Reuse, repurpose or sell

When we are young, we are always wanting to accumulate stuff to enrich our lives. Bigger homes, cars, furniture, recreational equipment, tools and toys that we think we must have. But now that we are older, we have so much stuff, a lot of us wonder what to do with it all.

This has been a trend over the past 30 years and now Canadian thrift stores are reaping the rewards of the donations of our so-called junk.

Why not consider selling items that no longer suit your lifestyle? Since we are all now moving to a digital platform of online shopping, you can use many services to sell your excess items, or even start your own online store through Shopify.ca.

The bottom line is you must begin to streamline your lifestyle and your spending when in retirement. The vast majority of Canadians only seriously begin planning for retirement when they are at least five to eight years away from wrapping up their working career, and most are not sure how much money they really need. When time is running out, most people tend to panic and begin to make risky investment choices in an effort to make up for their past lack of effort to lower debts and build wealth.

This is the time when you need to consult with a financial coach and seek much-needed assistance to ensure you get to retirement debt free and intact with a comfortable retirement fund. Yes, I said “comfortable.” Not with all the stuff that you have purchased over the past 30 years still believing that you need it.

When you retire, the key to setting yourself up properly is to have all your debt paid. If this means you need to downsize or rightsize your home, then do it. Remember that taking on too much risk or hanging on to too much debt can be fatal to your retirement finances, your new lifestyle and your personal well-being. Christine Ibbotson is author of Don’t Panic: How to Manage Your Finances and Financial Anxieties During and After the Coronavirus and the bestselling book How To Retire Debt Free & Wealthy. askthemoneylady.ca