I am starting to examine my current retirement strategy to see if I need to make any changes, while I still have some good working years ahead. Canadian veteran financial advisor Gillespie has written a book that is not the usual financial management handbook one encounters when looking for retirement planning advice. Instead, Gillespie takes a broader, more holistic view to retirement. He sees retirement as a drawn out process we evolve through over time, not as a single event. This process consists of five major stages:

1. Focus on what's truly important - These are your dreams for retirement


2. Plan for contingencies, taxes and inflation - This is the reality of retirement


3. Invest for growth as well as income - This is the transition into retirement


4. Spend your time and money wisely - This is the adjustment to retirement


5. Realize that you can't take it with you - This is the legacy/estate planning phase of retirement

Written as a narrative nonfiction, the reader is introduced to Michael and Rachel, a fictional couple created as a representational composite of a number of Gillepsie’s real clients. The scenarios Michael and Rachel face over the 25 year span covered in the book – their first meet with the financial advisor in the book 5 years before retirement - are realistic and Gillespie includes some interesting scenarios like suddenly needing to bail out a child’s $100,000 debt, the potential trap of “stock market tips” received from family/friends and how best to dispose of the family cottage so that it does not become an area for dispute between their three children after they are gone. While written as a series of conversations, Gillespie includes plenty of information about RRSP’s, RRIF, annuities, insurance, and the all-important estate planning, powers of attorney, personal health directives and even a conversation about “end of life” care options. Throughout this narrative, Gillespie includes up-to-date (as of the 2016 publication date) of various statistics around household debt, life longevity and the overall prevalence of lack of planning found in our current society.

A quick, interesting read that generated some thought provoking conversations with my other half. ( )