The advertisements and feature articles warning about running out of money in retirement are peaking in Canada now, as the marketing window for retirement savings plans is about to shut for the year.

The banks and investment firms are all saying “save more or else your retirement will be grim”. Their surveys are telling us that Canadians can’t afford to retire. Little wonder #retirement gets such a bad reputation.
And yet, the #boomers are the richest generation in history, so why can’t they afford to retire early?
Reading between the lines, the problem is too much spending.
We boomers are also big spenders — and borrowers.
The high spending lifestyle is unsustainable, except for the wealthiest among us.
Time to bring back the concept of “frugal retiree”.
I met Ralph on a 2 month bike ride in India. He is an excellent example of a frugal retiree living a very full life:

Also worth watching: The Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick’s  video interview on the  “Whatever happened to the frugal senior”, focusing on “breaking the consumption habit”.