Victory Lap Retirement
At the Canadian Personal Finance Conference I attended last year, there was a great deal of money talk, presentations and discussions about retirement, early-retirement, and what you’re really working towards. Many of the discussions circled back to not retiring in the traditional sense but instead finding more purpose in your work and ideally working on your own terms. Retirement sounds great but what does that really mean?
If you’ve done any thinking on this subject yourself, or in fact, you’re already retired you probably know the rules of retirement have changed. There’s longevity risk – people are living longer and need to finance more years of retirement expenses. You have market risk – gone are the days of healthy interest and savings rates. Last but maybe most importantly there are psychological and leisure risks – going from 100% work mode to 100% leisure mode may not be sustainable nor desirable.
In Victory Lap Retirement authors Jonathan Chevreau and Mike Drak share their wisdom by looking into their financial future to see how they will retire and what they will do when they get there. They believe if you enjoy what you do, and you can continue to work, then plan now so your financial needs are covered sooner than later. You will find joy in doing so since when it comes to work you’ll work because you want to not because you have to.
Chevreau and Drak believe the traditional retirement definition needs to be replaced by what Chevreau coins “Findependence” (short for Financial Independence); the point where your basic living expenses are covered by your passive income.
This crossover point provides you with an opportunity for a Victory Lap Lifestyle, one that does not include permanent retirement from all work but options to work and play on your own terms, staying engaged in life when and where you please.
Thanks to Jonathan Chevreau and Mike Drak, I got a copy of Victory Lap Retirement to giveaway to one lucky reader. Before you enter the giveaway below check out what I liked about this book from some selected chapters.
Chapter 1 – As part of rethinking retirement, I agree Victory Lap living sounds very appealing to me/us. This is because money and the security it brings are no longer the main motivators for working. The debt is gone. The passive income is healthy. Financial independence therefore provides more (and better) options such as working part-time, working seasonally, or volunteering our time and skills.
Chapter 3 – Chevreau and Drak equate “Findependence” to the following:
Passive Income > Non-Discretionary Expenses = Freedom
Sources of after-tax passive (non-work) income for you may include some of the following:
- Income from investments
- Company or government pensions
- Rental income
- Royalties from properties, books, music, apps.
We’re optimistic our income from investments will cover most of our basic expenses.
Chapter 4 – Good financial advice rarely changes, and Victory Lap Retirement recaps the financial mantras of living below your means and many more nicely. One eternal truth I did disagree with is about buying a home (and paying it off as soon as possible). Buying a home in the first place may or may not make sense depending upon your lifestyle. Paying your mortgage off as soon as possible may forgo opportunity costs to invest in the stock market – time in the market is your friend after all. The premise of their message is good – for most of us we should avoid servicing mortgage debt for many decades on end.
Chapter 8 – Time is our most valuable resource and Victory Lap Retirement suggests we use it wisely. The hour allotted to the rich is no longer than the hour experienced by the poor. Eventually, for all of us, our physical abilities and mental faculties will diminish. Chevreau and Drak encourage you to make the most out of your life energy and provide some tips how to do so.
Victory Lap Retirement Takeaways
At some point in our lives, we’ll all need to pause and reflect on what we’re working towards or what’s next. Is that staying in our current job? Taking on a new job? Downsizing? Decumulation? More travel? More volunteer work? All the above? Only you know the answers.
Jonathan Chevreau and Mike Drak in Victory Lap Retirement make a strong case for “Findependence” sooner than later so you can optimize your time and life energy. All of that sounds pretty good to me.
Enter to win my copy of Victory Lap Retirement provided to me by the authors. I’ll keep the giveaway open for a few weeks on my site and I’ll draw one name at random as the winner. Good luck!
What are your thoughts about a Victory Lap? Are you thinking about this? Are you already doing this?
this is the readers digest version of a comment! (: love books on finance especially when they are free! enjoy the weekend everyone.
Good luck Gary!
I agree with Bart’s comments-well said. From the book review – “making the most of you life energy” makes a lot of sense to me. When it’s gone it’s gone.
Nice book report Mark.
Thanks Tim. I have a few more books to giveaway so stay tuned…cheers. Mark
I find nothing wrong with financial most books, even though I don’t really find a lot of useful and providing practical information in them. What I recommend to most is DON’T spend the money to buy them, get them form the library, or ask your library to get the book if it sounds interesting. Take the money you save and invest it one of your good stocks.
Same with Lottery tickets, if you buy them fine, but only buy ONE and consider it entertainment, not part of your retirement plan.
ps: don’t enter me to get a book!
It’s probably because the good advice, for most things in life, never go out of style.
OR, you can win it from my site…that’s free. All the content here is free – and the comments of investing “pros” like you too cannew.
Cheers,
Mark
PS – I will exclude you from the draw.
Entered!
The philosophy of “Victory Lap Retirement” is appealing to many generations, but the underlying message is really forward planning to allow discretionary choices.
On a personal note, I don’t really see myself retiring per say, just changing gears. I want to have the flexibility to make choices so I can continue to make personal and professional contributions without being constrained by finances especially given the current (and future) economic climate.
Agreed JLO – re: plan, believe, act.
I don’t ever wish to retire myself actually…I just want to be very choosy when I work and what I work at. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Time will tell – maybe I will change my mind!
Thanks for your comment.
Looks like a great read with a lot of good advice.
Good luck Moe!
I want to read this book for personal knowledge, but mainly to give to my soon retiring mother.
Good luck Bale and thanks for entering.
I continue to be frustrated by books like this. Repeated reports point out that currently very few of those who intend to work “post-retirement” are actually engaged in a victory lap career. Illness, a plain worn out body, the need to care for a spouse or other family member, etc., often get in the way. I don’t think the authors are entirely out to lunch, but they should recognize that their ideas are not for everyone, and possibly only useful for a very few.
That’s a fair comment Russ, because the premise of this book assumes you have the ability to work, which cannot be taken for granted. Life absolutely gets in the way of the best laid plans. Thanks for sharing.
I’m interested in reading this – I’ve long been a fan of Chevreau and I see many people who are fixated on rushing through the rat race to get to the finish line of their retirement date but have no plan of what to do once they get there (“…anything I want” is the usual non-answer). Finding a meaning or purpose to keep oneself happy and motivated in retirement is a taller challenge than many realize.
Well said Bart. Good luck!
Retiring and everything that it entails is so individual that I’m not sure an advice book does much good. Having said that, if it leads to thinking about the future where’s the harm? I’m comfortable with the part time farming in the summer and volunteering in the winter. Obviously this will change as I get older and I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. But the big factor is having enough financially to ensure there are options and for this, it would behoove one to start young. I certainly do not regret having to haul my ass in to work every day. Don’t miss it in the least.
I certainly do not regret NOT having…
prufe rede mi sun.
How you want to live your life is absolutely a personal choice. I’m recognizing my needs are changing, certainly in the last year or so.
My desired path is to work part-time or seasonal – but I can’t – because I feel committed to home ownership, working to pay off debt and working to build the portfolio to provide some passive income – for expenses that include some fun in my life (i.e., travel and festivals).
I think I started investing young enough but I didn’t save enough nor was I invested in appropriate investments. As such, those that start investing and save a good portion of their money in their 20s, and continue into their 30s – will have it made. I probably really didn’t start saving or investing appropriately until age 30. I don’t have that as a big regret but just something to learn from and improve upon.
I’m curious as to what I missed by not having had a “victory lap”, if anything 🙂
You missed nothing – personal finance is very personal! 🙂
I am a recent retire and would be interested if the path I am perusing makes sense.
Thanks for being a fan Denis. Good luck.
Now into mid 50’s I definitely think about what should I do next. Findependence is a goal that most should strive for to allow widest number of potential futures. After all, it’s why we buy lottery tickets and have our internal (and maybe external) discussion about ‘What would I do if I won?’.
I’m thinking about “next” now Murray. I think the financial independence goal, some form of it while lofty, is a good one to have. But that’s my bias because I run this site.
Good luck.
“Chapter 3 – Chevreau and Drak equate “Findependence” to the following:
Passive Income > Non-Discretionary Expenses = Freedom
Sources of after-tax passive (non-work) income for you may include some of the following:
Income from investments
Company or government pensions
Rental income
Royalties from properties, books, music, apps.”
Sigh…soooo…basically your finances are not at all “independent” — they are intrinsically tied to the well-being of the above list.
I’ll never read, let alone BUY, a book with the phrase ‘financial independence’ printed any where on its being, simply because the author has a fundamental misunderstanding/misrepresentation of the subject matter. Guess I’m a stickler when it comes to precision of communication.
(If a nonsensical word like “findependence” can be invented, then my “nanofinance” should have no problem entering the lexicon.)
Besides that…from the Amazon link: “66,037 results for Books : Business & Investing : Personal Finance”
Yup…definitely need ANOTHER! If the other 66,036 books haven’t help the masses attain any sort of wide-spread, long-lasting financial “independence”… Let the madness continue.
I had a feeling you wouldn’t put this book, beside your other, lone book, on personal finance.
At the end of the day I think for folks who don’t understand you need a certain income to cover expenses, throughout life, and that you have options when it comes to money – it’s a good book. As you know, not many folks think and read about this stuff – not nearly as well versed as you.
You are welcome to use “nanofinance” on my site as you wish.
Good post. Would be interesting to read as I have always thought I wanted to retire as soon as possible to get out of the grind.
Dear Bryan: https://www.myownadvisor.ca/youre-smart-arent-retired/#comment-71265.
Definitely advantages of having “enough” and working on your own terms.