Editor’s Letter: Spend it or save it?

When I was a student at U of T, my go-to restaurant was a gas station. Specifically, the Esso at Dupont and Davenport, where I’d source microwaveable butter chicken—easy, quick and wouldn’t kill me, at least not quickly. But I wasn’t exclusive: I regularly mixed things up with beer and chicken wings at the pub next door. My priorities were convenience and speed, not financial good sense (or, for that matter, nutrition). In other words, the opposite of the subjects of our cover story, “Young and Retired.”

They range in age from 25 to 53, and they’re either retired, close to it or deep in the planning. They scrutinize every dollar and base virtually all decisions on the impact to their retirement goals.

These folks stand out not only for their financial rigour but also for their courage to defy convention. We hear all the time about the profligate spending habits of the next generation. The $34 UberEats bill for a Popeyes sandwich with an iced tea; the $65 Sephora lip gloss set; the Amazon addictions. Given this reality, the people we found must be drinking from a different water source. They’re followers of a philosophy called FIRE, which stands for “financial independence, retire early.” The gist is this: hustle as hard as you can early, save like crazy, then invest and live off the returns. Instead of pints at the pub, they’re making their own wine. Instead of chicken wings out, they’re making every meal from scratch.

In a city as expensive as ours, that approach is incredibly difficult. Ever tried to go out on the town for less than $100? Or been the lone objector to splitting the bill in equal parts? It gets awkward fast.

Over the years, this magazine has covered the vast spectrum of ways in which Torontonians cope with the cost of living. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to leverage the parental piggy bank, an envy-inducing phenomenon we covered in 2014’s “The Bank of Mom and Dad.” Some have opted for a labour-lite life, spending less and making less, as we explored in 2024’s “Work Less, Live More.” At the far end of the spectrum was Toronto Life Tony, the cover star of our July 2016 issue, who was all about living for the moment, spending every cent of his considerable disposable income on travel, dining out and other hedonistic pursuits.

Today’s FIRE-focused super savers exist at the other end of the financial continuum. Many are living austere lives, resolving that long-term gain justifies short-term pain. One such adherent, Jim Chuong, hustled hard in his 20s, made some big bets, then invested in property during the 2008 downturn. But the philosophy became an obsession. Sitting in a business meeting one day, he had a life-is-short eureka moment and recalibrated his work-life balance. Today, at age 53, he’s been retired for 13 years, flies first-class and owns multiple investment properties.

A 26-year-old named Jane Tsang followed the same path, working two jobs, getting minimal sleep and lugging her laptop to family dinners in order to stay productive on the sly. She, too, reached a breaking point and revised her relationship to work. Tsang plans to retire in four years.

Having no life in your 20s in order to live it up in your 40s is a gamble in these precarious times. You’re betting on a future that may not arrive. But, if it does, the extreme savers will look prophetic and the doomspenders will be ruined. Should I have worked a few more home-cooked meals into my undergrad routine? Probably. I don’t regret the spending of my youth, but I also won’t be retiring at 50.

Malcolm Johnston is the editor of Toronto Life. He can be reached via email at editor@torontolife.com