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Retiree shares advice with her 30-year-old self
When you’re 30 and spending your weekends, holidays and half your summer preparing for and surviving your teaching assignment as well as trying to have a life, planning for retirement isn’t exactly top of mind. After all, there’s an endless list of things that need to be done now.
When my husband and I were in our early 30s, we did take the time to assess our lifestyle and the one we wanted in retirement. We had a number in mind and thus the financial goal was set! And now that I am retired, my advice for my 30-year-old self would be to make time to concentrate much more on integrating the other parts of lifestyle, those being physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual wellness.
In retrospect, I can see that when your career is overwhelming, you tend to put your own needs on the back burner. However, if I could do it again, I would find a better balance between work and leisure, particularly leisure activities that would have provided a sense of lifetime satisfaction. Understanding my personal feelings, my emotional state, accepting my own limitations, adjusting to change and maintaining healthy lifelong relationships would have been a good thing to do. As teachers we have a strong commitment to our students, our school and the education community. Some of us also work with teachers within our specialist associations and the ATA. It’s good preparation and practice for our social interaction with our varied interests when we retire.
While teaching I appreciated the sense of value and purpose that teaching brought me. What I was missing was contentment and peace. If I could do it again, I would pursue those more purposefully every day.
For the most part, my financial wellness was taken care of by our defined benefit pension plan, but this income alone isn’t enough for my lifestyle. My husband and I wanted to travel and we wanted to be comfortable. When we looked at where we were, what we would possibly have for earnings upon retirement, and what we thought we’d need to live the lifestyle we wanted, the number we came up with seemed extravagant.
In reality, we calculated well. Between the two teachers’ pensions we receive and the Canada Pension Plan my husband gets, we can still afford to remain in our larger house and operate several vehicles. We can also do some modest travelling. However, when we were younger and planning for retirement, we knew we wanted more than our pensions could provide, so we started looking at other ways to generate income for later. This lead us to begin investing in real estate and becoming landlords. As I look back, we should have bought more and much sooner.
When it comes to building a retirement fund, having a registered retirement savings plan (RSP) is helpful, but remember that you are forced to start drawing it down at age 71. Tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) are also useful.
Although it was a challenge, my husband and I put some lump sums away several times over the years, but we weren’t consistent. Starting a small monthly contribution of $25 a month when you’re 25 or 30 seems an impossibility when faced with student loans, a beginning teacher’s salary, a growing family and a mortgage, but it is well worth the effort. Find out how much pension you can expect when you retire. Know that number and set some goals as to how much you want to subsidize it, if at all. For us, I knew that depending just on that RSP savings was never going to be enough for our dream lifestyle.
My eyes were opened somewhat when I attended my first ATA retirement seminar in my local about five years before retirement. Wants, needs and wishes change over time. What do I want to do when I retire? How do I want to look after myself? These are all questions you need to ask while you’re still working.
Now that I’m retired, my list of desires is much longer than I anticipated when I was younger. For example, I didn’t expect to be faced with a child living abroad, working with a not-for-profit group that costs me a little more than I expected, and having distant friends I’d like to visit more often.
Engaging in a “when I retire” conversation with a reputable investment consultant is time well spent, as is talking with someone who is already retired. Explore all your options. The secret is doing something about it when you’re 30 rather than 50. Set an anniversary date to review your goals from time to time. Are you still on track?
Don’t be surprised to pay for your own health benefits when you retire. Until age 65, I can stay with the Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP), but I’m glad the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (ARTA) exists; it’s helped me practice living well longer and has an excellent health benefits plan with travel insurance that is second to none. I joined ARTA early so we could take advantage of the travel insurance plan. Maybe you’ll find work in another career and maintain health benefits for a while longer. Just remember, you have to be coming from a group health plan to join ARTA’s plan.
Am I destitute? No; in reality I am very rich. Thanks to prudent investments in rental property, we are fine financially. We have an exciting time working with the business and could give a course on how to choose tenants wisely.
On the personal side, I take better care of myself by getting enough sleep, eating sitting down rather than on supervision and getting more exercise. I take part in more leisure activities that provide a sense of satisfaction, and having time for that second cup of coffee in the morning doesn’t hurt either.
I have healthy relationships with other people and my community, volunteer with causes and organizations I feel contribute to a better world and have peace and contentment in my life. I have the satisfaction that I had a major role in contributing to the betterment of our society through our strong education system, of which I’m very proud.
My career was a great foundation on which to build my retirement lifestyle. I only wish I had started investing in property much earlier. Knowing you have a pension in the end gives you some room to take a risk earlier. Having real property is far less risky than the stocks and bonds within my RSP—that has been up and down like a yo-yo. We feel even more secure in that our property will give further stability to our children when they inherit.
What more could I want? I’m still working on my intellectual wellness—thank goodness there’s always something new to learn every day.
Dolaine Koch is a retired principal who taught in Elk Island Public Schools for 27 years. She now lives in Edmonton.
