By Yvonne Ziomecki, HomEquity Bank

Over the last few years, we have seen a growing trend among older Canadians: what we call “unretirement.”

This is where some Canadians take action on long-held dreams once they settle into their retirement and start to consider activities and interests for added personal fulfilment. They’re increasingly seizing the opportunities that retirement presents, fulfilling personal passion projects, which, up until now, they never had the opportunity to prioritize.

One particular obstacle seems to hold Canadians back from achieving their retirement dreams: the guilt of feeling selfish if they actually do something just for themselves!

The obstacle to a fulfilling unretirement: selflessness

We recently surveyed 1,361 Canadian homeowners, aged 55 and over. We asked, “If you received a $100,000 cash gift, what would you most want to do with the money?”

Using the money to pay off debts or giving the money to family members or donating to charity were very popular choices. More popular than putting the money towards their own retirement or funding a lifelong dream.

It seems that Canadians are extremely generous souls, putting others’ needs ahead of their own. But is their selflessness preventing them from having a fulfilling and purposeful retirement?

Mark van Graft, Vice President at Mackie Research Capital Corporation, believes it is.

“I enjoy motivating my clients to realize that it’s not selfish to be selfish”

For decades, Mark has been helping Canadians to make informed financial decisions in their own best interests.

“I enjoy motivating my clients to realize that it’s not selfish to be selfish,” he says. “They should spend some of their investments on their own enrichment versus sitting on savings or worrying about everyone else.”

Mark likes to help his clients embrace their personal goals and aspirations in their retirement. “Coaching clients who have unrealized dreams is one of the favourite parts of my job,” he says.

“I show clients how to use a reverse mortgage, not as a last resort or dire straits resource. A reverse mortgage can unlock funds to go beyond aging at home. It’s more like enabling a desire to ‘unretire,’ to bring a passion project to life, to fund a legacy project or finance a long-held dream to travel or innovate.”

Write a new chapter and unretire

Joyce Wayne is a retired college writing instructor and an unretired novelist and blogger. “I have always loved writing,” she says. Continue Reading…