Jeremy Finney, 46, made enough money to retire at the age of 41. He now regrets it but thinks he doesn't have the skills to re-enter the workforce.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
At 41, Jeremy Finney had everything he thought he wanted: enough savings to walk away from his high-paying tech job and never work again.
For years, he’d pushed himself to the edge – 70-hour weeks, back-to-back meetings, and, once, he worked more than 50 hours straight without sleep. A typical week looked like leaving his Windsor, Ont., home at 4 a.m. on Monday to fly to Chicago and returning late Friday.
“I basically threw work-life balance out the window,” he said, now 45, and turning 46 in April.
When he retired five years ago, he expected to feel free. Instead, he felt lost.
“I thought that a lot of the reason that I was working was for the money, but actually it turns out … I was working for the love of it. And when I lost the love of it, I left – but I didn’t have anything to replace it with,” he said.
Finney is part of a small but growing group of Canadians retiring in their 30s and 40s, many inspired by the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement. While the idea of quitting work decades before 65 has gained traction, some early retirees are coming to terms with something they didn’t expect: regret.
A 2019 CIBC poll of about 3,000 Canadian adults found that more than a quarter of retired Canadians regret retiring, and 23 per cent have tried to re-enter the labour market. Nearly 60 per cent of retirees chose to return to work for the intellectual stimulation.
For younger retirees such as Mr. Finney – many of whom sacrificed fun, relationships, and hobbies to retire early – the regret can run even deeper, experts say. After giving up so much to reach financial freedom, some find that retirement isn’t all that fun either.
Finney, who was in IT, sits in the treehouse he built for his kids during retirement in Dartmouth, N.S. on Mar. 12.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Finney said the demanding nature of his job meant not being able to take time off around Christmas and sometimes working through statutory holidays. He believes the stress of his career likely played a role in the breakdown of his first marriage.
When he finally retired from his job, the timing seemed perfect. The world was shutting down because of COVID-19, and with two young kids at home, there was plenty to keep him busy.
But as the months went on, the lack of structure – and the lack of something to work toward – became harder to ignore.
“I need more going on to feel truly fulfilled,” he said. “I thought that I would really enjoy having nothing to do and just relaxing after so many years of going fast.”
Kaitlyn Douglas, a certified financial planner in Winnipeg, says about 75 per cent of her clients express interest in retiring before 65.
But she’s seen clients, of all ages, struggle to find meaning after stepping away from their careers. For those who retire early, the challenge can be even greater.
Many are so focused on reaching financial independence that they often “give up on some relationships and some hobbies,” during their careers that become important in retirement, Ms. Douglas said.
The FIRE movement is built on extreme saving – often living on half your income and cutting back on things including travel and dining out to reach financial freedom faster.
One of the biggest regrets that Ainsley Mackie, a chartered investment manager at Verecan Capital Management, hears from early retirees is that they sacrificed too much in pursuit of financial freedom.
“You’re missing out on opportunities while you’re younger, you’re potentially impacting your quality of life in general because you’re saving so aggressively,” said Ms. Mackie. Because so few young Canadians can afford to retire, those who do often find themselves lonely, Ms. Mackie said, with no peers to share the experience with.
Jeremy Finney plays music in his home-recording studio in Dartmouth, N.S. on March 12.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
For some early retirees who eventually decide to return to work, re-entering the job market isn’t always easy.
Only a third of retirees who attempt to return are able to find work at the same level or pay, according to CIBC‘s 2019 study. The rest either settle for lower-paying roles or give up entirely.
That’s what Mr. Finney is dealing with now. These days, Mr. Finney is a part-time musician, playing Irish fiddle music, and trying to figure out what comes next.
After five years away, he’s thinking about going back to work full-time – but in the fast-moving world of tech, he feels like he’s already been left behind.
“Five years feels like an eternity in the world of software,” he said. “There comes a point where it almost feels like you can’t go back without a major reinvestment.”
