Weekend Reading – Are you ready for a 40-year retirement?

Weekend Reading – Are you ready for a 40-year retirement?

Hey Folks,

Welcome to a new Weekend Reading edition, citing another article I found about (40-year) retirement timelines to plan for…

Before that take, some recent reads on my site:

I mentioned last week that I don’t believe in any retirement age, rather, it’s when you are ready financially, physically and mentally too.

Weekend Reading – Retirement is not an age

And earlier this week, I shared a new dividend income update as we prepare and organize our portfolio a bit more to leave the corporate world per se at the end of March 2026.

October 2025 Dividend Income Update

Weekend Reading – Are you ready for a 40-year retirement?

Yes, I believe so – otherwise I wouldn’t be leaving my organization in a few months – but I can appreciate the long-term retirement timeline can be scary…

Retired for 40-years??

Well, that’s what Manulife mentioned you probably need to prepare for but this also implies most retirees in their mid- to late-50s will live to age 95 or beyond which is not quite correct of course. 

According to this recent study, almost half of the retirees in a survey by Manulife Group Retirement stopped working earlier than they planned at an average age of 59 — and the bulk of these early retirements were for reasons beyond their control. Either they suffered a health issue, needed to care for a loved one or lost their job.

Instead of the 20 to 30 “golden years” of earlier generations, workers today are potentially looking at retirements that span 40 years or more.

The Manulife study said many of the retirees in its study were surprised at how expensive retirement was and how fast they were going through their savings.

And also, fewer had a formal retirement plan than Canadians who retired later and 11 per cent had no income other than government pensions, compared with 6 per cent of those who retired when planned.

• The Older You Get, The More Planning You Do: Retirement planning becomes an increased priority as survey members age, with 49% of Baby Boomers having a retirement plan as opposed to just 26% of Millennials. 
• The Confidence Divide: Gen Z is the least confident generation financially, with 48% feeling that their finances are fair or poor, compared to 40% for Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. 
• Inflation Worries Everyone: Across Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, inflation remains a persistent worry. At least 50% or more of respondents from each cohort say they are worried about inflation and the cost of living. 

Maybe not unlike the study, which I did not participate in, I have similar retirement concerns so I don’t think I’m alone…

• How bad could inflation get over time – will my portfolio keep up?
• Will I overspend?
• What does my health/healthcare look like long-term?
• What extended rate of returns should I expect?

We have our Financial Independence Budget here that includes some of those assumptions and I will update that post in the spring of 2026 when retirement starts for both of us…

Financial Independence Budget

Do you have the same concerns? Did you have the same concerns when you retired?

More Weekend Reading – Beyond are you ready for a 40-year retirement?

Passionate DIY investor and dividend investor Henry Mah wrote about his go-go, slower-go and no-go retirement spending years. An interesting take from someone that has been there, done that.

Why he loves investing in about 10-12 Canadian stocks in his 80s:

“I prefer having the choice of being able to decide if and when, I wish to spend less. Better yet, I like not having to worry about spending more during retirement, because I earn more income than we need. I also don’t need to sell capital to cover our retirement expenses, and even when I have sold shares to gift, or donate, my investment income hasn’t suffered. In fact, we do sell capital, fairly large amounts of capital, and our retirement investment income continues to meet our needs, without needing to cut our living expenses. Go figure?”

I like money market funds in my/our registered accounts for cash equivalents for the same reasons Christine Benz from Morningstar does:

A good Globe Financial Facelift article here (subscription), in that the retiree, Tammy, age 64, seriously needs to accelerate her significant $1.75M in RRSP assets very soon unless she wants a higher tax bill later in life. The article is an excellent reminder that RRSP/RRIF assets are meant to be spent such that ideally taxation is smoothed-out over many spending years, to offer you the ability to spend any non-registered or TFSA assets as you please. Keeping TFSAs intact as a large emergency fund later in life is generally smart tax planning. 

Related to that:

Watch out for RRSP and RRIF taxation

If you want to find out about a great withdrawal strategy for anyone in their mid-60s, like Tammy, with RRSP assets as their primary retirement income source, well, read on below:

Can I retire with $1 million in our RRSPs?

With thanks from my friend and fan of this site, Ken Kivenko, Canadians seem to be waking up to the high cost of actively managed mutual funds – and avoiding them – going to some lower-cost ETFs instead. Good stuff. With various discount brokerage tools available to DIY investors, along with all-in-one ETFs to consider owning, Canadians are better served to save for their financial future…

Canadian ETF industry assets reached $545.09 billion at the end of October, surpassing the previous record of $533.77 billion in September 2025….

From my favourite Brain Food site: @FarnamStreet

“When you’re impatient with results, every day feels expensive. When you’re impatient with effort, every day feels like progress.”

Thanks for your readership and have a great weekend!

Mark