I'm usually a gigantic fan of getting a solid eight hours of sleep, but occasionally, I find myself restless at 4am. I try to put this unanticipated block of thinking time to good use, which means I typically run through new recipe ideas and plan what I want to cook in the hours and days ahead. I’ve recently thought up some pretty great recipe ideas, but it wasn't always about food and recipes. What used to occupy my thoughts in the dark was my worry about retirement. Not the lack of work part, the money part.
You see, my husband and I are both in our 50s, and well aware that time is marching on (no matter how much we try to pretend it isn’t!). The reality is that we’re not getting any younger and whether we choose to shift gears at 60, 65, or even 70, we don’t want to be working forever. These are the thoughts that were making my brain spin in the middle of the night. How could we be sure that we could afford the retirement we want?
Do you have an idea of what you want your retirement to look like? We’ve known for at least a decade exactly what we want ours to be. The top priorities? To stay in the home we love for as long as it's practical, both logistically and financially, and to fill our days with travel, volunteering, family, fitness, and fun. Oh, and food. Really, really good food. I fantasize about building a fire on a beach in Bora Bora to cook freshly-caught fish. A girl can dream, right? Yet, every time we tried to do the math, we weren’t sure if we could ever afford it. Compounding things (pun intended) is that since we’re self-employed entrepreneurs, we don’t have big government or corporate pension plans to count on. So we came up with a plan to make all of this possible. Thankfully, retirement is no longer a 4am worry.
In the past, we moved our money around a fair bit, but nothing seemed to be the right fit. This increased our fear that we were never going to be able to accumulate enough money for the future. We knew something had to change, so after a goals-based assessment at TD a few years ago, we moved all of our retirement investments over to them.
The advisors we deal with at our branch made it clear, right from the start, that they would take the time to understand not just our goals, but also our worries. We learned just how much we could accomplish in pre-retirement, the 15 years before we retire, and that it wasn't too late. Find an advisor who will take the time to get to know your goals and preferences like we did. We were unsure about our retirement, but after we spoke with them, we felt confident.
We discussed the realities of retirement budgeting, and they laughed sympathetically when I explained that we would need to allocate a lot more money than most people do for groceries (I plan to keep up my culinary creativity for many, many more years!). We talked about our travel wish list (near the top of mine: truffle hunting in Italy. Have you ever tried popcorn topped with truffle salt?), our expectations regarding our health, and what hobbies we hoped to enjoy. I felt like they really took the time to get to know us, which gave me confidence that the plan they put together is the correct one for us, and not just a cookie-cutter solution. They will do the same for you. They'll get to know your retirement wishes and goals and then come up with a personalized plan to make it happen.
I think one of the most reassuring things I’ve learned through all of this is that just as we all make choices about how we want to live our lives, retirement planning involves personal choices too. Dealing with our advisor has given us a sense of relief that we're finally getting the advice we need. They not only helped us build our portfolio, they’re also ready to help us continuously refine it to get a better rate of return. It’s nice to see our nest egg growing beyond the contributions we continue to make as often as we can.
I finally feel like we’ll be able to #RetireReady while still young and healthy enough to enjoy everything we’re eagerly anticipating in the next phase of our lives. And yes, that most definitely includes tropical sunsets, heaps of truffles, and plenty of champagne.
Rich and creamy, this hearty chowder is packed with seafood and vegetables and is super quick to prepare. As you’ll see, the recipe is quite flexible and can be made with just fish, just seafood, or your favourite combination of the two. Note that you can even make this gluten-free, if preferred, plus you can make it ahead and gently reheat. Serve it with baguette and a green salad for a perfectly pleasing meal, ideal for two but even better for sharing with friends.
Ingredients
* Note: if not using shrimp or lobster, replace with additional haddock fillets
Directions
Heat 2 tbsp butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes until softened, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add celery and carrot; cook 3 minutes more, stirring often.
Add vegetable stock, water, potatoes and seasonings. Stir well then cover pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are just tender (test with the tip of a sharp knife), about 10 minutes or less, stirring gently a few times.
While potatoes are cooking, in a separate small pot, melt remaining 3 tbsp of butter. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes or until flour is nicely incorporated and cooked.
Gradually add milk to the butter and flour, a bit at a time, stirring or whisking vigorously, to create a smooth, thick white sauce. Add cream cheese and cook for 3 about three minutes, stirring or whisking often, until cheese has melted and fully blended in. Remove from heat and blend in vermouth or white wine, if using.
Meanwhile, cut fresh or partially defrosted fish fillets into one inch (2.5 cm) pieces. When potato is just barely tender, stir in haddock, shrimp, and lobster meat. Cover, and stir very gently a few times while cooking over medium heat for 5 – 6 minutes, until fish is opaque.
Add white sauce to larger pot and and stir very gently to blend. If the chowder is thicker than you prefer, add a little more milk. Heat for just a few minutes until it is steaming but not boiling. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Remove bay leaves. Serve in warmed bowls with a garnish of fresh parsley.
Makes four bowls of deliciousness.
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Aren’t these just the most adorable looking cookies? The good news is, they’re also super delicious and really easy to make.
The base dough is from my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe; feel free to use your own favourite dough instead. I wasn’t sure how to get the cute red, pink and white sprinkles to stick to the cookie dough before baking, but dipping the edges of the dough discs in milk worked perfectly! These cookies would be ideal for a Valentine’s Day party, or even as a romantic gesture for your significant other. My preferred way to eat these is while the chocolate Kiss is still soft from the heat of the just-baked cookie, but extensive taste testing has confirmed that they are just as delicious when completely cooled (or straight out of the freezer, to be perfectly honest).
You could use different coloured sprinkles to make these cookies for any number of occasions!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugars and butter together with an electric or stand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until blended.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, then add to butter mixture and mix at medium speed until just blended.
Put the milk in one small bowl and the sprinkles in another.
Scoop the dough out in portions approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons each. Roll into a ball, then flatten to make small discs. Roll the edges of the discs in the milk, followed by the sprinkles, then place on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake for 8 – 9 minutes until tops are just barely beginning to crack. While cookies bake, unwrap the chocolate Kisses.
As soon as you remove the baking trays from the oven, press a chocolate Kiss into the centre of each cookie.
Let cool 5 minutes on baking trays then transfer to wire racks to cool until the chocolate is set.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
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