The retirement number is not the point

Finding your financial baseline matters, but a retirement number without a destination is like buying fuel without a roadmap

by Ainsley Mackie, Portfolio Manager

“How much money do I need to retire?”

It might be one of the most common financial questions people ask. It is also one of the least useful, at least on its own.

That does not mean it is a silly thing to wonder about. Retirement is a big deal. For many people, it represents the point where decades of work, saving, family obligations, career decisions, and financial habits all come together. Of course people want to know whether they are going to be okay.

The problem is that the answer is not one number.

Not a million dollars. Not two million. Not whatever amount happens to be floating around in the latest article, social media post, or financial institution campaign.

The real answer depends on what you are trying to do. Do you want to retire at 55, 65, or 75? Do you want to stop working entirely, shift into consulting, run a small business, volunteer, travel, move closer to family, buy a cottage, help your kids, or finally take up the hobby you have been putting off for 30 years?

Those are not small details. Those are the plan.

A retirement number without goals is like asking how much gas you need without knowing where you are going, what you are driving, or whether you plan to take the scenic route through the mountains.

Averages do not help much either.

People often ask what the average person spends in retirement or how much the average person has saved by a certain age. But averages can be wildly misleading.

One household may live very comfortably on a modest income. Another may find that a much larger amount still does not feel like enough. Mortgage debt, pensions, family support, health, travel plans, housing choices, and personal expectations all matter.

Personalize your plan

The “average” does not know your life.

Then there is the issue of timing. Someone retiring at 55 needs to plan for a very different retirement than someone retiring at 70. Someone with a defined benefit pension is in a different position than someone relying mostly on investments. Someone who wants to leave a large estate has a different plan than someone who wants to spend most of what they have.

The better question is not “What number do I need?”

The better question is, “What life am I trying to fund, and what trade-offs am I willing to make?”

That is where real planning starts.

Maybe the choice is between buying the lakefront cottage and travelling every year.

Maybe both are possible, but in smaller versions. Maybe helping adult children is a priority, but retiring five years earlier is also on the table. Maybe the math says all of those things cannot happen at once.

That does not mean the plan has failed. It means the plan is doing its job. Good financial planning should help people see their options clearly. It should show what is reasonable, what is risky, what depends on optimistic assumptions, and what trade-offs might be required. It should not sell certainty where certainty does not exist.

Because life does not move in a straight line. Markets change. Inflation changes. Health changes. Families change. Priorities change.

People change their minds, which may be the biggest variable of all.

At 55, you may think you know exactly what 70-year-old you will want. You probably do not. You might plan to travel the world, then decide what you really want is to live closer to your grandchildren. You might expect to stop working, then realize you miss the structure, people, and purpose. You might be certain you will never want the cottage, until suddenly the cottage becomes the whole dream.

Why flexibility matters

A retirement plan should be less like a printed set of directions and more like Google Maps. It needs to know the destination, but it also needs to reroute when the road changes. A good plan should leave room for detours, delays, new priorities, and the occasional “we are not going to that restaurant after all.”

This is also why retiring “to” something matters.

Stopping work is not the same as starting a meaningful retirement. Work often provides identity, routine, social connection, purpose, and structure. Leaving that behind without thinking about what will replace it can be more disruptive than people expect.

Retirement is not just a financial event. It is a life transition.

Money matters because money creates options. It can provide comfort, flexibility, and choice, especially later in life when people may feel more vulnerable.

But the purpose of building wealth is not simply to hit a number on a spreadsheet. The purpose is to support the life you actually want, while keeping enough flexibility for the life you do not yet know you will want.

So, how much do you need to retire?

It depends.

Not because advisors are dodging the question, but because the question deserves more respect than a shortcut answer can provide.

A better starting point is this:

What do you want retirement to look like?

What are you retiring to?

What are your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and absolutely-nots? What trade-offs would you be willing to make?

And, perhaps most importantly, how much flexibility are you building into the plan for the future version of you who may see things differently?

That is where the real answer begins.

Verecan Capital Management Inc. is a Registered Portfolio Manager.

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About Ainsley Mackie

Ainsley Mackie, Portfolio Manager, is part of the team at Verecan, where she helps cut through financial jargon with a clear and candid voice. Her thoughts have been featured in national outlets including the Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star. In 2020, she received Wealth Professional Magazine’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service, recognizing her ongoing contributions to community and charitable initiatives. Ainsley brings the same approachable style to her work that she does to life in the Kootenays, keeping money matters grounded, human, and practical.

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