From the vault: Peter Mansbridge on saving and retirement

Seems Peter Mansbridge, 68, had been mulling retirement for nearly 20 years before he announced that July 1, 2017, would be his last day as anchor of CBC’s The National.

We spoke to the veteran journalist for the inaugural issue of Advisor’s Edge, where he shared his thoughts on saving, spending and life after CBC.

As the celebrated broadcaster approaches his last show (and he slips into a pension worth $500,000 per year, according to Canadaland), we thought it fitting to re-post his original interview from June 1998. Here it is.

Do you consider yourself a saver or a spender? I’m very cyclical. I’ll go through long stretches of not buying anything. Then suddenly I’ll go on a spree, and feel very guilty about it and head back into a savings cycle.

What was the last extravagance you allowed yourself? I got a new CD player. My last player would probably qualify as an antique. I consider that an extravagance because there was nothing the matter with the old one.

What do you do with pocket change? I do move it aside, it’s one of my savings things. I put loonies and toonies in an actual piggy bank. I open that up on an annual basis to help pay for my winter golfing holiday. It doesn’t really pay for it, but it does help. It’s amazing how fast those add up. I force myself to do that at the end of each day. If there is one of those loonies or toonies in my pocket, I’ll put it away. Small change, I actually roll. I have one of those dinky coin-sorter things, and I’ll do that every few months rather than keep a whole whack of change in my pocket. I can’t, because it makes too much noise. In my job you can’t have all that jingling.

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Do you think about money much? I’m not fixated on it. I try to be responsible about it, but I’m lucky enough to be in a position that I don’t have to think about it as much as I certainly used to.

At what age do you plan to retire? I’ve actually been thinking about that quite a bit lately. There are times when I think it would be great to retire early. You know, having worked at a crown corporation — a place with a pension plan — for 30 years, I’m in a position to actually consider that kind of an option. But I think I’d get tired of golfing, so it won’t be anytime soon.

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What will you do when you retire? Golfing, fishing. You know, as much as I like to occasionally daydream about that possibility, I know I could never do it. It’s just the kind of business I’m in. I’m too active to suddenly give it up. I’d have a hard time with that.

Finish this sentence: “If I were Finance Minister…” If I were Finance Minister I would like to believe I would focus most on those who need my help rather than those who may benefit from my help. That’s not a reflection on anyone. It’s just that if I were there, I’d want that on a wall somewhere close to me to look at all the time.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.