January 2026
My wife is going to retire from her full time job. Spring of 2026 I’m thinking about quitting my job so we can spent 2026 traveling and camping for the year while we are still our healthy.
Forum Discussion
you guy are depressing me haha, I worked one carrier until I was 42, when I retired and started collecting my military pension, now I am on my second carrier that I started when I was 44. I will be working until I am 65 so I can maximize my second pension. with the cost of living up here it is harder to save up that nest egg and depending what choices you make when your young you may never build up enough of one to retire on. I used to love my trips to the US and just be amazed how cheep stuff is down there.
That's the difference between pensions and saving/investing for retirement.
- Pensions by design only pay out significantly if you put a lot of years in (military typically takes fewer years but generally a small payout). And you are still dependent on them actually funding the pension properly. At least in the USA, a lot of pensions are severely underfunded and that will eventually bite retirees. (Social Security in the USA is similar though they use a complicated formula).
- Saving/Investing, as soon as you have enough, you can retire. Starting early definitely makes a huge difference but even starting later, it can have a big impact. I used to help people at church having budget problems...didn't run into any that couldn't trim at least 20% out of their budget. A lot of it is just priorities.
If you simply want to set it and forget it, pensions are an OK option. If you want to retire early, saving/investing is a far better option.
ya that's the issue up here with our cost of living and high taxes compared to what you guys pay in the US, most people don't have enough disposable income at the end of the day to do any significant savings. My situation is a little different now, but when I was young it wasn't. When I started a new job at 44 years old I made sure to find a well paying one with a strong contract and another defined benefit pension as at that age you don't have enough time to build up enough of an investment. So I went the rout that will give me and the wife about 100K/ year in pensions, but I have to work until I am 65 to do it. on a good note, I will have every toy paid off by then and only 3 to 5 years left on my house, but no we are toying with the idea of selling the house and moving to an area where the market is cheaper to be mortgage free right away and get a bigger property out of the deal.
I have been trying to teach the daughters to take 10% of their income before tax every month and put it in a rrsp. one has started the other is hopeless haha
If you can make the finances work...do it. As you say, your health won't be better waiting a few years. We started at age 37 (semi-retired still worked part time remotely) and fully retired a couple years ago at 52.
A big question is are you going to try to maintain the house? It's really quite cheap full timing (or at least it can be) but if you keep the house, that negates most of the potential savings.
We will keep the house. If we would move south to escape the winters then we would sell the house. I will be 60 and my wife will be 59 in 2026. My wife worked for a school district for 25 years. We have been living frugal all our lives.
Run the numbers.
Make sure to factor in upkeep and maintenance on the house...potentially shifting some from DIY to paying someone as you will be away a lot and as you age, you may no longer be capable at some point.
It can certainly be done just depends on your finances.
We are thinking about doing the same. I am looking at early retirement or continue working remote. But the prospect of full timing is exciting for sure.
