While out driving the other day, we spotted a young lady waiting for the bus, decked out in wide-leg corduroy overalls and platform shoes. She could have been on her way to our high school – in 1974.

That made us wonder about things from the past that are coming back. Is this a thing? We took a look to see.

According to Grocery Coupon Guide, powdered milk – an old staple from the past – is in demand once again.

“Powdered milk is experiencing a surprising resurgence in 2025 as shoppers look for affordable, sustainable, and long-lasting alternatives to traditional dairy. Rising grocery prices, increased travel, and a growing interest in emergency preparedness have all contributed to its newfound popularity,” the publication reports.

The powdered variety of milk, the article suggests, “costs significantly less per serving than fresh milk and has a far longer shelf life.” While fresh milk last weeks, the article continues, the powdered variety can last for years.

Another thing we haven’t been hearing about for a long time – “buy now, pay later” appears to be in vogue in 2025, reports The Straits Times.

Even online shoppers, the article points out, are being given the option of paying for things in instalments. “The price of skincare products that would have cost $60 to $100 apiece upfront seemed quite reasonable after being split into smaller monthly instalments,” the article notes, adding “therein lies the appeal of buying now and paying later.”

We are old enough to remember when you could buy things on “layaway,” which basically meant you paid in instalments, and when you had paid in full, you got the item.

Another blast from the past that’s coming back, reports InStyle, are ripped jeans.

“Distressed jeans could be making a comeback in 2025 as we saw on the spring/summer runways, including Ralph Lauren,” fashion expert and stylist Naina Singla tells InStyle. “This time around, the look feels more effortless and intentional rather than overly ripped and casual,” she adds.

E! reports that wired headphones are popular again.

“Turns out, Gen Z’s latest trend isn’t about vintage jeans or claw clips: it’s wired headphones. The 2025 revival of Apple’s classic $17 EarPods proves that what’s old is new again,” the broadcaster reports. “With their clean white cords and nostalgic minimalist design, these throwback essentials are suddenly the hottest accessory of the year,” the article continues.

Will pet rocks, mood rings, lava lamps and velvet black light posters be next? Let’s hope not!

Trends may come and go, but the importance of saving for retirement seems to be a constant. If you have a workplace pension program, be sure to sign up and contribute as much as possible. If you don’t, and are having trouble figuring out how DIY retirement savings works, have a look at the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (www.saskpension.com).

SPP is a made-in-Saskatchewan retirement savings program that is open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room. You decide how much to contribute – or to transfer in from other RRSPs you may have – and SPP does the rest. Our professional investors grow your savings in our low-cost, pooled fund.

When work is in the rearview mirror, you can turn those savings into income. Options include a monthly lifetime annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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A record number of those aged 65+ are still in the workforce: Vanguard study

As our regular foursome tees off each week, we have two fully retired players in their 60s, and two still working part-time, now 66 and counting.

That sure wasn’t the case when our parents retired. But according to an article by Christy Bieber, writing for Money.ca, a record 15 per cent of grandma/grandpa-aged over-65ers are still working away after normal retirement age.

Her article quotes a U.K. study by Vanguard which “points to a shift toward phased retirement. While the study is British, Canadian trends are similar: more older adults are working for pay and retiring later,” she writes.

Vanguard calls this a significant change, she writes. “Retirees no longer want to quit working cold turkey. They want to retire gradually for a mix of financial and social reasons. Unfortunately, while this may be the dream for many, it’s not always the reality,” she continues.

Her article cites a 2024 study from Manulife that found “47 per cent of Canadian retirees ended their careers earlier than they had planned. Future workers must be prepared in case it turns out their ideal vision for retirement ends up being just an illusion. In 2023, 15 per cent of those 65 or older were in the labour force — a record — showing rising later-life work, but not everyone can phase out on their terms.”

The Vanguard study found that only 24 per cent of respondents had the “cliff-edge view of retirement, working one day and then retiring on the next,” she writes.

“Instead, most professionals either plan to scale back hours slowly at their existing job (27 per cent), `mostly’ stop work on a set date (21 per cent), or switch to a different job (14 per cent). The reasons cited include not feeling ready to completely retire, to top up their income and social reasons,” reports Bieber.

This lines up, she continues, with a recent Government of Canada Survey of Older Workers which found “that 47 per cent of retirees would work part time during retirement if they’re able to.”

This is a thoughtful article. Years ago, while working at another pension plan, we worked on a guide book for “unexpected” retirements – the steps you would need to take to get your pension started earlier than expected, perhaps due to layoffs, or a profound change in your health. Not everyone, we thought at the time, will be able to continue working right up until their pre-planned, chosen retirement date.

If you are saving on your own for retirement, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a flexible savings partner. You decide how much to contribute to SPP – you can ramp up your contributions if you are earning more at work, but can also ramp them down if you switch, for example, to part-time work.

You can start receiving retirement income from SPP as early as age 55, and must begin receiving income by the end of the year in which you turn 71. So those aiming for an early retirement can access funds early, and those working on through their 60s can choose to access their SPP income later.

Your retirement income options include the security of a monthly lifetime annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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There’s a lot of uncertainty out there these days – the trade war, higher costs for essentials like food and fuel, a tougher job market.

Canadians are good at keeping calm and carrying on, so Save with SPP decided to look into exactly what we are cutting back on, given the choppy economic waters.

A recent poll carried out by the publication INsauga, located in Mississauga, Ont., got nearly 4,000 responses to the question “what’s the first thing you cut back on when money gets tight?”

Near the top of the list, the publication reports, is travel.

“More than a quarter of voters said vacations are the first to go. For many, that means skipping sunny getaways or pushing back long-awaited trips abroad,” INsauga notes.

Next, the article continues, comes entertainment.

“Live concerts, movie nights, and other entertainment events ranked high on the list of sacrifices. This shows that while people still crave experiences, they’re more likely to wait until times feel more financially comfortable,” the article explains.

Other things Canadians commonly cut back on, the article adds, are “shopping for new clothes and extras” and “streaming services.” The number one thing that gets cut, the article concludes, is “eating out, with 38.6 per cent saying restaurant meals are the first to go.”

Affordability is such a problem, reports CTV News, that some of us have “skipped paying a bill to afford groceries.” That and other surprising findings are covered off in a recent poll by Nanos Research, the broadcaster notes.

“The survey found adults under 55 were four times more likely to put off payments for their cars, credit cards and electricity bills to buy food,” the article continues. Shopper Almas Patel, 23, of Charlottetown tells CTV “`my phone bill, the rent, the groceries…my car insurance, the fuel… it all adds up.’”

“The Nanos survey found 18.1 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 said they missed a bill sometimes or often. That nearly matches the 17.9 per cent reported by those 35 to 54. The figure drops to 4.2 per cent for those 55 and older,” CTV reports. Chief Data Scientist Nik Nanos tells the network that “inflation and high housing costs are major factors contributing to the generational divide.”

According to Popwire, Americans are facing higher costs as well, prompting spending cutbacks.

Data from Empower, the article reports, shows Americans cut their spending on clothing by 20 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the last quarter of 2024.

“That’s an average monthly spend of $573, down from $732, signaling that consumers are actively reducing their spending on clothes, shoes, and accessories. It seems a wardrobe refresh is taking a backseat to more pressing financial priorities,” Popwire notes.

Spending on luxury items, like “premium products and designer brands,” is down by five per cent and spending on beauty and personal care products “is getting a trim,” the publication reports.

“Over 60 per cent of American consumers anticipating spending less on beauty products, according to an L.E.K. Consulting survey from October 2025. It appears now that the desire for a simplified routine and a healthier bank account is stronger than the allure of a fully stocked cosmetics drawer,” Popwire concludes.

If you’re cutting back on luxury expenses, if it is possible, you may want to consider directing some of the savings towards your long-term goals, such as retirement. Even if money is tight today, you’ll appreciate having retirement savings when you’re older and less able to work.

A great savings partner for the long-term is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room, SPP invests the money you contribute in a professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund. They’ll grow your savings, and when it’s time to collect, your options include receiving a monthly annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

You can even consolidate your savings within SPP by transferring any amount in from other RRSPs you may have.

Check out SPP today!

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Two-thirds of millennials fear running out of money in retirement: CPPIB study

About two-thirds (66 per cent) of millennials worry they’ll run out of money in retirement.

That’s one of the findings of a recent survey carried out by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, reported on by Serah Louis for the Financial Post.

The fear may be driven in part by a lack of retirement planning by 28- to 44-year-olds, the article notes, citing front burner worries like “a tough job market and troubles affording home ownership.”

It’s not just millennials who are worrying, the article adds, noting that the CPPIB survey found 59 per cent of all respondents had that same worry about their retirement income drying up too early.

The article quotes CPPIB’s Frank Switzer, managing director of communications, as noting that respondents in the 18-34 age bracket placed things like “career building (53 per cent) and homeownership (47 per cent) ahead of retirement savings.”

The unemployment rate, the article continues, is higher for young people than it is for the general population. While the overall unemployment rate is about 7.1 per cent, the rate for those aged 15-24 is more than double that rate at 14.7 per cent, the article adds, citing data from Statistics Canada.

That’s the highest youth unemployment rate since 2010, excluding the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021, the Post reports.

Switzer tells the Post that CPP is designed to replace “about a quarter of a typical wage,” and is designed to help “supplement people’s savings to cover everyday costs in retirement.”

“The average payment for a new retirement pension (at age 65) in July came to $848 a month, while the maximum came to $1,433 a month,” the article notes.

However, the article continues, you must be working to contribute to CPP. “Younger Canadians can’t start accumulating funds towards this benefit until they secure a job,” the article explains, again quoting Switzer.

Alarmingly, over half (55 per cent) of respondents said they don’t have a retirement plan, the Post reports – most said they are too focused on paying off debt and trying to earn more money to be saving for retirement.

But those surveyed believe they will need $60,000 annually in retirement income, up from $55,000 a year ago, the article explains. Switzer tells the Post that inflation “seemed to be the number one cause of people’s anxiety” about their finances.

The article makes a key point. People think they may need $60,000 a year in retirement. CPP provides a good, but modest benefit that, at best, is $1,433 per month. That’s quite a gap.

If there is a pension or retirement program at your workplace, be sure to sign up and contribute to the max. If not, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be the savings partner you’ve been looking for.

SPP is open to any Canadian who has registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room. You can contribute any amount up to your RRSP limit, and can transfer in any amount from other RRSPs to consolidate your nest egg.

SPP then does the hard part for you – investing your hard-saved dollars in a low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. At retirement, your options include a lifetime monthly SPP annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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At the beginning of her entertaining and informative book, The Well-Lived Life, Dr. Gladys McGarey – age 103 at time of writing – says she is often asked “the secret of a long, healthy, happy life.”

“No, I don’t run. I do occasionally do Pilates. And yes – I do eat cake. In fact, I really love cake. I even popped out of one for my 95^th birthday,” she writes. But the secret, she continues, has “nothing to do with vitamins or supplements,” but “a simple shift in perspective.”

“To be truly alive,” she notes, “we must find the life force within ourselves and direct our energy toward it.”

She distills this general idea into six “secrets,” the first one being, “you are here for a reason.”

“Each of us is here for a reason, to learn and grow and to give our gifts,” she explains. “When we are able to do so, we’re filled with the creative life energy that I call the `juice.’”

The juice, she continues, “is our reason for living. It’s our fulfillment, our joy.”

“Lives filled with juice become lives filled with purpose. And that has a profound effect not only on our mental healthy but on our physical health,” McGarey states.

Her second secret is that “all life needs to move.”

“Life itself is always in movement, so aligning with our life force means that we must always look for the flow within us,” she writes. “Children understand this. That’s why they’re always wiggling. I never stopped wiggling…. Wiggling is good for us – it indicates that life is happening around and through us. It moves our lymph, lubricates our joints and keeps our muscles from getting tight.”

The third secret is that “love is the most powerful medicine.”

“Our life force is activated by love. Love has an uncommon ability to transform everything it touches,” she explains.

The next secret is that “you are never truly alone.”

Social connections are essential, she explains. “Connective with community amplifies our individual life force by re-aligning it with the collective life force,” she writes.

The fifth secret, an especially wise one, is that “everything is your teacher.”

Even bad things carry a lesson, she states. As we get older, “we begin to extract more and more from the pain of the past. We realize that we can keep gaining lessons out of our old hurts, and they can affect how we approach what comes next.”

Finally, she advises, you must “spend your energy wildly.”

This last secret needs to be integrated with the first five. “When we align our energy with life, we create a give-and-take, sharing relationship with the source… we invest the energy we have in life. Then when we’re running low on what we need, we simply borrow it back.”

In the end, she concludes, we need to “flip our understanding on its head, from thinking that we are in life to understanding that life is in us.”

This is a mesmerizing journey of a book, well-told and filled with exercises and examples to keep your thinking on track.

A long, well-lived life will require some savings.

And if you’re saving on your own for retirement – or want to get started – look no further than the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP offers a voluntary defined contribution pension plan to any Canadian with available registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room.

You can make annual contributions to SPP up to your RRSP limit, and can transfer in any amount from other non-locked in RRSPs you may have.

SPP’s role is to grow those savings in our professionally managed, low-cost, pooled fund. When it’s time to log off for the last time at work, your retirement income options include the security of a lifetime SPP annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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Should wealthier seniors get less Old Age Security?

Writing in The Globe and Mail, Robyn Urback wonders if the federal government will consider taking the politically risky step of reforming Old Age Security – specifically, to tweak the system so that wealthier seniors get less.

Today, she notes, the OAS system is “an $80-billion-and-growing” program “that currently rewards couples who earn up to $182,000 with the full $18,000 annually.”

By comparison, she adds, Child Tax Benefit clawbacks begin at a level that’s $100,000 lower than the OAS clawback limit.

“The combined cost of both OAS and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) payments is both the largest and the fastest-growing expenditure for the federal government, and it will become even greater if the government adopts the proposal from the Bloc Québécois to hike OAS payments by 10 per cent for seniors aged 65 to 74,” she continues.

Previous attempts to reform OAS have not worked out well, she writes.

Many may remember what happened when former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney tried to de-index OAS benefits (reducing payout adjustments for inflation), Urback notes. Political opponents called the decision breaking “a sacred trust,” and a protester outside Parliament, Solange Denis, told Mulroney “You lied to us. You made promises that you wouldn’t touch (OAS). It’s goodbye, Charlie Brown!”

Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien tried to roll the OAS and GIS programs into a new entity, the Seniors Benefit, which would have been based on “household income, not individual income.” He too backed down under political heat, Urback reports.

Finally, a third former Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made an effort to “gradually” lift the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67. This idea also became a political hot potato, the article continues, and was reversed by the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Will Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government look at changes to OAS?

“Mr. Carney’s pitch to voters was that he was not a lifelong politician in pursuit of a legacy, but a guy who would come in, try to fix things, and then, one could reasonably infer, get out. Who better, then, to make the politically tough but economically necessary decision to rein in OAS benefits?,” she writes.

The article notes that Generation Squeeze, “an advocacy group for young adults, has proposed lowering the threshold for OAS clawbacks to couples earning $100,000, which it estimates will save Canada’s coffers $7 billion per year.” Some of those savings, the group suggests, could be “redirected to low-income seniors,” low-income families and families with kids, or simply be used to pay down the national debt.

Reviving the Harper plan, and moving eligibility to age 67 gradually, would save $10 billion in federal spending per year, the article adds.

Urback concludes by calling OAS reform “a necessary move” that will have political consequences for the government, but will stop the “insane” practice of “handing out billions of dollars to wealthy seniors in this economic environment.”

It’s worth noting that the OAS payments that people receive are actually quite modest. According to the Art of Retirement blog the maximum OAS for those aged 65 to 74 is $706.7 per month “if your net annual income is less than $148,451.” For those 75 and over, it’s $880.40 a month if your net income is less than $154.196, the blog reports.

Once you pass those income milestones, the OAS recovery tax starts to kick in and reduces your payments.

If you don’t have a pension or retirement program through your work, you might want to augment your retirement income from government programs with your own savings.

A tremendous partner in this effort is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. All you have to do is make contributions – and you can transfer in any amount from a non-locked-in registered retirement savings plan.

SPP invests your savings in a professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund, growing them for your future retirement income. Among your options at retirement is a lifetime monthly annuity payment from SPP, or the more flexible Variable Benefit option.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

As happy retirees, we are often asked what being retired is like. Is it, one younger friend asked, like being on vacation 24/7?

No, we said – but it is more like waking up and every day is the weekend.

That got us thinking – what do famous people say about retirement?

Let’s start with the great Gordie Howe, whose epic long career in professional hockey with the NHL, the WHA, and back to the NHL again, will likely never be matched.

The Internet Pillar site quotes him as saying “I don’t want to retire, because you stay retired for a really long time.”

He also once said “it’s not easy to retire. No one teaches you how. I found that out when I tried it the first time,” the site notes.

According to the AZquotes website there are some other interesting thoughts.

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years,” U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once said.

“You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there,” quipped the late comedian George Burns, who lived beyond age 100.

Children’s writer A. A. Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame once noted “don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

Southern Living provides us with a few more thoughts.

“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else,” Fred Rogers, star of Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood, once said.

The late actress Betty White, the publication reports, once said “retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren’t going to get rid of me that way!”

Actor Chris Pine, the magazine notes, once said “my father calls acting `a state of retirement with short spurts of work,’” and golfer Chi-Chi Rodriguez noted that “when a man retires, his wife gets twice as much husband for half as much money.”

Comedian and philosopher Will Rogers summed retirement up this way, the magazine tells us. “Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”

Let’s finish off with some quotes from the Lasting Quotes website.

“I can’t say I was unhappy, but I was not as happy as I am now since I’ve retired,” notes author Garrison Keillor.

“You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake,” the site quotes Bob Hope as saying.

And a final, anonymous thought – “retirement is not the end of the road. It is the beginning of the open highway.”

If there’s a theme to all these quotes, it perhaps is that while it is often hard to give up what you’ve been doing for years – decades, even – you may get a chance to be happy doing something else, for yourself, in retirement.

If you’re saving on your own for life after work, a willing and capable partner is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room, SPP is a voluntary defined contribution plan.

You can contribute any amount you want, up to your RRSP limit, each year – and you can transfer in any amount from other RRSPs you might have.

SPP’s job in all of this is to grow your savings in our professionally managed, low-fee pooled fund. When work’s in the rearview mirror, your retirement income options include a monthly SPP annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Younger Canadians see retirement as “slowing down work,” not ending it: report

The younger set does not envision a future where they will attend their retirement party, receive a gold watch or other parting gift, and then march off into a sunset of worklessness.

Instead, reports Leah Golob, writing for Yahoo! Finance Canada, younger Canadians visualize a “slowing down” of work, rather than a full retirement.

This, her report continues, is having an impact on the purpose of their long-term savings.

“New findings from FP Canada’s Money and Milestones survey suggest a generational shift in how Canadians picture life after work. While half of Canadians are saving for retirement, more than a quarter (26 per cent) are saving for a version of retirement where they `work less,’ compared to over a third (35 per cent) who are saving for retirement where they don’t work at all,” she writes.

The split between the `work less’ and `don’t work at all’ groups is close to 50-50 when the question is put to younger Canadians, her story continues.

“Among those aged 18 to 34, the share saving for semi-retirement and full retirement is nearly identical (21 per cent versus 20 per cent), a sign that younger Canadians are preparing for a more flexible, non-traditional version of retirement,” she reports.

The idea of a retirement that still includes some work seems to be driven by “financial pressure and uncertainty about their long-term security,” the article notes.

“Some do it because they realize that it’s probably unrealistic to have a full retirement due to their current financial situation,” Kelly Ho, certified financial planner at DLD Financial Group, tells Yahoo! Finance Canada. “They’re feeling pessimistic about their own trajectory.”

Certainly, the article continues, today’s “housing and the labour environment are markedly different from the ones their parents experienced in young adulthood.”

Another factor, the article points out, is that of longevity.

“Retirement could stretch from age 60 or 65 to as late as 90 or 95 — a whole other working lifetime,” the article notes, quoting Ho. “Canadians can feel particularly triggered when they hit their 40s, realizing that their working journey could be 20 years or less away,” the article continues.

So, what to do on the savings front, given all these barriers?

“Canadians should track where their money is going and how much they can reasonably set aside. They should also check whether they’re taking advantage of any retirement savings plans offered through an employer,” the article tells us.

Savings, Ho tells Yahoo! Finance Canada, creates an “illusion of choice.” Many don’t choose to save because no one is forcing them to do it – so seeking professional financial advice, and/or setting up an automated savings plan, are recommended, the article adds.

The article concludes by suggesting that going with a `work less’ retirement plan – semi-retirement – can be healthier than the “shock” of full retirement. “Semi-retirement can create a longer, more prosperous life, regardless of whether it’s done out of financial necessity,” Ho states in the article.

When you’re in a company pension plan, your contributions are usually deducted from your paycheque – so cash goes into your nest egg before you have the chance to even think about spending it. Members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan can automate their savings through pre-authorized contributions from a bank account or credit card.

This “set it and forget it” approach makes savings automatic – all you need to do is to consider ramping up your contributions whenever you get a pay raise.

Check out SPP today!

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The phrase “sustainable fashion” jumped out at us from the morning paper recently, so we decided to figure out what this emerging lifestyle trend is all about.

According to the Dear Canada blog, sustainable fashion or “eco-friendly apparel” is a movement that “highlights the benefits of choosing sustainable garments, which include reducing waste and lowering carbon emissions.”

“The concept of Sustainable Fashion is gaining traction across the globe, and Canada is at the forefront of this movement. Initiatives by Canadian fashion brands to adopt more eco-friendly practices represent a significant shift towards environmental responsibility in the fashion industry. This transformation is driven by both increased consumer awareness of environmental issues and the innovative approaches of Canadian designers and manufacturers,” the blog explains.

“Not only does it help in reducing the carbon footprint, but it also promotes fair labour practices and reduces waste. Canadian brands are increasingly experimenting with organic materials, employing eco-friendly production techniques, and ensuring fair wages for workers, setting a commendable example in the industry,” the blog continues.

The organic materials for making clothes include “natural fibres like bamboo, hemp and organic cotton,” the use of which “significantly cuts down on the chemicals used” in creating other types of clothing material, the article states.

The “eco-friendly production techniques” include, the article continues, “technologies that reduce water use and improve recycling processes.”

Elle magazine (Indian edition) refers to sustainable fashion as “a call to rethink how clothing is made, worn, and ultimately valued.”

It is not, the article insists, about “wearing sackcloth to save the planet.” Instead, the article continues, “it’s about designing and producing clothing that respects both people and the environment. It means slowing down the endless churn of fast fashion and prioritising longevity, ethical labour, and environmental responsibility. From fabric choice to fair wages, it’s about reimagining fashion as a circular system rather than a disposable one. It’s slow fashion, circular fashion, conscious fashion — different words pointing to the same idea: garments that last, are ethically made, and tread lightly on the earth.”

Italy’s Notizie.it calls sustainable fashion “the future of well-being and style.”

“In the last few years, sustainable fashion has gained significant momentum, becoming not just a trend, but a real cultural movement. (Sustainable brands) are pioneers in the use of recycled materials and ethical practices, demonstrating that it is possible to combine style and environmental responsibility,” the article tells us.

“To wear sustainable products; it’s not only an eco-friendly choice, but also a personal wellness choice. Natural, chemical-free fabrics can improve skin health, while purchasing quality garments reduces the need to frequently update your wardrobe, contributing to a more minimalist and mindful lifestyle,” the article adds.

“A future is foreseen where fashion and well-being are increasingly intertwined. With the rise of social awareness and the adoption of sustainable practices, the fashion industry is set to transform radically. Industry experts encourage investing in clothes that reflect personal values ​​and supporting brands that respect our planet,” the article concludes.

So now we know a little more about sustainable fashion!

When we turn our minds from fashion to retirement, there is a different kind of sustainability to think about – will we have sufficient income after leaving the workforce to keep up with our personal cost of living?

If you have a workplace pension program of any kind, be sure to join it and contribute to the max. If you don’t, you may want to take a hard look at the Saskatchewan Pension Plan.

The SPP is open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room. You can make annual contributions to SPP up to your RRSP limit. You can also transfer in any amount from existing RRSPs you may have to consolidate them in SPP.

Once you put money into your SPP retirement nest egg, our investment team takes over and does the rest – investing your hard-saved loonies and toonies in our low-cost, professionally managed and diversified fund. Once work is over, your SPP income choices include receiving a monthly annuity payment for life or the more flexible Variable Benefit option.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Retired financial writer reviews his first retirement moments

Any of us who have retired will remember, perhaps, the “I wonder what retirement will be like” moments we felt as the time clock for the last day at work wound down. We remember our last coffee run for the team, the last train ride home, and so on.

Rob Carrick of The Globe and Mail, a well-read personal finance columnist for many years, is now taking his first steps in the world of retirement.

“You have instant community when you retire – just go to a mall, diner or blood donation clinic early in the morning on a weekday,” he observes.

“Retiring is stepping into a different life with different rules. Let me tell you about a few of them based on personal experience,” he adds.

First, he writes, “regardless of your financial status, you are rich in time” once you are retired. “You can do what you want, when you want. And so, you go to the mall when it’s emptiest,” he adds.

Next, he adds, is the shift away from weekly or bi-weekly paycheques to monthly pension payments.

“Getting paid monthly means new thinking on how to save for big expenses. Right now, I’m carving off some of those monthly payments as soon as they’re received to cover recurring costs such as property taxes, insurance premiums and utilities. We have separate savings accounts for these, each labelled specifically. I find this really helps with organization,” he suggests.

Similarly, you must think a little harder about income taxes.

“Another expense to be covered is income tax, which brings us to one more way retirement differs from your working life. If you have an employer, the correct amount of taxes for your income is taken off the top of your paycheque. You may have a balance owing to Canada Revenue Agency when you file your annual income tax return, but it shouldn’t be anything unmanageable,” he notes.

Now, he continues, “my wife and I both have a 15-per-cent withholding tax applied to our pension payments. I set up yet another high-interest savings account to hold the additional amount of tax we expect to owe after we file our 2025 tax return next spring. With each pension payment, money is automatically transferred to that account.”

Carrick has an interesting take on the term “retirement” itself.

“One more life adjustment when you leave the full-time workforce is how the word `retirement’ sounds to your ears. Telling people you’re retired earns you all kinds of reactions – some envy, some surprise and some disapproval from those who can’t imagine their lives without the fulfilment and status of a job,” he notes.

He concludes with the good news that he’ll continue writing for the Globe on the topic of retirement and other personal financial subjects. We wish him the best in his new role.

While it is possible to self-fund a retirement through disciplined personal saving and a strong investment program, not all of us have the ability to stick with the program or the investment savvy to get started.

That’s where the Saskatchewan Pension Plan comes in. All you need to do is send us contributions, by pre-authorized contribution from a bank account or credit card, via online banking as a “bill,” by cheque – SPP is flexible. What we do is invest those hard-saved dollars in our low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. You can ramp up contributions as you earn more, and transfer in any amount from registered retirement savings plans you may have.

At retirement, you can choose the security of a monthly annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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