This former artwork instructor took up pictures, sculpting and juggling in retirement

In Tales from the Golden Age, retirees discuss their spending, financial savings and whether or not life after work is what they anticipated. For extra articles on this collection, click on right here.

Doug Lowry, 68, Richmond Hill, Ont.

I retired in 2017 at age 60 after 28 years as a highschool artwork instructor. Sixty was a milestone age for me; not solely was it the beginning of a brand new decade, but it surely was additionally the yr my spouse and I paid off our mortgage and my defined-benefit pension turned totally vested. I may foresee a financially secure future. I additionally consulted a monetary advisor throughout my closing yr of employment to verify our monetary scenario.

As dad and mom of a daughter with particular wants, we spent 25 years advocating for her and scheduling her life and ours. Once she was positioned in a supportive group house in 2011, my spouse – additionally a instructor – was capable of work full-time and I used to be capable of tackle new obligations on the faculty the place I labored. I felt fulfilled in my profession, however once I entered my 60s, I used to be prepared for a way of life change. My spouse retired a few years after me.

What’s nice about retirement is having a lot time to spend with family and friends. (We have one other daughter close by who’s married with two children – our grandkids.) I’ve been bettering my cooking abilities, going to the fitness center extra and changing into extra energetic in native politics. I’m additionally an artist and have been doing extra sculpting, portray and pictures. I additionally began juggling once more a couple of years in the past, one thing I haven’t accomplished since college.

We don’t fear about cash in retirement. My spouse and I dwell modestly however take pleasure in wealthy lives. We made a concerted effort to chop again on our month-to-month bills quickly after retiring. Owning only one automotive has lowered month-to-month bills considerably. We even have pensions and use a monetary advisor to spend money on our registered retirement financial savings plans (RRSPs). I’m a do-it-yourself investor for my daughter’s registered incapacity financial savings plan (RDSP). I began receiving my Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security advantages at 65.

Over the years, we didn’t have the cash to contribute to a tax-free financial savings account (TFSA). However, now that our investments are doing effectively, we prioritize making month-to-month TFSA contributions. We have shorter-term monetary targets, resembling journey and a brand new automotive on the listing, however are considering more and more of our daughters and need them to be a part of the long-term legacy plans.

My recommendation to folks approaching retirement is to construct a group round you. When we retire, we are saying goodbye to our work group. There could possibly be guarantees to remain in contact, however that doesn’t all the time occur. We’re energetic in our neighbourhood and plan to remain put right here. The folks and the group round us are there for us, and we’re there for them. So my recommendation can be to remain related. Find folks, applications and actions, and be able to say ‘yes’ to new experiences.

As advised to Brenda Bouw

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Are you a Canadian retiree taken with discussing what life is like now that you simply’ve stopped working? The Globe is in search of folks to take part in its Tales from the Golden Age function, which examines the private and monetary realities of retirement. If you’re taken with being interviewed for this function and agree to make use of your full identify and have a photograph taken, please e-mail us at: [email protected]. Please embrace a couple of particulars about the way you saved and invested for retirement and what your life is like now