Quote:
Originally Posted by Phanuthier
Real interesting replies. Since my last post, a lot of posters of those who are preparing for 60 - my question is, is that what you really should do? Is the goal of life to be as frugal as possible so you get a retirement home with a window instead of a cheap painting? I'm not saying you nessasarly have to buy the most expensive car, but I think life is worth living and not to try and save up as much as you can so you can enjoy life... when you are 60 and your best years are behind you. (sorry to anyone here > 60)
If life in the Western world is to work hard, stress to the max so you can go on vacation every 3 years then have a grand retirement... maybe something in how things are done should change.
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People used to retire at 60 - 65 because a majority of jobs were hard labour based and your employers would literally work you as long as they could before you kicked the bucket. Retirement probably lasted 2 - 5 years in this scenario.
These days, retiring at 60 means you've got to 'self-fund' for probably 20+ years. Life expectancy in Canada is high and is getting higher.
What I think this means is that a person's mentality about retirement needs to change. Probably means you amass a mixture of assets that includes your own human/mental capital (skills) along with equity, debt, real estate, etc so you can continue to bank on all of it well into your golden years.
What does it mean to you? That's the real question.