Hello from Lewes, Delaware USA 🇺🇸 It’s great to be retired with no worries, other than maintaining good health and investing wisely. You two, Tina & Norm, are such a pleasant couple to listen to. Thank you for sharing your advice today.
Yes you can. I know an older gentleman who had to rebuild his retirement after his wife died. He became debt free. He retired with $70,000, yes $70,000 dollars. He got $1,600 a month Social Security. Lived very frugal for 4 years. Turned that $70,000 in to $165,000 by taking a few risk with half his $70,000. He rents an apartment outside the city, but near hospitals, doctors offices and shopping for $800 a month. Bought a Honda CR-V for cash with low mileage, by the way super cheap insurance etc. He has a lot of free hobbies or hobbies with the cost of starting and not much afterwards. He travels with friends, church and other groups when the cost is reasonable. He actually puts money into his savings every month. You just have to be creative. You can live a wonderful fun retirement as long as you know how to limit your spending. Create a lifestyle that keeps you busy that cost you very little. That will allow for those splurges of and on as well.. Don't forget there's plenty of work that's not labor intensive or stressful. Many seniors can get work with as little as 10 hours a week at very fulfilling jobs such as museum's, festivals, art galleries etc. It's not work when you're having fun. Make an extra $150 here and there and life is a ok... Great video guys. Have a great weekend 🍻
Another wonderful comment, thank you sharing this. Most things are possible if you are willing to compromise or change a little. It's always great to hear from you have a great week ahead.
Very encouraging post, thank you. I'm in the Chicago area and my biggest expense is property taxes, I'll be 64 this year self employed carpenter. I think it'll be a skinny retirement but doable.
@@kwaichangcaine8234 consider moving to a lower cost state or rent a room in your current home to offset expenses. Many seniors would enjoy living with other seniors. I may consider renting a room to travel nurses to offset expenses. I live near 5 hospitals within a 15 minute drive.
You guys are my favourite financial/retirement you tubers. Not only are you continuously generous with how transparent you are with your finances, which is rare to nonexistent but you're also my Canandian neighbours and your Canadian content is also hard to find ! Plus you're likeable and easy to watch. Thanks again for sharing your time and experiences with us, much appreciated. Cheers
FINALLY…a retirement You Tube channel with realistic financial realities. Many say it’s a million $ to retire but it’s really a lie. You are living proof that it’s doable to retire fully on a realistic net worth. Thanks for being open with your financial situation with us…it give many of us hope.
Perfect advice. Exactly what I'm doing. 4 months until the house is paid off. No other debt. 6 months to Medicare eligibility! Retirement's in 10 months 🙂
Hi Tina and Norm. Thank you so much for touching on a topic that I'm sure many people as well as myself have fretted about when trying to make that tough decision about "when can we retire"? There is no shortage of sources telling us that a million dollars is required or the 70% of pre retirement income rule but little to no real testimonials from people who have happily and successfully retired on 300,000 to 400,000. I knew there had to be some out there but couldn't find any. After crunching numbers and tracking our real world spending for a whole year, my wife and I decided we could retire with our 450,000 and zero debt although all the "expert" financial advisors were indicating it wasn't possible. We did retire at 62 so we have to wait a few years to collect our OAS but are collecting CPP now. You are absolutely correct in saying that being debt free is crucial. It really is a matter of determining your goals for retirement. We are not world travelers but we do like the occasional cruise and short trips within our own beautiful Canada and the US. As you mentioned, if you hope to travel extensively, than yes you will need more, but many people are happy to live a stress free retirement at home with friends and family. Love what you both do and thanks again for touching on this subject. I'm sure that you put a lot of peoples fears and doubts to rest as well as ours! Rock on!!
We are so glad you are seeing the potential for yourselves, we did go through some downsizing, two cars to one etc. You should find as your retirement journey continues your willingness to buy stuff starts to wain. Have a great weekend!
That million $$ amount needed to retire was all marketing done by the financial institutions so that they can grab as much money from you as they can. lol.
Hey Tina and Norm. Thank you so much for making this video. Before my retirement I watched so many videos that said in no uncertain terms that you had to have a million dollars to retire. This was worrisome because I was never going to have a million dollars. Fortunately, I picked a investment company that showed me I could retire with money that was a lot closer to the figure you showed today. I've been retired for over 2 years now and while I'm not rich, I would say I'm very comfortable. I have a wife that is about to retire and with her CPP and OAS we will still keep trucking along. I always laughed after watching the million dollar videos because I thought to myself, "I'm like the bee who is not supposed to be able to fly, but flies anyway." If anyone needs a second opinion, yes, you can absolutely retire on $300,000 dollars. ( Should I mention that I also have an electric car...and also a second car? YIKES...don't tell the million dollar police.)
We agree Mike yes you can retire on $300K, congrats on the electric car our Campground has just put in an electric charging station which is pretty cool Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Be debt free, remain in good health, and stay realistic in one's lifestyle choices: these are the keys to truly enjoying retirement. Trips are the icing on the cake! It is so terrific of you both to share your thoughts and experiences, because it is reassuring for those of us who are nearing retirement and have the typical concerns about going into this next phase of life - the one we've all worked so hard to get to and to enjoy! I loved Norm's sign-off ... Rock on! 😂 That actually made me chuckle. Enjoy your weekend (it IS the weekend ... You retirees sometimes lose track!) 😉☺️
Thanks Denise we are so happy to share our retirement travels and we do hope it’s helpful and reassuring. It is difficult sometimes Denise to tell what day of the week it is, everyday is the weekend. 😂😂💕
@@ThisIsOurRetirement I sure lost track today. I saw you had videod 8hrs ago and thot it was a 'special' 🤣🤣 then realized OMG it's Saturday. As always loved seeing you two bubbly spring retirees ❤
There's absolutely some truth in this. A friend of mine who used to be a financial advisor often told me that an evening 1hr visit to the right home of people ready to invest would net him an easy £2-3k & he would sit in his car afterwards rubbing his hands together with glee. After many years, he saw the error of his greed & trained to be a male nurse 😀 I've said many times to him...oh, you've gone from robbing people to saving people. He laughs 😃
Thanks so much for your talks! We are recently retired and currently selling our home so we can move to an apartment. So tired of the maintenance and demands of caring for a home and property. Your advice and candor is really helpful. We find so many friends feel you must have ridiculously large savings and must keep your home to comfortably retire. Looking forward to “less is more” and enjoying life!
My husband and I are selling our home and planning to rent an apartment, which is much more expensive in the U.S. Like you, our home has been our investment and we will receive a substantial sum. We have spoken with an investment counselor who says we can invest some for the longer term and invest another portion in an account that we can draw from periodically for travel. We will also have a healthy emergency fund. We have chosen a very nice apartment, but we can afford it with our social security and pension. We have no debt. People don’t understand. What do you say to friend and family who ask… Aren’t you going to waste a lot of money on an apartment? Your large beautiful home is paid for!
Norm and Tina, thanks so much for your perspectives on retirement issues. I am going to be retiring 🤞in a couple of years and your videos are a great (and comforting) resource for the transition into the next phase. Keep it going, and know that you both are impacted thousands of lives with your content. Thanks again!
I think it’s important for people to be honest with themselves with respect to their expectations in retirement. For us, we retired with no debt but also no defined pension from our employers. We wanted to stay in our home so we needed our investments to provide us with income. 500k gives us 28k per year in dividends which when added to our OAS and CPP gives us enough money to be comfortable and take a few trips a year. For us, it works. Our biggest win was getting out of mutual funds with a “financial advisor” and purchasing dividend paying stocks and ETFs on our own. Thanks for your videos! We look forward to them every Saturday!
Again , you 're right on target👏👏👏! 💐 P.S . Living alone in a paid condo( $ 550 , renting my second garage for $175 ) comes to $375 per month 👍😉 Absolutely no debts ,with income of $30.000 I can even afford travelling !!! 😘
Thanks Miriam you have great solutions and making money from your assets, great idea renting your garage. It’s always a pleasure hearing from you each Saturday 😀😀👍💕
You may remember that the very first video I saw was' how to retire poor' and after watching that we started our journey into retirement, yes being debt free is the most important part and we are now happily retired with LESS than $300.000, not sure that would have been possible if we had any debt to support but there is so much you can do without spending lots of money and life is pretty good. See you next week x
Great topic. And I think your advice is spot on. Too many professionals seem to scare us into thinking we must have a million to retire. Thanks again Tina and Norm. Keep on Rockin' on. ;)
The algorithm brought y'all to my feed. Yall are so sweet. I've subscribed and look forward to the encouraging videos. I'm 47, in the US and starting preparing for retirement 5 years ago. It takes focus and discipline but it can be done. I've downgraded my life a lot bc lifestyle creep will do you in if you're not careful. I've got my money working in the stock market. So those dividends with my pension from work will have me in decent shape when I retire (early) at 55. Also thinking about moving to Mexico to make my dollar go even further. Lovely channel!
I did it with $300k CDN. Bought a house in Nova Scotia, paid the car off, no debts, and invested the rest in dividend paying shares (9%). Getting OAS and CPP and UK pension. Doing very well now and a decent retirement.
I really enjoy your videos. I am 59 and contemplating retiring at 60. Your videos have provided great information on pro's and con's regarding retiring early. My wife is 65 and was a stay at home mom the past 25 years but is now collecting CPP and OAS. Our focus was paying off debt which we did in 2019 so we are a little late in salting money away for retirement but I believe we are in good shape for me to retire or at least semi retire next year. Your videos have helped provide guidance from your real world experience and I appreciate it.
I am looking forward to your video tomorrow 😊. We all have to make up our own minds and judge our own circumstances and opportunities. I appreciate you sharing yours.
Claiming a current state pension in the UK starts at age 65-67 for 95% of the population. If wanting to retire early, say 60, then savings or another income will be required to bridge the gap until the individuals pension start date. I know you guys sold your house, invested & rented, but there's also a good reason to keep your house if paid for in full...as an investment for your own future to sell as or if required, plus as part of your inheritance to children etc. Plus your own rent free home to live. It's balancing it out, what suits the individual/s best. I enjoy your vlogs, they're very well done & with some great information, plus inspirational. Thank you.
We are so glad you enjoyed the video , we sold our home as although it was paid for we wanted to get rid of unexpected maintenance and expenses and bar $100 all the costs were the same as renting . Have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🇬🇧🌺🙂🇨🇦
@@ThisIsOurRetirement Yes great couple & content. So if renting, it only works out at $100 more per month, than previously owning your own home? I own mine outright & the only outgoings are usual utility bills, council tax & insurances which I would need if renting. Nothing else unless a kick of paint & basic upkeep, but that's not much at all. Probably over the years £1000 per year max to include new guttering, the odd rebuilt wall etc etc. Though, with a couple renting it atleast works out 50/50. Cheaper than a single person renting or indeed paying home outgoings.
@@ThisIsOurRetirement Great relevant content as always. With the cost of renting really taking off even for small town rentals within 3 hours from Toronto, your fortunate situation will not be possible anymore unless one is open to moving to a really far off rural place. I've looked around and decided that renting will cost more, not to mention concerning news of "renovictions" by landlords that use the convenient excuse to find higher paying replacement tenants.
I love you both! I just retired a few days ago, and I was working my butt off to make sure my mortage is paid off, credit cards paid off, car paid off, some things done to improve the home, new boiler and hot water heaters paid off, teeth worked on and done, and I now, I only have about $10000 saved, but.... I will be getting social security and a small pension. I have an automatic draw each month to pay my house insurance and taxes, and will have enough to pay all bills, plus buy food, and gas, so I can go on small trips, which is fine for me. It is tight, but, OK. I just couldn't take working with the pressure any longer, wearing mask and shield as a nurse all shift, I am 68 and getting survivors social security, will go to my own in a year when it will be more each month then what I am getting. My last work place told me I can come back anytime part time, and there are lots of options if I need extra money, so I am not worried. I also set things up in case I have a heart attack or something, so my adult children will be able to access everything. I feel like I jumped into another world, and suddenly I can hear and see better.... lol. Thanks for all the wonderful fun you share with us. Love to all!
That’s wonderful Jodie we wish you all the best for a wonderful retirement and thanks for your service in the medical service where over Covid most of us can’t imagine what is was like . Have a wonderful week and enjoy your new happiness Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦🌺
I started SS at 62 last year. $2143.00 per month. I do just fine. Some months I spend a little of my savings. Not much. Save early and get out early. Work sucks.
I don't have $300K nor did I have it when I retired. I still have a mortgage, (which is very low) but with my pension and ss; I can take care of all of my expenses, even my supplemental health ins, that goes along with my gov. issued Medicare Ins., here in the US, which is needed, I live in a modest home & area, so I don't have and/or had huge expenses overall. Its funny how you came up with that figure, because that is exactly what I work with, give or take a few dollars more, each year. If I want to go on a 'big' trip, I dip into my retirement savings, if I want to. Great video, as always, Ms. B. Churchill
Hello! I am retiring in 27 days! Thank you so much for this video. I have been so worried that I am retiring too early (56) and won't have enough money because of that magical million dollar mark. It really seems if you plan well and know your income and spending, reduce obligations and live within your means, retirement can be more fruitful than the working years. I am ready and can't wait!!
Recently, a retirement calculator told me I needed over $4 Million to retire! Needless to say most of these calculators are complete and utter BS designed for the investment advisory community to profit and not for actual working people planning retirement. Videos like this are a nice reminder that retirement is attainable without anything close to these kinds of numbers.
Ok, converting your figures to GBP as I am writing this! Your figure seem sensible and realistic - and also more achievable!!! Always love to see what T-shirt u will have on next Norm!! X
Thank you for another great video! Great topic and timely advice - can’t believe everything you hear from the financial community. Thanks for being a financial “Myth Buster” Keep up the good work! 👍😊
We retired in Michigan on $250,000. It has not been easy as we are also still paying off a $900.00 mortgage and a HOA fee with $5,000 a year in property taxes. Those of us in second marriage at mid-life are not able to be mortgage free in retirement. Our financial advisor recommends TWO YEARS OF LIVING EXPENSES in cash. That way we do not have to take money out of our investments during a down cycle or bad inflation. This has worked for us. My husband still works 3 days a week about $1,500 a month to help with the mortgage payments and the property taxes. We need $5,000 a month to live comfortably and poay out of pocket for our medical expenses - no traveling - one paid off older vehicle .
You are right Donna it is difficult setting up another home second time and making ends meet. We adopted a frugal lifestyle for everyday and just splash out on travel (not for the last 3 years), good luck we wish you both well.
Hi Tina and Norm. Well, after listening to your videos and after 2 long years we finally made it to Albufeira! Sitting by the pool as I write this. Thank you for your information and recommendations. We absolutely love it here!!! We are going to come back and try the winter months next time. Keep up with the great work on providing your thoughts and suggestions on retirement life!!! Love it.
Love your advice. Once my investments(stocks) hit 500k I am retiring. Stopped using my credit cards. Should be retired 10-15 years from now. No more Canadian winters, living in Mexico from January to April in my 50s.
@@bonniebrown1305 you can, lots of retirees do for 3-5 months away. Check out Snowbird Advisor insurance, rates are good and you can also get special underwritten plans to cover health issues with a one week stability clause. If I recall correctly I paid around $425 ish to cover two months in London, England with an underwritten policy. Cheaper for their standard plans.
@@bonniebrown1305 you can definitely purchase health insurance but the cost of health care in Mexico is far cheaper than Canada. Many things that you can pay out of pocket for a 1/4 of the price.
Aerosmith!? You are not only retired, you rock Norm!! I think a lot of information out there on retiring is bogus. Of course a financial advisor is going to tell you that you need a million dollars. That’s more money they can make on you charging an AUM fee. Taking time to run the numbers and thinking things through is the key. Thank you both for a wonderful video. Have a blessed day!
Thanks for another informative video and for having the courage to reveal a lot about your own situation in doing so! Personally, I think an income of $37,500 is a bit on the low side considering your are still paying rent, although that amount can also vary considerably depending on where one lives. In the big cities like Vancouver, Toronto...or even Victoria, where I live, rents are very high and it is tough to get even a decent 1 bedroom for much less than $2k per month. So crazy!!! Fortunately, there are many other places where rents are in the $800 to $1000 range for a 1 to 2 bedroom, so you must live in one of those. Add to that possible vehicle replacement every 8 to 10 years, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to be paying another $500 or so per month in the form of a bank loan for 5 or 6 years, taking a considerable chunk out of that $3K or so per month you have coming in. Of course, a used car would reduce that amount considerably. I like your idea of dividend paying stocks, and have done that personally. One advantage that you mentioned is that many of them increase their dividends every year, so you more or less get built in inflation protection. One other advantage is that in Canada at least, there is what is called the Dividend Tax Credit, which means that up to $40K of dividend income from eligible Canadian dividend paying companies is not taxed. (Keep in mind this amount varies by province, but in general, is in that $40K range or slightly more.) At your income level, particularly with income splitting, I would imagine that you aren't paying income tax in the first place, or you are paying very little, but I thought your viewers would be interested in knowing this, particularly those in higher income brackets. Also, among my peers, it is surprising how many don't know about this, particularly considering how much tax some of them must pay! Anyway, I think you are a lovely couple and I always enjoy your videos.
Just to let you know we pay $1550 a month including utilities in rent and bought a car two years old ex rental for cash 💰 we are glad you enjoy our videos Cheers 🍷😎🌺
Great title and very intriguing topic! Knowing "your number" is always a juicy topic. I still don't know my magical number, but I'm only semi-retired. Thanks for a very interesting video, as always! Cheers! XX Dara
Yes if you consider that mortgage payments, debts, RRSP contributions etc. can easily amount to 50% of one's income before retirement. Realistically 50% of pre-retirement income should be enough.
AKA The 'Retirement Couple' because you're so kindhearted, a really handsome couple who are BFFs sharing GUUD retirement tips 😀Thank U ....ROCK ON Norm & Tina!
Fellow Canadian here..I absolutely love the two of you! Such great advice for retirees. I’m 52 and was in a car accident in 2020. I’ve developed fibromyalgia as a result. Can’t work anymore so I’m retired early. I’m expecting a large payout from a lawsuit stemming from the motor vehicle accident. Possibly 500k. I’m now positive that this money will provide me with a doable income from now to 65. I’m planning on being debt free and investing the rest. Thank you for doing these videos.
Hello Michelle, we are sorry to hear about your medical issues, we hope you get a good outcome on your insurance claim. Thanks so much for watching our videos we appreciate it.
Bless you both, I pray that me and my husband will endure our Retirement happiness just like you both. simple and healthy and supportive to each other.
I had to retire in March after 32.5 years from a job that I loved due to some health issues at age 55. I am fortunate to have a decent pension, my house paid for, no debt and I saved fairly decently but would have done better if I had been more aggressive. Medical insurance is staggering. My thing is I haven't been able to travel or do much of anything due to my condition. I recently had surgery and I can tell that it has made a difference. After I fully recover I think that I might do some small trips, maybe a short cruise. After about 6 months I may go back and get a part time job or something because my wife is getting a little tired of me. Also I miss the sense of purpose. It is quite a shock to be a Supervisor, making decisions every day and talking to over a hundred people a day one minute and then the next minute your only decision is whether to go to the grocery store today or tomorrow. You seem to be a delightful couple. Best Wishes for your retirement and I will subscribe to keep up with you.
Thank you for your suggestions. We are retiring this fall and have found that rents in Southern Ontario have increased substantially by about $500 in the last 2 years so is costing between at least $2100 to $2500 per month. That is a big chunk of the monthly income. Thanks again.
Thank you so much. I am slow in math too & loved your method💕🌹💃 325-25=300 k 300x5%= 15 k 15/2=7.5 k 25+7.5= 32.5 k Beautiful. All the best to you & many thanks for easy math & generous hearts to explain it💕🌹😍
I’m seeing this the day after you posted, but wanted to tell you thank you. I was seriously confused at why I was seeing numbers of 1 million. 1.5 million dollars. Neither my parents or in laws had any kind of money like that when they retired. They did have paid off houses. No debt. Social security. Actually my parents had less than 200k. I thought I’d be working till I died. Lol.
My first concert I went to was Janis Joplin in 1970. I got to go back stage, she hugged and kissed me and gave me an autograph which I still have to this day. Your T Shirt collection reminded me of that.
I think the amount you need depends on where you live, services available, and essential costs. Our electrical, heating fuel, automobile expenses, home insurance, telephone, and food tend to be high. We are trying to get the seniors discount on our cell phones and will need to review our internet costs. To be able to live on less you have to be frugal. Financial planners plan so that you don’t have to give up the life you are accustomed to. They also plan for the time you need to live in a retirement home or alone if you loose your partner. We’ve told our financial planner that we will sell our home if necessary and live off of that money if needed. We’ve worked hard for our retirement so in the go go years we will spend more while we have our health.
Lots of great points we are fortunate our rent includes all our utilities which is awesome , we did sell our home ( we had always planned to do that ) and invested the money 💰 and in our first 5 years of retirement we travelled everywhere 🚢 cruises, land trips, RVTrips we were hardly home LOL 😂😂then Covid came ! Have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
We just drove past Bruce Springsteen's home a couple weeks ago (well, we drove past the very, very long driveway flanked by security cameras!). If I'd known you wanted a tee, I would've jumped security and raided his dresser.
You are SO BLESSED to have free health care In USA we can’t retire because we can’t get healthcare until 65 ! Or pay for private health care for $1800 a month for 2 people We just have to keep working now to get health insurance I wish we had socialized medicine It’s a MASSIVE expense
It does seem so expensive for your healthcare, in Canada the healthcare seems free but the reality is that we pay far more taxes than you. This is how healthcare is funded. Thanks so much for watching.
I wish I learned to invest when I was younger and made a lot of money. But I bought a big house, new car, expensive clothes, etc...and never saved much. Now I'm retiring on just $25k cash, Social Security benefits and a small pension. But thankfully, it should be enough for one person, especially as I'll be living in low-cost Malaysia. Absolutely the best advice is to be debt-free!
Thanks T&N you have put a lot of minds to rest.A lot of us ponder if we will make it in retirement, the truth is you have to practice some common sense.Iearn to spend like our grandparents,we don't need to buy the name brands the latest tv, my last tv I had for 20yrs and took a lot of flack from friends &family because it was not a flat screen.God bless me I don't spend half my monthly income&I live in costly New York this is due mostly to living frugally.God Bless see you next week rock on.
We agree Barbara learning from what your grandparents did is a great way to plan your future not having to keep up with the Jones’s will enable you to enjoy being retired Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
My monthly Social Security in US after Medicare (medical insurance) deduction is $1,500. I am 67 and retirement is not an option. My only debt is my car payment. If I was unable to work, I can manage to pay all my living expenses for about one year with SS and cash reserves. I am not wealthy, but I have peace of mind. Happiness = Peace of Mind. Best wishes.
Great topic Tina/Norm, personal finance is really personal and not everyone needs a fixed amount to retire comfortably. There are many making well over 6 figure salary and “struggling” meanwhile so many families making average Canadian income and living a comfortable and happy life. It’s all depends on how we manage our finances and keep expenses under control is key. We learned to live within our means and it’s working well. I totally agree that financial institutions and advisors are all fear mongering so people save excessive amount and never get to enjoy what they earned/invested either due to poor health or other reasons. Anyhow, you are great examples of living with less and enjoy life to the fullest. Thanks for the great video and awareness. Great weather in SO, enjoy and have a great evening.🍻❤️
Great comment SN we totally agree it’s all to do with what you spend as to it being a great retirement, yes weather is great we just had a wonderful week at the trailer in Bruce County Cheers and enjoy your weekend 🍷🌺😎
Hi Norm and Tina: Great shirt Norm! I had an Aerosmith T shirt back in the seventies. Probably saw Aerosmith every decade since the seventies? Being debt free is huge. Just hoping I live long enough to spend the money and we are not rich. So fortunate to have three pensions to pay most expenses. Rock On! Have a great weekend! Cheers
Hi Paul, We love all the music from the seventies, bands were so different and unique from each other, a great time to listen to music! It is a problem we see ourselves in not spending the money quickly enough before becoming mentally or physically exhausted. Thanks for stopping by today, have a great weekend.
G’day from Andrew and Monica from Las Vegas I love the T-shirt Norm “Rock On” I watch your channel quite often and live your perspectives on retirement and think you are spot on. I think sometimes have a smaller sum of money coupled with a pension will go along way in retirement In the right location. I find that another monthly factor is reducing health care costs. Retirement to us is the beginning of a new journey ,full of excitement and everyday you wake up It’s Saturday. Cheers! Andrew and Monica
That’s funny you say that we often wake up and don’t know which day it is as every day is Saturday 😂 we totally agree it’s a new chapter in your life and it’s sad so many don’t get to enjoy it have a wonderful week Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
Thanks Tina & Norm for the video. And huge congrats for 5 million views! In your video I would have liked a little more detail. For example, what dividend stocks do you still like. I know this is strictly your opinion and many want to criticize details. But for me (and the vast majority of your viewers) we really love specifics and we know "your gas mileage my vary" is to be expected. Thanks again!
Good point Andy and in some of our older videos we have listed our holdings. This is what concerns us and keeps our comments general. We are not licenced to give financial advice and we don't know our viewers financial circumstances, so we feel we are walking on a very tight line of being potential caught out.
@@ThisIsOurRetirement I can understand people's wish to get stock recommendations. But knowing what you bought in the past, even last month, is really not that helpful and may even be harmful to your subscribers (i.e. which stocks are a good value changes constantly). I'm glad to see that you keep things general on this front in your videos. There are enough other RUclips content providers offering stock advice. Keep up the good work.
Great advice as always, currently working with a financial advisor trying to get our debt paid off and getting to our monthly bills down to under $2000 per month. Started late at getting things in order but it doable still chipping away at it. Have 4 years till we are going to retire.
It's a lot more difficult to live on $37K per year when rents are sky high and it takes up $33K of that total. Lots of people were not as lucky as you were and had to pay probably twice as much as you for rent. It's just ridiculous these days.
Thank you for this information as it relieves some of the stress to save a million dollars which is not realistic for most people. Enjoy the rest of the weekend 😄
I am happy to see someone with pretty much exactly the same situation/mindset that I have. Happy to hear it's do-able! I plan on renting in cheaper warmer countries in the winter, and spending summer in my lovely western Canadian city! All the best to you future retirees!
I really enjoy reviewing my budget/expenses on a regular basis, and I will be retiring soon. Could you please give us a video about how you both track your monthly budget versus expenditures together as a couple? I am just curious as to how you (in general) keep track of these things as a team, and to make sure you are on track and still have money set aside for trips to Portugal, etc.
For over 4 years I keep track on my phone with an app called “spending”. It’s free, paid I believe $2 for ads free. It is simple, just create categories you want to track and a budget (optional). I created two accounts -daily expenses and monthly bills. I added a budget for daily expenses and try to stay within it -it rarely happen though, but often stops us from unnecessary and avoidable buys. Bills is our monthly payments including credit cards. I record income on Bills and can see on a monthly , yearly or weekly basis expenses vs income. You can then export it to excel which I do at the end of the year and keep it for my records. That’s how I know how much we need at retirement and at what categories we can save .
This is pretty close to my financial picture. No debt, paid off downsized 850 sq ft two bedroom house. $250/mo for town taxes. About 35,000 inflow, about $7,500/year outflow. Leaves lots of $$$ for traveling, with lots leftover from hunkering down during the pandemic. I retired at 59. So i dented my savings from 59 to 65, but it's all recovered now at 68+ . I only need about 25 to30% of my SS to live on. The rest either goes into my retirement account or is spent on vacation(s). For the last three+ years I haven't had to dip into my retirement account at all.
sell the house and get a nice little rv/trailer. Campgrounds all over the place from 250+ a month. Some nice ones on the east coast, such as around Myrtle Beach in the $500-$700 monthly range and you're super close to the ocean. There's one near knoxville TN right on Norris Lake and around the mountains with annual leases breaking down to $300 a month. My grandfather lived out his days in a trailer in Clearwater FL and couldn't have been happier, fishing every day. Keep things simple....get rid of STUFF, and don't buy more stuff you don't need to impress people that you don't even really like anyhow.
Totally agree with you on getting rid of stuff ! we have an RV trailer but it’s like a cottage we go to between May and October, we couldn’t live in it full time that’s why we have our appartment too . Also agree don’t try to impress others especially in retirement with buying more just to impress exactly who 🤔🤔Cheers 🍷🙂🍺
Statistics show most ppl don't live long enough to spend down savings. Once retired pensions/SS better then anticipated for most lifestyles.... Happy retirement folks!!!
As always, a pleasure to watch, I would not have though retirement with $325K was doable. A possible future topic, how to mentor our kids, grand kids in our retirement or thoughts on what actions we can take during our retirement to guide them.
I start with the expenses. I figure 833k usd for me before ss. I would then be wealthy enough to use summer as a verb. I agree with the mortgage payment and being debt free. My strategy is the barbell approach, three different buckets to weather market vagaries. Two years of cash, one year of a balanced fund and the remainder continuing to grow. I plan on a seasonal tax accounting job until I fall six feet underground and play for the rest of the year. My ultimate goal as I have my Vegas t home and a paid for condo in utah is like you with your camper, split the time between the two. Summers can be brutal in southern Nevada. Why not summer in Utah at 4300 ft above sea level with mountains. See, I used summer as a verb. 😂
They are assuming your home is already paid off or you've moved into rental property with some type of rent control and just have a predictable outlay for expenses for the most part..
Fun video. Somehow I don't think people with $300,000 need much advice. All I can note is that the Canadian pension plan is not written into the Charter of Rights...Greece cut their pensions by 50%...stay alert.
Sound advice as always. We differ slightly in the housing department. We purchased our apartment and have no debts. We are frugal but not miserly. We live well and don't squander - wo do however have out holidays, outings and keep an eye on the outgoings. Splash out occasionally of more expensive food items. Life is good. 👍 🎶 💖 🇳🇿 🙋♀ 🇳🇱
Hello from Lewes, Delaware USA 🇺🇸
It’s great to be retired with no worries, other than maintaining good health and investing wisely. You two, Tina & Norm, are such a pleasant couple to listen to. Thank you for sharing your advice today.
Heh Eric, So good to hear from you on this Saturday and thank you for your encouragement. Have a great weekend and keep healthy!
Yes you can. I know an older gentleman who had to rebuild his retirement after his wife died. He became debt free. He retired with $70,000, yes $70,000 dollars. He got $1,600 a month Social Security. Lived very frugal for 4 years. Turned that $70,000 in to $165,000 by taking a few risk with half his $70,000. He rents an apartment outside the city, but near hospitals, doctors offices and shopping for $800 a month. Bought a Honda CR-V for cash with low mileage, by the way super cheap insurance etc. He has a lot of free hobbies or hobbies with the cost of starting and not much afterwards. He travels with friends, church and other groups when the cost is reasonable. He actually puts money into his savings every month. You just have to be creative. You can live a wonderful fun retirement as long as you know how to limit your spending. Create a lifestyle that keeps you busy that cost you very little. That will allow for those splurges of and on as well.. Don't forget there's plenty of work that's not labor intensive or stressful. Many seniors can get work with as little as 10 hours a week at very fulfilling jobs such as museum's, festivals, art galleries etc. It's not work when you're having fun. Make an extra $150 here and there and life is a ok... Great video guys. Have a great weekend 🍻
Another wonderful comment, thank you sharing this. Most things are possible if you are willing to compromise or change a little. It's always great to hear from you have a great week ahead.
LOVE this, Keep It Mowed! Great to hear happy success stories with smart thinking!
Very encouraging post, thank you. I'm in the Chicago area and my biggest expense is property taxes, I'll be 64 this year self employed carpenter. I think it'll be a skinny retirement but doable.
Wow. That’s a great story! Goes to show you living a frugal but happy life is ok.
@@kwaichangcaine8234 consider moving to a lower cost state or rent a room in your current home to offset expenses. Many seniors would enjoy living with other seniors. I may consider renting a room to travel nurses to offset expenses. I live near 5 hospitals within a 15 minute drive.
You guys are my favourite financial/retirement you tubers. Not only are you continuously generous with how transparent you are with your finances, which is rare to nonexistent but you're also my Canandian neighbours and your Canadian content is also hard to find ! Plus you're likeable and easy to watch. Thanks again for sharing your time and experiences with us, much appreciated. Cheers
Thanks for your kind words and lovely comment we are so glad you enjoy our videos Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
FINALLY…a retirement You Tube channel with realistic financial realities. Many say it’s a million $ to retire but it’s really a lie. You are living proof that it’s doable to retire fully on a realistic net worth. Thanks for being open with your financial situation with us…it give many of us hope.
Thank RC for your kind words we are glad you like our videos have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Perfect advice. Exactly what I'm doing. 4 months until the house is paid off. No other debt. 6 months to Medicare eligibility! Retirement's in 10 months 🙂
Wonderful Kate, congratulations on your efforts. Enjoy your weekend 😀😀
Awesome! Congrats 👏 👏 👏. Wishing you all the best in your second half of life!
Hi Tina and Norm. Thank you so much for touching on a topic that I'm sure many people as well as myself have fretted about when trying to make that tough decision about "when can we retire"? There is no shortage of sources telling us that a million dollars is required or the 70% of pre retirement income rule but little to no real testimonials from people who have happily and successfully retired on 300,000 to 400,000. I knew there had to be some out there but couldn't find any. After crunching numbers and tracking our real world spending for a whole year, my wife and I decided we could retire with our 450,000 and zero debt although all the "expert" financial advisors were indicating it wasn't possible. We did retire at 62 so we have to wait a few years to collect our OAS but are collecting CPP now. You are absolutely correct in saying that being debt free is crucial. It really is a matter of determining your goals for retirement. We are not world travelers but we do like the occasional cruise and short trips within our own beautiful Canada and the US. As you mentioned, if you hope to travel extensively, than yes you will need more, but many people are happy to live a stress free retirement at home with friends and family. Love what you both do and thanks again for touching on this subject. I'm sure that you put a lot of peoples fears and doubts to rest as well as ours! Rock on!!
We are so glad you are seeing the potential for yourselves, we did go through some downsizing, two cars to one etc. You should find as your retirement journey continues your willingness to buy stuff starts to wain. Have a great weekend!
That million $$ amount needed to retire was all marketing done by the financial institutions so that they can grab as much money from you as they can. lol.
You did the exact same thing that I did. Tracked everything for one year and looked at the numbers just to make sure.
Hey Tina and Norm. Thank you so much for making this video. Before my retirement I watched so many videos that said in no uncertain terms that you had to have a million dollars to retire. This was worrisome because I was never going to have a million dollars. Fortunately, I picked a investment company that showed me I could retire with money that was a lot closer to the figure you showed today. I've been retired for over 2 years now and while I'm not rich, I would say I'm very comfortable. I have a wife that is about to retire and with her CPP and OAS we will still keep trucking along. I always laughed after watching the million dollar videos because I thought to myself, "I'm like the bee who is not supposed to be able to fly, but flies anyway." If anyone needs a second opinion, yes, you can absolutely retire on $300,000 dollars. ( Should I mention that I also have an electric car...and also a second car? YIKES...don't tell the million dollar police.)
We agree Mike yes you can retire on $300K, congrats on the electric car our Campground has just put in an electric charging station which is pretty cool Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Be debt free, remain in good health, and stay realistic in one's lifestyle choices: these are the keys to truly enjoying retirement. Trips are the icing on the cake! It is so terrific of you both to share your thoughts and experiences, because it is reassuring for those of us who are nearing retirement and have the typical concerns about going into this next phase of life - the one we've all worked so hard to get to and to enjoy!
I loved Norm's sign-off ... Rock on! 😂 That actually made me chuckle.
Enjoy your weekend (it IS the weekend ... You retirees sometimes lose track!) 😉☺️
Thanks Denise we are so happy to share our retirement travels and we do hope it’s helpful and reassuring. It is difficult sometimes Denise to tell what day of the week it is, everyday is the weekend. 😂😂💕
@@ThisIsOurRetirement 😂
@@ThisIsOurRetirement I sure lost track today. I saw you had videod 8hrs ago and thot it was a 'special' 🤣🤣 then realized OMG it's Saturday. As always loved seeing you two bubbly spring retirees ❤
@@faygallagher8425 We hear you Fay we often forget what day it is as everyday seems like a Saturday Cheers 🌺🍷
There's a reason for that mythical million dollar figure. The more you save and invest, the more financial advisors can collect in fees.
Isn’t that the truth Norman have a good weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
There's absolutely some truth in this.
A friend of mine who used to be a financial advisor often told me that an evening 1hr visit to the right home of people ready to invest would net him an easy £2-3k & he would sit in his car afterwards rubbing his hands together with glee.
After many years, he saw the error of his greed & trained to be a male nurse 😀
I've said many times to him...oh, you've gone from robbing people to saving people.
He laughs 😃
Thanks so much for your talks! We are recently retired and currently selling our home so we can move to an apartment. So tired of the maintenance and demands of caring for a home and property. Your advice and candor is really helpful. We find so many friends feel you must have ridiculously large savings and must keep your home to comfortably retire. Looking forward to “less is more” and enjoying life!
You are so welcome! good luck selling your house we love living in our apartment so glad we did this move Carol Cheers 🍷😎🌺
My husband and I are selling our home and planning to rent an apartment, which is much more expensive in the U.S. Like you, our home has been our investment and we will receive a substantial sum. We have spoken with an investment counselor who says we can invest some for the longer term and invest another portion in an account that we can draw from periodically for travel. We will also have a healthy emergency fund. We have chosen a very nice apartment, but we can afford it with our social security and pension. We have no debt. People don’t understand.
What do you say to friend and family who ask… Aren’t you going to waste a lot of money on an apartment? Your large beautiful home is paid for!
Norm and Tina, thanks so much for your perspectives on retirement issues. I am going to be retiring 🤞in a couple of years and your videos are a great (and comforting) resource for the transition into the next phase.
Keep it going, and know that you both are impacted thousands of lives with your content. Thanks again!
Our pleasure Dave we are so glad you find our videos helpful have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Agreed
I think it’s important for people to be honest with themselves with respect to their expectations in retirement. For us, we retired with no debt but also no defined pension from our employers. We wanted to stay in our home so we needed our investments to provide us with income. 500k gives us 28k per year in dividends which when added to our OAS and CPP gives us enough money to be comfortable and take a few trips a year. For us, it works. Our biggest win was getting out of mutual funds with a “financial advisor” and purchasing dividend paying stocks and ETFs on our own. Thanks for your videos! We look forward to them every Saturday!
Yes we agree when we started buying stocks ourselves we were way better off , love to have you joining us each Saturday Cheers 🍷😎🌺
Again , you 're right on target👏👏👏! 💐
P.S . Living alone in a paid condo( $ 550 , renting my second garage for $175 ) comes to $375 per month 👍😉 Absolutely no debts ,with income of $30.000 I can even afford travelling !!! 😘
Thanks Miriam you have great solutions and making money from your assets, great idea renting your garage. It’s always a pleasure hearing from you each Saturday 😀😀👍💕
Party on Garth! Quite the t-shirt collection. 😎 Great information! Hope you both have a beautiful weekend! 🦋
Thanks so much! have a great weekend Joyce too Cheers 🍷🌺😎
You two are the best! Please keep doing what you're doing. Us "little people" out here really appreciate it.
Thanks so much glad you enjoy them Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Love your channel. Glad to know that I am on the right track. I am 55 and my wife is 56 from Burlington ON.
Wonderful couple that always provide good ideas ,while sharing their experiences ,as they journey through retirement
Our pleasure!🙂
You may remember that the very first video I saw was' how to retire poor' and after watching that we started our journey into retirement, yes being debt free is the most important part and we are now happily retired with LESS than $300.000, not sure that would have been possible if we had any debt to support but there is so much you can do without spending lots of money and life is pretty good. See you next week x
We are so pleased you are enjoying your retirement and that our videos might have helped you Lynn have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Great topic. And I think your advice is spot on. Too many professionals seem to scare us into thinking we must have a million to retire. Thanks again Tina and Norm. Keep on Rockin' on. ;)
Thanks Jo it’s a shame people think they need so much money 💰have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🌺🍷
The algorithm brought y'all to my feed. Yall are so sweet. I've subscribed and look forward to the encouraging videos. I'm 47, in the US and starting preparing for retirement 5 years ago. It takes focus and discipline but it can be done. I've downgraded my life a lot bc lifestyle creep will do you in if you're not careful. I've got my money working in the stock market. So those dividends with my pension from work will have me in decent shape when I retire (early) at 55. Also thinking about moving to Mexico to make my dollar go even further. Lovely channel!
Thanks so much Nola, we really appreciate that, you are very welcome here!
I did it with $300k CDN. Bought a house in Nova Scotia, paid the car off, no debts, and invested the rest in dividend paying shares (9%). Getting OAS and CPP and UK pension. Doing very well now and a decent retirement.
Sounds wonderful great plan Mike we are so happy for you Cheers 🍷🌺🇨🇦😎
9% dividend paying shares? Must not be an 'aristocrat'.
Hmm we were thinking that 5% might be an average in aristocrat , but if Mikes getting 9% that’s great 🌺
I really enjoy your videos. I am 59 and contemplating retiring at 60. Your videos have provided great information on pro's and con's regarding retiring early. My wife is 65 and was a stay at
home mom the past 25 years but is now collecting CPP and OAS. Our focus was paying off debt which we did in 2019 so we are a little late in salting money away for retirement but I believe we are in good shape for me to retire or at least semi retire next year. Your videos have helped provide guidance from your real world experience and I appreciate it.
We are so glad they are helping you Larry we wish you both a great retirement Cheers 🍷🌺😎
I am looking forward to your video tomorrow 😊. We all have to make up our own minds and judge our own circumstances and opportunities. I appreciate you sharing yours.
Thanks so much Rusty glad you enjoy them see you Saturday Cheers 🍷🌺😎
@@ThisIsOurRetirement 🤗 😊👍
thank you for being honest. It gives me a lot of hope.
I'm so glad!
Claiming a current state pension in the UK starts at age 65-67 for 95% of the population.
If wanting to retire early, say 60, then savings or another income will be required to bridge the gap until the individuals pension start date.
I know you guys sold your house, invested & rented, but there's also a good reason to keep your house if paid for in full...as an investment for your own future to sell as or if required, plus as part of your inheritance to children etc. Plus your own rent free home to live.
It's balancing it out, what suits the individual/s best.
I enjoy your vlogs, they're very well done & with some great information, plus inspirational.
Thank you.
We are so glad you enjoyed the video , we sold our home as although it was paid for we wanted to get rid of unexpected maintenance and expenses and bar $100 all the costs were the same as renting .
Have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🇬🇧🌺🙂🇨🇦
@@ThisIsOurRetirement
Yes great couple & content.
So if renting, it only works out at $100 more per month, than previously owning your own home?
I own mine outright & the only outgoings are usual utility bills, council tax & insurances which I would need if renting.
Nothing else unless a kick of paint & basic upkeep, but that's not much at all.
Probably over the years £1000 per year max to include new guttering, the odd rebuilt wall etc etc.
Though, with a couple renting it atleast works out 50/50. Cheaper than a single person renting or indeed paying home outgoings.
We are lucky our rent includes all utilities, underground parking, swimming 🏊♀️ pool and gym as well Cheers 🍷🌺😎
@@ThisIsOurRetirement Great relevant content as always. With the cost of renting really taking off even for small town rentals within 3 hours from Toronto, your fortunate situation will not be possible anymore unless one is open to moving to a really far off rural place. I've looked around and decided that renting will cost more, not to mention concerning news of "renovictions" by landlords that use the convenient excuse to find higher paying replacement tenants.
@@fcf777 There are still many wonderful apartments very reasonable to rent in Southern Ontario Cheers 🍷🌺
I agree with many of the comments here -you two are real blessing. Keep up the thoughtful, informative, kind and honest You-Tube clips!
Thank you so much!
Another Saturday Another Nice Video. You are right being Debt free is a big key going into Retirement. Be safe.
Thanks so much Marlon have a great weekend!
I love you both! I just retired a few days ago, and I was working my butt off to make sure my mortage is paid off, credit cards paid off, car paid off, some things done to improve the home, new boiler and hot water heaters paid off, teeth worked on and done, and I now, I only have about $10000 saved, but.... I will be getting social security and a small pension. I have an automatic draw each month to pay my house insurance and taxes, and will have enough to pay all bills, plus buy food, and gas, so I can go on small trips, which is fine for me. It is tight, but, OK. I just couldn't take working with the pressure any longer, wearing mask and shield as a nurse all shift, I am 68 and getting survivors social security, will go to my own in a year when it will be more each month then what I am getting. My last work place told me I can come back anytime part time, and there are lots of options if I need extra money, so I am not worried. I also set things up in case I have a heart attack or something, so my adult children will be able to access everything. I feel like I jumped into another world, and suddenly I can hear and see better.... lol. Thanks for all the wonderful fun you share with us. Love to all!
Thanks for your wonderful service to humanity for all of these years! Hugs and have a wonderful retirement! You are a smart lady 😊!
@@rustykatt3870 Thank you. I am not brilliant...but I get by thanks to help from the Creator and lots of other loving beings 😷😌😍
That’s wonderful Jodie we wish you all the best for a wonderful retirement and thanks for your service in the medical service where over Covid most of us can’t imagine what is was like .
Have a wonderful week and enjoy your new happiness Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦🌺
This was SO eye opening!! Thank you both so much!!!
I started SS at 62 last year. $2143.00 per month. I do just fine. Some months I spend a little of my savings. Not much. Save early and get out early. Work sucks.
Couldn’t agree more Peter stop work retire as soon as you can Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
I don't have $300K nor did I have it when I retired. I still have a mortgage, (which is very low) but with my pension and ss; I can take care of all of my expenses, even my supplemental health ins, that goes along with my gov. issued Medicare Ins., here in the US, which is needed,
I live in a modest home & area, so I don't have and/or had huge expenses overall. Its funny how you came up with that figure, because that is exactly what I work with, give or take a few dollars more, each year. If I want to go on a 'big' trip, I dip into my retirement savings, if I want to. Great video, as always,
Ms. B. Churchill
Thanks so much Bernaclis for watching yes agree if we want to go on a big trip dip into savings have a great week Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦🌺
It totally depends on your lifestyle! Debt free is the biggest thing we totally agree!
I agree & to be totally debt free well before retirement is what people should be aiming for.
We agree that’s the secret being debt free enjoy your weekend guys Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦🌺
Hello! I am retiring in 27 days! Thank you so much for this video. I have been so worried that I am retiring too early (56) and won't have enough money because of that magical million dollar mark. It really seems if you plan well and know your income and spending, reduce obligations and live within your means, retirement can be more fruitful than the working years. I am ready and can't wait!!
I just retired at 56 this year- it’s awesome
Congratulations 🥳 on your retirement Mama being retired is awesome we were 58 and 60 and haven’t looked back Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Congratulations Dan 🥳🥳we agree retirement is wonderful have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺🍺
Awesome! You guys inspired me to wanting to retire young. But for now I still have to work for a few more years. Can’t wait 😃
Recently, a retirement calculator told me I needed over $4 Million to retire! Needless to say most of these calculators are complete and utter BS designed for the investment advisory community to profit and not for actual working people planning retirement. Videos like this are a nice reminder that retirement is attainable without anything close to these kinds of numbers.
We totally agree Matt glad you enjoyed the video Cheers 🍷🌺🍺
Ok, converting your figures to GBP as I am writing this!
Your figure seem sensible and realistic - and also more achievable!!!
Always love to see what T-shirt u will have on next Norm!! X
Thanks so much Deborah, we have a discount store here that gets these t-shirts regularly for $12 and it has become a bit of fun for us.
I’ve always said ….” It’s not what you make - it’s what you spend ‼️”
Hmm Andy and let’s just hope you don’t spend more than you make LOL 😂😂Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Thank you for another great video! Great topic and timely advice - can’t believe everything you hear from the financial community. Thanks for being a financial “Myth Buster” Keep up the good work! 👍😊
Thanks Anne, we like the idea of myth busting! (we loved that show). Thanks for watching. 😀😀💕
We retired in Michigan on $250,000. It has not been easy as we are also still paying off a $900.00 mortgage and a HOA fee with $5,000 a year in property taxes. Those of us in second marriage at mid-life are not able to be mortgage free in retirement. Our financial advisor recommends TWO YEARS OF LIVING EXPENSES in cash. That way we do not have to take money out of our investments during a down cycle or bad inflation. This has worked for us. My husband still works 3 days a week about $1,500 a month to help with the mortgage payments and the property taxes. We need $5,000 a month to live comfortably and poay out of pocket for our medical expenses - no traveling - one paid off older vehicle .
You are right Donna it is difficult setting up another home second time and making ends meet. We adopted a frugal lifestyle for everyday and just splash out on travel (not for the last 3 years), good luck we wish you both well.
As someone who was raised in Ottawa (birthplace of Giant Tiger) I LOVE to hear other people talk about shopping there!
We we used to go to Walkley Road!
You guys are so helpful and lovely. Thanks for doing your videos and letting us feel more secure in our planning.
Our pleasure! glad you are enjoying them Virginia Cheers 🌺🙂
Hi Tina and Norm. Well, after listening to your videos and after 2 long years we finally made it to Albufeira! Sitting by the pool as I write this. Thank you for your information and recommendations. We absolutely love it here!!! We are going to come back and try the winter months next time. Keep up with the great work on providing your thoughts and suggestions on retirement life!!! Love it.
Fantastic Mark, we are so happy for you and thanks for sharing this!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really needed to hear this video today, much love and health to you both.
Glad you enjoyed it Cynthia have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Love your advice. Once my investments(stocks) hit 500k I am retiring. Stopped using my credit cards. Should be retired 10-15 years from now. No more Canadian winters, living in Mexico from January to April in my 50s.
Sounds wonderful Hardeep Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Am curious, how do you get health insurance for that length of time in Mexico?
@@bonniebrown1305 you can, lots of retirees do for 3-5 months away. Check out Snowbird Advisor insurance, rates are good and you can also get special underwritten plans to cover health issues with a one week stability clause. If I recall correctly I paid around $425 ish to cover two months in London, England with an underwritten policy. Cheaper for their standard plans.
@@bonniebrown1305 you can definitely purchase health insurance but the cost of health care in Mexico is far cheaper than Canada. Many things that you can pay out of pocket for a 1/4 of the price.
Thank you, I appreciated this. You set a good example.
Glad you enjoyed it Eric!
Aerosmith!? You are not only retired, you rock Norm!! I think a lot of information out there on retiring is bogus. Of course a financial advisor is going to tell you that you need a million dollars. That’s more money they can make on you charging an AUM fee. Taking time to run the numbers and thinking things through is the key. Thank you both for a wonderful video. Have a blessed day!
Thanks Mike glad you enjoyed the video Cheers 🍷🎸🍺😎
Thanks for another informative video and for having the courage to reveal a lot about your own situation in doing so! Personally, I think an income of $37,500 is a bit on the low side considering your are still paying rent, although that amount can also vary considerably depending on where one lives. In the big cities like Vancouver, Toronto...or even Victoria, where I live, rents are very high and it is tough to get even a decent 1 bedroom for much less than $2k per month. So crazy!!!
Fortunately, there are many other places where rents are in the $800 to $1000 range for a 1 to 2 bedroom, so you must live in one of those.
Add to that possible vehicle replacement every 8 to 10 years, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to be paying another $500 or so per month in the form of a bank loan for 5 or 6 years, taking a considerable chunk out of that $3K or so per month you have coming in. Of course, a used car would reduce that amount considerably.
I like your idea of dividend paying stocks, and have done that personally. One advantage that you mentioned is that many of them increase their dividends every year, so you more or less get built in inflation protection. One other advantage is that in Canada at least, there is what is called the Dividend Tax Credit, which means that up to $40K of dividend income from eligible Canadian dividend paying companies is not taxed. (Keep in mind this amount varies by province, but in general, is in that $40K range or slightly more.) At your income level, particularly with income splitting, I would imagine that you aren't paying income tax in the first place, or you are paying very little, but I thought your viewers would be interested in knowing this, particularly those in higher income brackets. Also, among my peers, it is surprising how many don't know about this, particularly considering how much tax some of them must pay!
Anyway, I think you are a lovely couple and I always enjoy your videos.
Just to let you know we pay $1550 a month including utilities in rent and bought a car two years old ex rental for cash 💰 we are glad you enjoy our videos Cheers 🍷😎🌺
@@ThisIsOurRetirement You are doing incredibly well. Thanks for the reply!
@@ThisIsOurRetirement So of your approx $3,100/month of income you pay $1550 out to rent. That's a pretty big chunk.
@@gkschick6804 Your welcome 🌺
@@jwil4905 We don’t think so we think it’s very reasonable Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Great title and very intriguing topic! Knowing "your number" is always a juicy topic. I still don't know my magical number, but I'm only semi-retired. Thanks for a very interesting video, as always! Cheers! XX Dara
It is fascinating Dara talking finances and gauging how well you are doing, we making enjoy these videos.
Perfect video. I had to retire on 300k, not by choice. But God's been good to me!
That’s great, thanks for watching.
Hi Tina and Norm :) I remember this video ! Thanks for sending me the link :)
Your fan Mary from Toronto, ON CANADA :)
Our pleasure! 🌺
Glad you enjoyed it Mary 👍
I saw this a while back
Just saw the guy out of Vancouver BC. Do the same with $250K because you had done this.
Thanks for your videos
Thanks Doug some viewers let us know about it, we appreciate you watching our videos.
Yes if you consider that mortgage payments, debts, RRSP contributions etc. can easily amount to 50%
of one's income before retirement. Realistically 50% of pre-retirement income should be enough.
Sounds great Melissa thanks for sharing Cheers 🍷🌺😎
AKA The 'Retirement Couple' because you're so kindhearted, a really handsome couple who are BFFs sharing GUUD retirement tips 😀Thank U ....ROCK ON Norm & Tina!
You're the best! have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺🎸😎
Fellow Canadian here..I absolutely love the two of you! Such great advice for retirees. I’m 52 and was in a car accident in 2020. I’ve developed fibromyalgia as a result. Can’t work anymore so I’m retired early. I’m expecting a large payout from a lawsuit stemming from the motor vehicle accident. Possibly 500k. I’m now positive that this money will provide me with a doable income from now to 65. I’m planning on being debt free and investing the rest. Thank you for doing these videos.
Hello Michelle, we are sorry to hear about your medical issues, we hope you get a good outcome on your insurance claim. Thanks so much for watching our videos we appreciate it.
Like watching you both so much. Very logical , calming advice for this single 61 year old!
Our pleasure! have a great week Sophia Cheers 🍷🌺😎
I have just found my favorite channel about retirement ❤
You are so welcome! we are glad to have you have a great weekend Ricard Cheers 🌺🍻🙂
@@ThisIsOurRetirement likewise :)
Bless you both, I pray that me and my husband will endure our Retirement happiness just like you both. simple and healthy and supportive to each other.
Thanks Salma we hope you both have a lovely healthy retirement together Cheers 🌺☕️🍁
I had to retire in March after 32.5 years from a job that I loved due to some health issues at age 55. I am fortunate to have a decent pension, my house paid for, no debt and I saved fairly decently but would have done better if I had been more aggressive. Medical insurance is staggering. My thing is I haven't been able to travel or do much of anything due to my condition. I recently had surgery and I can tell that it has made a difference. After I fully recover I think that I might do some small trips, maybe a short cruise. After about 6 months I may go back and get a part time job or something because my wife is getting a little tired of me. Also I miss the sense of purpose. It is quite a shock to be a Supervisor, making decisions every day and talking to over a hundred people a day one minute and then the next minute your only decision is whether to go to the grocery store today or tomorrow. You seem to be a delightful couple. Best Wishes for your retirement and I will subscribe to keep up with you.
Thanks so much for sharing your story, we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you get to do some trips. Thanks for watching we appreciate it.
Thank you for your suggestions. We are retiring this fall and have found that rents in Southern Ontario have increased substantially by about $500 in the last 2 years so is costing between at least $2100 to $2500 per month. That is a big chunk of the monthly income. Thanks again.
We agree Liv rents have gone up but there are places still available under that you might have to move to a cheaper town we wish you well Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Agreed. My monthly estimated budget is about 33,000 year. Great video!
Good stuff!
👋 from Knoxville TN. You two are adorable. Being retired, I love hearing your tips and advice! Keep them coming!
Thanks so much Beverly we really appreciate your kind words.
Great show!! lots of helpful useful information !! Thank you for your insights! 👩🎤
Always nice to hear and see you.
You have great tips and explanations.
My wife and I also listen to classic rock.
So rock on Tina and Norm. 👍
Thanks so much Jonas we appreciate your support 🤘
Thank you so much. I am slow in math too & loved your method💕🌹💃 325-25=300 k
300x5%= 15 k
15/2=7.5 k
25+7.5= 32.5 k Beautiful. All the best to you & many thanks for easy math & generous hearts to explain it💕🌹😍
Glad you enjoyed it Monica we tried to explain it in an easy way Cheers 🍷🌺😎
We love your videos! Very informative, and I love your playfulness :)
Thanks so much! 😊
I loved that you cleared that myth that a million bucks is needed for retirement! Enjoyed this video topic very much!
Glad you enjoyed it! enjoy your weekend Irene Cheers 🍷🌺😎
I’m seeing this the day after you posted, but wanted to tell you thank you. I was seriously confused at why I was seeing numbers of 1 million.
1.5 million dollars.
Neither my parents or in laws had any kind of money like that when they retired. They did have paid off houses. No debt. Social security.
Actually my parents had less than 200k.
I thought I’d be working till I died. Lol.
Glad you enjoyed watching it have a wonderful week Cheers 🍷😎🌺
My first concert I went to was Janis Joplin in 1970. I got to go back stage, she hugged and kissed me and gave me an autograph which I still have to this day. Your T Shirt collection reminded me of that.
What wonderful memories thanks for sharing Cheers 🌺🎸🍷
Loving the tee shirt, Norm!
We love the 70’s and our local discount store sell’s them. Hope you are feeling well.
I think the amount you need depends on where you live, services available, and essential costs. Our electrical, heating fuel, automobile expenses, home insurance, telephone, and food tend to be high. We are trying to get the seniors discount on our cell phones and will need to review our internet costs. To be able to live on less you have to be frugal. Financial planners plan so that you don’t have to give up the life you are accustomed to. They also plan for the time you need to live in a retirement home or alone if you loose your partner. We’ve told our financial planner that we will sell our home if necessary and live off of that money if needed. We’ve worked hard for our retirement so in the go go years we will spend more while we have our health.
Lots of great points we are fortunate our rent includes all our utilities which is awesome , we did sell our home ( we had always planned to do that ) and invested the money 💰 and in our first 5 years of retirement we travelled everywhere 🚢 cruises, land trips, RVTrips we were hardly home LOL 😂😂then Covid came !
Have a great weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Look into Consumer Cellular. Really cheap plans. We’ve had them for years.
We just drove past Bruce Springsteen's home a couple weeks ago (well, we drove past the very, very long driveway flanked by security cameras!). If I'd known you wanted a tee, I would've jumped security and raided his dresser.
Perhaps next time 😂🤣
You are SO BLESSED to have free health care
In USA we can’t retire because we can’t get healthcare until 65 !
Or pay for private health care for $1800 a month for 2 people
We just have to keep working now to get health insurance
I wish we had socialized medicine
It’s a MASSIVE expense
It does seem so expensive for your healthcare, in Canada the healthcare seems free but the reality is that we pay far more taxes than you. This is how healthcare is funded. Thanks so much for watching.
I wish I learned to invest when I was younger and made a lot of money. But I bought a big house, new car, expensive clothes, etc...and never saved much. Now I'm retiring on just $25k cash, Social Security benefits and a small pension. But thankfully, it should be enough for one person, especially as I'll be living in low-cost Malaysia. Absolutely the best advice is to be debt-free!
Expenses should be a lot lower in Malaysia, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks T&N you have put a lot of minds to rest.A lot of us ponder if we will make it in retirement, the truth is you have to practice some common sense.Iearn to spend like our grandparents,we don't need to buy the name brands the latest tv, my last tv I had for 20yrs and took a lot of flack from friends &family because it was not a flat screen.God bless me I don't spend half my monthly income&I live in costly New York this is due mostly to living frugally.God Bless see you next week rock on.
We agree Barbara learning from what your grandparents did is a great way to plan your future not having to keep up with the Jones’s will enable you to enjoy being retired Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
Brilliant weekly vlogs. x
Thank you Linda 😊
Great video Tina & Norm 🏴 🇨🇦 🍷 🍺
Thanks Rachel glad you enjoyed it have a great week 🍷🏴🌺🇨🇦
My monthly Social Security in US after Medicare (medical insurance) deduction is $1,500. I am 67 and retirement is not an option. My only debt is my car payment. If I was unable to work, I can manage to pay all my living expenses for about one year with SS and cash reserves. I am not wealthy, but I have peace of mind. Happiness = Peace of Mind. Best wishes.
A great quote Susan Happiness = Peace of Mind, we wish you well!
Great topic Tina/Norm, personal finance is really personal and not everyone needs a fixed amount to retire comfortably. There are many making well over 6 figure salary and “struggling” meanwhile so many families making average Canadian income and living a comfortable and happy life. It’s all depends on how we manage our finances and keep expenses under control is key. We learned to live within our means and it’s working well.
I totally agree that financial institutions and advisors are all fear mongering so people save excessive amount and never get to enjoy what they earned/invested either due to poor health or other reasons.
Anyhow, you are great examples of living with less and enjoy life to the fullest. Thanks for the great video and awareness. Great weather in SO, enjoy and have a great evening.🍻❤️
Great comment SN we totally agree it’s all to do with what you spend as to it being a great retirement, yes weather is great we just had a wonderful week at the trailer in Bruce County Cheers and enjoy your weekend 🍷🌺😎
🥳🥳🥳 Thanks for this info! That's spared me several years of struggle 💝
You are so welcome! 💕😀😀
Muchas gracias Tina and Norm! Excellent!!
Thanks so much Garcia 🌺
Hi Norm and Tina: Great shirt Norm! I had an Aerosmith T shirt back in the seventies. Probably saw Aerosmith every decade since the seventies? Being debt free is huge. Just hoping I live long enough to spend the money and we are not rich. So fortunate to have three pensions to pay most expenses. Rock On! Have a great weekend! Cheers
Hi Paul, We love all the music from the seventies, bands were so different and unique from each other, a great time to listen to music! It is a problem we see ourselves in not spending the money quickly enough before becoming mentally or physically exhausted. Thanks for stopping by today, have a great weekend.
GREAT SHOW AND A GREAT HELP.KNOWLEDGE IS PRICE LESS.THANK YOU,
Thanks for watching!
G’day from Andrew and Monica from Las Vegas
I love the T-shirt Norm
“Rock On”
I watch your channel quite often and live your perspectives on retirement and think you are spot on.
I think sometimes have a smaller sum of money coupled with a pension will go along way in retirement
In the right location. I find that another monthly factor is reducing health care costs.
Retirement to us is the beginning of a new
journey ,full of excitement and everyday you wake up It’s Saturday.
Cheers!
Andrew and Monica
That’s funny you say that we often wake up and don’t know which day it is as every day is Saturday 😂 we totally agree it’s a new chapter in your life and it’s sad so many don’t get to enjoy it have a wonderful week Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
Being debt free and living a sensible frugal life is freedom.
Sure is Ann👍
Great inputs/info. Thank you both. Hope you have more videos similar to this in the future.
That's the plan! we love doing them have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺🙂
Thanks Tina & Norm for the video. And huge congrats for 5 million views! In your video I would have liked a little more detail. For example, what dividend stocks do you still like. I know this is strictly your opinion and many want to criticize details. But for me (and the vast majority of your viewers) we really love specifics and we know "your gas mileage my vary" is to be expected. Thanks again!
Good point Andy and in some of our older videos we have listed our holdings. This is what concerns us and keeps our comments general. We are not licenced to give financial advice and we don't know our viewers financial circumstances, so we feel we are walking on a very tight line of being potential caught out.
@@ThisIsOurRetirement I can understand people's wish to get stock recommendations. But knowing what you bought in the past, even last month, is really not that helpful and may even be harmful to your subscribers (i.e. which stocks are a good value changes constantly). I'm glad to see that you keep things general on this front in your videos. There are enough other RUclips content providers offering stock advice. Keep up the good work.
@@ronpizur2627 Thanks Ron we do try to keep our stories generalized and just sharing ideas enjoy your weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Great advice as always, currently working with a financial advisor trying to get our debt paid off and getting to our monthly bills down to under $2000 per month. Started late at getting things in order but it doable still chipping away at it. Have 4 years till we are going to retire.
Fantastic! sounds like a plan is in place and 4 years goes really quickly Paula Cheers 🍷🌺😎
It's a lot more difficult to live on $37K per year when rents are sky high and it takes up $33K of that total. Lots of people were not as lucky as you were and had to pay probably twice as much as you for rent. It's just ridiculous these days.
It is getting difficult not only for rents but house buying too, lets hope there is some form of reset.
Thank you for this information as it relieves some of the stress to save a million dollars which is not realistic for most people. Enjoy the rest of the weekend 😄
Glad it was helpful Kim! 😀😀
Luv watching u guys.. good vibe, n good content...always
Thank you!
I am happy to see someone with pretty much exactly the same situation/mindset that I have. Happy to hear it's do-able! I plan on renting in cheaper warmer countries in the winter, and spending summer in my lovely western Canadian city! All the best to you future retirees!
I really enjoy reviewing my budget/expenses on a regular basis, and I will be retiring soon. Could you please give us a video about how you both track your monthly budget versus expenditures together as a couple? I am just curious as to how you (in general) keep track of these things as a team, and to make sure you are on track and still have money set aside for trips to Portugal, etc.
Thanks for the suggestion Nikki we have done some videos on how much we spent monthly and what we spend on trips Cheers 🍷🌺😎
For over 4 years I keep track on my phone with an app called “spending”. It’s free, paid I believe $2 for ads free. It is simple, just create categories you want to track and a budget (optional). I created two accounts -daily expenses and monthly bills. I added a budget for daily expenses and try to stay within it -it rarely happen though, but often stops us from unnecessary and avoidable buys. Bills is our monthly payments including credit cards. I record income on Bills and can see on a monthly , yearly or weekly basis expenses vs income. You can then export it to excel which I do at the end of the year and keep it for my records. That’s how I know how much we need at retirement and at what categories we can save .
This is pretty close to my financial picture. No debt, paid off downsized 850 sq ft two bedroom house. $250/mo for town taxes. About 35,000 inflow, about $7,500/year outflow. Leaves lots of $$$ for traveling, with lots leftover from hunkering down during the pandemic. I retired at 59. So i dented my savings from 59 to 65, but it's all recovered now at 68+ . I only need about 25 to30% of my SS to live on. The rest either goes into my retirement account or is spent on vacation(s). For the last three+ years I haven't had to dip into my retirement account at all.
Sounds great Bill yes the pandemic 😷 mean we all weren’t dipping in to spend to travel so savings went up LOL 😂Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦🌺
sell the house and get a nice little rv/trailer. Campgrounds all over the place from 250+ a month. Some nice ones on the east coast, such as around Myrtle Beach in the $500-$700 monthly range and you're super close to the ocean. There's one near knoxville TN right on Norris Lake and around the mountains with annual leases breaking down to $300 a month. My grandfather lived out his days in a trailer in Clearwater FL and couldn't have been happier, fishing every day. Keep things simple....get rid of STUFF, and don't buy more stuff you don't need to impress people that you don't even really like anyhow.
Totally agree with you on getting rid of stuff ! we have an RV trailer but it’s like a cottage we go to between May and October, we couldn’t live in it full time that’s why we have our appartment too . Also agree don’t try to impress others especially in retirement with buying more just to impress exactly who 🤔🤔Cheers 🍷🙂🍺
Statistics show most ppl don't live long enough to spend down savings. Once retired pensions/SS better then anticipated for most lifestyles....
Happy retirement folks!!!
Thanks so much!
As always, a pleasure to watch, I would not have though retirement with $325K was doable. A possible future topic, how to mentor our kids, grand kids in our retirement or thoughts on what actions we can take during our retirement to guide them.
Thanks for the suggestion Clayton have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🌺😎
I start with the expenses. I figure 833k usd for me before ss. I would then be wealthy enough to use summer as a verb.
I agree with the mortgage payment and being debt free. My strategy is the barbell approach, three different buckets to weather market vagaries. Two years of cash, one year of a balanced fund and the remainder continuing to grow. I plan on a seasonal tax accounting job until I fall six feet underground and play for the rest of the year.
My ultimate goal as I have my Vegas t home and a paid for condo in utah is like you with your camper, split the time between the two. Summers can be brutal in southern Nevada. Why not summer in Utah at 4300 ft above sea level with mountains. See, I used summer as a verb. 😂
Thanks for sharing Kevin always nice to hear from you have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🍷🇺🇸🇨🇦😎
Why 300k? That amount doesn't even buy a shack in our major cities. You two are a joy to listen to and have been relieving retirement fears.
They are assuming your home is already paid off or you've moved into rental property with some type of rent control and just have a predictable outlay for expenses for the most part..
We are assuming you are debt free with a paid off house that gives you the money thanks Mark for clarifying Cheers 🍷🌺😎
Thanks Mark for explaining it very well Cheers 🌺🍷😎
Fun video. Somehow I don't think people with $300,000 need much advice. All I can note is that the Canadian pension plan is not written into the Charter of Rights...Greece cut their pensions by 50%...stay alert.
That would be awful, luckily CPP is a employee employer funded at arms length of government.
Hi there. I really enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work.
Glad you like them!
Sound advice as always. We differ slightly in the housing department. We purchased our apartment and have no debts. We are frugal but not miserly. We live well and don't squander - wo do however have out holidays, outings and keep an eye on the outgoings. Splash out occasionally of more expensive food items. Life is good. 👍 🎶 💖 🇳🇿 🙋♀ 🇳🇱
Life is good! We like how you said you were frugal and not miserly, it’s an important distinction. Have a wonderful week 👍😀😀🇨🇦🍻