“I went in not knowing if I had enough money to retire, and came out knowing that I had a lot more work to do – and not just on money – before I retire.”
That’s what Canadian Media Guild member Terri Theodore, a news editor with Canadian Press, says she learned during a recent CMG sponsored pre-retirement course held in Vancouver.
“What Are You Doing After Work?” was developed by the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada (CURC). The course is delivered by instructors who are retired and who can share personal experiences of living life after work.
As Terri Theodore discovered during the two-day course, there’s a lot to think about when you are considering retirement.
“The worksheets made me think about how much I spend, where I spend it and what I need to do to save for retirement. Another worksheet also got me thinking about if I’ll be living in the same home a few years from now, never mind when I turn 65.”
She says the advice on financial advisors will come in very handy.
Terri says the instructors also brought up several things that hadn’t occurred to her, including, “the need to widen my social circle, thinking about how I’ll occupy my time when I retire and where I’ll live.”
The coordination and the instructors for the Vancouver course were provided by the British Columbia Federation of Retired Union Members (BC Forum), which is the B.C. Branch of CURC. The CWA Canada Retirees Council, which includes CMG retirees, is affiliated with CURC.
CMG in conjunction with CURC will be providing more pre-retirement courses for its members in other locations across the country. Courses are being planned for Toronto in November and Winnipeg in December.
For more information contact Gail Young, CMG National Director of Education & Mobilization at education@gmg.ca
Terri Theodore recommends that if you’re thinking about retirement you should also think about taking the CURC course.
“While I know I have a lot of work to do to get to retirement, this course has sent me in the right direction. I have already recommended it to my co-workers, and won’t hesitate to recommend the course to others.”
Canadian Media Guild – http://www.cmg.ca/
Congress of Union Retirees of Canada – http://unionretiree.ca/
B.C. Federation of Retired Union Members – http://www.bcforum.ca/
CWA Canada Retirees Council – http://cwa-scacanada.ca/retirees/EN/