their chance to start the business they've always wanted to start because now they have the security cushion of a pension income and they don't have to support the children anymore.
For example, my client, we'll call her Sally. Sally initially retired but soon found that she was bored out of her mind. So she contacted her former employer and they hired her on as a self employed contractor, basically doing the job she had done before, but with part time hours not as much travel and virtually from her home. Another client--we'll call her Michelle--was a teacher in another province. When she retired to Vancouver Island she started a tutoring business helping kids with their homework. When the pandemic started she had to start turning down business because it became much easier for her to teach her students online. So she gained more student clients than ever.
If the workhorse type appeals to you, ask yourself, if there's a way you can continue work you're good at and enjoy doing, but do it in a way that fits in with your new retirement lifestyle. Maybe you have just one client, or one or two clients. You can start making those contacts before you retire and smoothly transition to self employment after you retire.
One thing you want to consider if you take the workhorse path is you'll want to talk to your financial planner about the financial implications of working in retirement. It can impact things like when you start taking CPP or OAS for example.
Our next retiree type is the globetrotter. This is your retired neighbor, you only sort of know because they're never around, you have a closer relationship with the house plants because you spend one on one time watering all the time, while their owners are traipsing about the planet. If you plan to be a globetrotter when you retire, there's a number of things you may want to do to plan ahead. The first thing is to find a way to secure your home while you're gone. If you don't have friends or family that could stay in your home there are many reliable retirees who choose a lifestyle of not owning a home themselves, but instead are professional house sitters. They will stay in your home while you're gone to watch over your home or even your pets. You should work with a house sitter who has proper liability insurance so that you aren't at risk of a lawsuit if they have an accident in your house. You can ask friends for referrals or Google house sitters near you. The most popular house and pet sitters are often booked up in a year in advance so just a word to the wise.
My friend will call her Pauline spends a great deal of time traveling. She's a member of HomeExchange.com Now this is a membership service it's a pretty neat idea. It works really well if you live in an area that people often want to travel to like Vancouver Island. Here's how it works. Pauline wanted to spend some time in Europe. So she found other members of home exchange, who wanted to stay in Pauline's hometown to visit friends. They exchanged homes, Pauline got to stay in Europe, the other couple got to stay in Pauline's home, and it only cost them, the membership fee and travel to get to their respective destinations. Pretty cool.
Another consideration if you want to be a globetrotter is travel health insurance. There are lots of choices there's Tugo. And here in British Columbia, we had BCAA, you can check them out. And remember to contact your provincial health insurance plan to find out how long you can be gone in order to still be covered when you get back home, I offer greenshield insurance for supplemental health insurance for my clients and it does include a travel insurance benefit, and you can check that out on my website glory gray.com that's "a-y" by the way, and click on the health insurance tab if you're interested in taking a look at Green shield.
One of the expenses that can stack up pretty quickly if you're a globetrotter is foreign exchange transaction charges. When you purchase things outside of Canada. So you may want to switch to a credit card that doesn't charge foreign exchange fees. One of the ones I've heard good things about his Home Trust's preferred Visa card, they're out of Vancouver. I'll put a link in the show notes, but do your own research and find the best credit card that fits you. Some of them have annual fees, some of them don't. Maybe your bank will give you a good deal on one but take a look at yourself.
Our next retirement type is the super hero. Retirement is a wonderful time to give back. No one knows that better than the superhero who is the one to always step up when there's a need. There the one on three nonprofit boards are their friendly face behind the cashbox at the bake sale or learning how the voting machines work during an election. Your life experience has provided you with valuable skills the charitable sector can use, and the benefit is mutual. Studies have shown that those who donate money or volunteer feel a stronger sense of purpose and are happier and healthier because of their volunteer work.
Janet, not her real name, lives in a small town. She moved there from a city that has large music venues that showcased everything from pop to classical, and there was no such a venue in her new home but that didn't stop her. She worked first with smaller venues, then a large church, and negotiated to have these performers perform in her small town to huge success. That's just one example I can tell you many more superhero stories. I'm sure you know even more.
One tool of the superhero is the donor advised fund. It's an account that you can deposit money into and receive a charitable tax receipt for that deposit. And then invest in the account so the money grows, and then you can grant money out of the account to charities you want to support. In a way it's an inexpensive way to create your own Charitable Foundation. If you have any questions about how they work, shoot me an email.
So, which retiree type is the most like you? Are you the workhorse? The globetrotter, the superhero? Maybe a little of all three? Send me an email or leave me a comment on my Facebook page, Glory gray wealth solutions and let me know which one is most like you and why.
Now, what if you cannot envision what your life will be in retirement? It's understandable. We are so busy managing the day to day that the future is not something we can even talk about, but retirement can be a great opportunity to live your life on your own terms. To do that, you need to understand what is important to you. Where do your real passions lie. Now there's lots of exercises and tools you can use to get to this answer of what's important to you but let me give you one. First, get a journal doesn't have to be anything fancy just grab a little notebook at the dollar store and a pen or pencil. You're going to write in this journal for 30 days, just 30 days. You're not even going to have to think about what you're going to write I'm going to give you a link in the show notes to a website that will give you the questions to answer each day. You're going to answer one of those questions every day.
Here's three of those 30 questions, just to give you an idea. Number one, what do I need more of in my life. Number two, what are 10 things I'm grateful for today. Number three, what are five words that describe me best, and why.
Unknown Speaker 12:23
After you've gone through 30 days of writing answers to questions like these. Take a look through your notebook. My bet is you're going to start to see some patterns, you're going to start seeing what is important to you. And if you spend your retirement, mostly doing things that are important to you, That is a happy retirement indeed.
Glory Gray 12:43
If all else fails, if you still can't figure out what's important to you and how you will spend your time in retirement you can hire a life coach. Some times we need someone else to guide us through our own heads and hearts. There are many life coaches out there you can ask around. One that I can recommend is Antonia Medeiros. I'll leave her website in the show notes.
Now for a bit of a reality check. Even with your best intentions. You may not end up doing what you thought you were going to do in retirement anyway, so leave space in your plans for changes when you get to retirement. There was a study conducted by RBC in 2019 is matter of fact that found that half of retirees thought they were going to continue to work in retirement, but only 11% actually did. A third of retirees had planned on being snowbirds. But only 18% actually ended up doing it.
Unknown Speaker 13:39
In reality, most people end up spending their time with their family and friends rather than sampling exotic beaches. And you know what, there's nothing wrong with that cut yourself some slack. Your retirement plan just like your financial plans should constantly change just as your life is changing. In my experience, most people will find their lives in retirement changing quite a bit every five years. Sometimes it's because there's been a change in their families like suddenly your son is triplets and you want to move nearer to your grandchildren. But the main reason I see change every five years is for something entirely different that we have some control over and that is our health. The unknown event that I see that affects our lives drastically most often is our own health or the health of our spouses. If you're not healthy. You're not going to enjoy your retirement as much, so get healthy as best you can. This is something you can work on now before you retire. Finding activity you enjoy doing. Hopefully one that has a social element to it as social interaction is so important to get health, as we age.
Unknown Speaker 14:45
The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends that those of us over age 65 take part in at least two and a half hours of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic activity each week, and add muscle and bone strengthening activities using major muscle groups like your like your legs, at least twice a week to help your posture and balance and joining a walking or bicycling group can help achieve this, a dance class can do with a yoga class. Even if you're mobility challenged, there's more options than ever to just get moving.
Glory Gray 15:21
So let's review. We talked about how you might like to spend your time in retirement and how to find your passions, and we talked about leaving a bit of space in your plans for changes that might occur along the way. Now, before you pack your boxes and move out of your cubicle for good. You may want to take the time to ease into retirement, test your ideas, put a plan into action to see how it works.
For example, if you're retiring but your spouse isn't yet try living on one salary for six months, see how you do. Start volunteering some of your time at a charity you know and that you want to support.
John was a doctor who had brought on young capable doctors as partners to take over his practice, but he had a hard time letting go of the idea of just being John and not Dr. Smith. So he started reducing his schedule by one day of the week every six months. So, after a year and a half, he was down to two days a week working. And that gave him time to start easing into his new life. Which to him meant doing a lot more volunteer work, some of which he did abroad so he could combine it with travel. So he allowed himself some time to get used to the idea, think of ways you can help yourself get used to the idea of retirement.
Unknown Speaker 16:45
So that's it for the first step in our downsizing series. Next time we'll get into more strategies to prepare yourself for success as you get closer to retirement.
Unknown Speaker 16:57
For more tips, go to our website women'wealth.ca that's womenswealth.ca. Links to that site and other resources in this episode are in the show notes. If you have a question you'd like answered in a future episode, or you'd like to get a hold of me, glory to schedule a free financial consultation, send us an email at Hello@womenswealth.ca.
Unknown Speaker 17:22
Thank you for the gift of your time today. Until next time, this is glory gray, your personal trainer for financial fitness, telling you to take charge of your finances, plan for the future. But most of all, enjoy today.
Unknown Speaker 17:41
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment tax or legal advice, it is not an offer to sell or buy, or an endorsement recommendation or sponsorship of any entity or security citing mutual funds offered through Portfolio Strategies Corporation, other products and services provided through Glory Gray Wealth Solutions.
