As of Saturday morning, you can find a half-hour podcast conducted by Debt-free in 30’s Doug Hoyes about the new book, Victory Lap Retirement.

My co-author, Mike Drak, and I were in Waterloo last week to tape the session and sign a few books.

Click on the highlighted text here to listen to Victory Lap Retirement. EXCLUSIVE First Podcast Interview.

Or you can scroll down below for a lightly edited transcript of the proceedings.

But first, here’s an overview written by Doug Hoyes, co-founder of insolvency trustees Hoyes Michalos:

Doug Hoyes:

Today’s podcast is the first ever podcast interview with Jonathan Chevreau and Mike Drak together, talking about their new book Victory Lap Retirement.  This is so exclusive an interview that the book won’t even be officially released until October 10, 2016 but it is available for pre-order at amazon.ca, and the Kindle version is available now.

Jonathan was a guest back on Show #5 where we discussed his previous book, Findependence Day.

Mike Drak created the concept of a Victory Lap as an alternative to retirement, and teamed up with Jonathan to write their new book.

So what is a Victory Lap?

You will have to read the book for a full description, but as Jonathan and Mike and I discussed the concept of retirement has changed significantly.  Our grandparents and parents had a good chance of working at the same company until aged 65, and then retiring with a full pension before dying at age 70.

Today almost no-one works at the same company for their entire working life, and most employers no longer offer full pensions, so the old fashioned view of retirement at age 65 with a full pension is no longer reality for most workers.

Instead, we are working longer, and living longer.

The essence of Victory Lap Retirement is to leave corporate employment, which usually entails working for someone else, and enter a new and different phase of your life.

Mike and Jonathan wrote Victory Lap Retirement to show readers how to transition from a high stress work environment to a low stress sustainable lifestyle to enjoy a happier, healthier life.  For many, that may involve turning a hobby or passion into income during your “retirement” years, or working part time to “stay involved.”

Debt and Retirement

Debt is a prominent subject in Victory Lap Retirement, including this quote:

…make breaking free from the chains of debt your first priority.  Not only will debt limit your financial freedom severely, it will suck the life right out of you.

As we discussed, debt and retirement don’t mix.  When you retire your income decreases, so it’s likely you won’t be able to afford payments on a mortgage or other debt in retirement.  Get out of debt long before retirement.

Unfortunately that’s not always possible, which is why seniors are the fastest growing age group of people filing bankruptcy and consumer proposals. Older debtors, aged 50 and older, now account for 30% of all insolvency filings, up from 27% two years ago, and that number keeps growing.

Senior debtors, people aged 60 and over, have the highest amount of unsecured debt of any age group when they go bankrupt, almost $70,000.  A growing percentage of them even resort to payday loans to stay afloat.

If you’ve got debt, retirement is very difficult.  If you have trouble making your debt payments while you are working, it may be impossible to keep up when you retire and your income drops, which is why we all agree that eliminating debt is essential long before retirement.

In addition to eliminating debt, Mike and Jonathan suggest you ask yourself “what do I like to do?” and start planning your Victory Lap now. 

For more, listen to the podcast or read the transcript.

Transcript: 

Continue Reading…