Retirement in North America is a scam. It begins with the official date of retirement and the "retirement benefits" from the governments. Retirement has originally been set at 65 years old. This date was picked out by the Germans because at that time most people weren't expected to live to that age. Convenient, eh?
You work for all your life and they make sure they tax you all that time. And then you might get to retirement age. But the game is rigged against you. Even if you get to live to qualify for the money back that you have "paid into the system", you'll only be getting that money for a few years before you die.
But now people live for longer, and they are collecting money FROM the government for longer. And a bunch of countries are now raising their retirement ages, making sure that commoners pay taxes TO the government for longer. These politicians are shameless.
As if that isn't enough, we see that the average age of the onset of chronic illness is in the 50s. Google "average age of chronic illness" for more info. So during your healthy years you are working and getting taxed through the nose, and then you get a chronic illness or 2 and work a little bit more, and then finally you get to "enjoy" your "golden years" once you aren't healthy enough to work. Enjoy that time in hospital waiting rooms. Deplorable.
You spend the best and healthiest years of your life working for the man, and being a participant in this consumerist rat-race culture, and you get taxed through it all. And then you get some bullshit poverty-level payments if you reach some arbitrary age that the government can change at any time, so you become completely at their mercy.
None of us commoners are getting the JagmeetSingh or PierrePoilievre pensions.
Go retire early. Retirement at 65 is a scam by the government to keep you working and paying taxes for nearly all your healthy lifespan. Use your healthy years on yourself.
The easiest way to retire early is to move out from the expensive countries like USA, Canada, Australia, UK. Go to Southeast Asia like Christopher Lavoie. In mid-2025, hotel rooms go for CAD 20 per night at 3-star hotels, which comes to CAD 600 per month. That's a whole lot better than paying CAD 2000 per month on an apartment in Canada. I've heard from neighbours that their parents are in nursing homes paying CAD 5k per month. That's crazy. Keep your health up, and go to SEA, and keep your wealth up, and spend your golden years on the beach.