My Year End Review

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Since I had never written a book before, I did what made sense to me and wrote the last chapter first. This is apparently a no-no in the writing world but I knew how I wanted my life to play out and what’s wrong with writing a story with a happy ending for yourself. Makes sense to me!

My Own Victory Lap 

Our book Victory Lap Retirement is all about designing your lifestyle. My overriding goal, in writing the book, was to help me design a fulfilling low stress lifestyle that would deliver maximum happiness over the next ten years. Instead of looking forward I now live with a sense of urgency. It’s all about living happy now, not delaying it to some point down the road. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not spending money like a drunken sailor, I still have to justify the investment to myself. Let’s just say I’m no longer concerned with saving money anymore.  Continue reading “My Year End Review” →

No One Told Me It Would Be Like This

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There is something very wrong with the work world today. It is far too common to find employees who are tired, over-worked, stressed out, and living in fear of an uncertain future. As a result, people are eating too much, watching too much television, and complaining too much, often self-medicating with drugs and/or alcohol or taking prescription medication to cope with their stress. How can it be that in North America, with two of the most prosperous societies in the world,  people are taking more medications for anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders than ever before?

Blame it on the big dip. Continue reading “No One Told Me It Would Be Like This” →

Helping Boomers Create Their Own Victory Lap Retirement

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I’ve been working hard on my year-end review and goal setting, which I will share with you in next week’s blog. I’m excited by what we have accomplished over the past year, but recognize that there is still a lot to do in the years ahead.

My co-writer Jonathan and I are on a major mission and that mission is made up of two parts:

  1. To convince investment advisors to adopt a more holistic approach and provide quality lifestyle planning assistance to their clients.
  2. To teach young people about financial independence, or Findependence as we like to call it, so that they can get off to a good start in life.

It’s a big job, but it’s something that we just feel the need to do.  Call it our way of giving back to the community! Today, I would like to expand on the first point a little more. Continue reading “Helping Boomers Create Their Own Victory Lap Retirement” →

December’s VLR Winner

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December’s VLR Winner was nominated by my co-author, Jonathan Chevreau, and I just love her story.

Meta is a real person, a neighbour of Jonathan’s and they also happen to attend the same church. She just celebrated her 100th birthday and, until she suffered a hip injury earlier this year, she was still working one or two half-days a week at a nearby printing firm. She used the proceeds from her work to finance the many trips she looked forward to taking with her friends. Wine tours around Niagara-on-the-Lake have always been a particular favourite of hers. Continue reading “December’s VLR Winner” →