Featured Post from Retire with Equity

Life Hacks in Retirement: Strategies for Aging Well

The secret? Focus on progress...not perfection

Aug 13, 2025

7 min

Sue Pimento

If Jean Smart can star in Hacks at 72, clearly life hacking is age-appropriate.

Hacks may be a TV comedy about a sharp-tongued, aging comic, but let’s face it: retirement needs a few hacks of its own. It turns out that aging well requires more than good genes—it demands good strategy. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress. Progress with fewer bruises, bigger laughs, and more money left at the end of the month than freezer-burnt chicken.


So here are some tried-and-true hacks in three essential areas: Money, Muscle, and Mood.

Let's get you hip, fit, and financially free.  Ready, Set, Go!


Money Hacks: Japan Might Have Found Something


In Japan, there's a charming financial custom called Kuzukai, where men hand over all their income to their wives and receive a monthly allowance. No joke—it's a thing. And it works. Japan boasts:


• One of the highest household savings rates at 23% (OECD, 2023)

• Low household debt per capita (World Bank)

• The lowest personal bankruptcy rate in the developed world (IMF Report)

• And a whopping 74% of households follow this practice (Nikkei Asia, 2021)


Maybe they’ve discovered the ultimate money hack: give the money to the person most likely to use spreadsheets recreationally. But you don’t need a spouse or a sushi habit to save big. Whether you're solo or shacked up, a homeowner or a renter, here are some effectively universal money-saving tips.


Everyday Money-Saving Hacks:


• Cut the Hidden Fees: Banking, streaming, delivery apps—if you’re not actively using them, cancel or deactivate. Your wallet will thank you. Read your bank and investment statements carefully, as if they were love letters from your money. That $3 “maintenance fee”? It might be costing you more than you realize.


• Unsubscribe to Survive: Subscriptions are like house guests—pleasant at first but staying too long and costing too much. Establish a quarterly ritual—Subscription Audit Sunday. Review auto-renewals—Netflix, meditation apps, fancy sock clubs. If it doesn’t bring you joy or serve your needs weekly, cancel it. You might find enough loose change for a weekend escape.


• Shop Daily, Eat Fresh: Instead of over-buying in bulk, buy just what you need for the day. It supports spontaneity and reduces waste. (Bonus: you can honour the “I feel like chicken wings” days guilt-free.).


Power Tip: Shop daily, eat fresh. Channel your inner Parisian. Shop just for today—reducing waste, adding joy, and turning dinner into a choice rather than a guilt-ridden freezer excavation.


• Use Senior Discounts Like a Boss: Shoppers Drug Mart (55+), Pet Valu (60+), movie theatres, golf, bowling… but only if you ask. Ask proudly: “I dare you, card me.” Mark senior days on your calendar like paydays, because they are.


• Split with a Buddy: Share groceries with a friend. Half a BBQ chicken is more realistic (and less greasy) than the whole bird, and it reduces “fridge clutter”!


• Ride Together: Share Ubers or Lyft. Or better yet, plan your errands with a friend and make a day of it; it will feel more like an adventure.


• Scan for Free Fun: Check local listings for subsidized classes, outdoor concerts, and "pay what you can" events. Even dress rehearsals can be hidden gems at a discount.


Money Traps to Avoid:


1. Subscription Creep – Set reminders to cancel trials. They add up faster than your grocery bill in the frozen aisle.


2. Silent Statement Siphons – Monitor your monthly expenses. Cut out what doesn’t bring joy or value.


3. Lifestyle Drift – Just because you can spend, doesn’t mean you should. You don’t need another air fryer.


4. Over-Gifting – Love isn’t measured in Amazon orders. The best gift is your time, or your famous banana bread.


5. Retail Therapy – If it’s cheaper than therapy, it’s probably just a distraction. But that doesn’t mean it’s helpful therapy.


6. Impulse Upgrades – Your current phone may be a few years old—but so are you, and you’re still fabulous. Your toaster doesn’t need Bluetooth, and neither do your socks.


Physical Hacks: Train Like You Really Mean It


The book ‘Younger Next Year’ (thank you, Bill P. and Steven H.) offers a wake-up call:

Life is a test of endurance. Prepare yourself for it.  In retirement, fitness isn’t just a hobby — it’s your new full-time job. And this job offers better hours, no toxic bosses, and a dress code that includes spandex.


Fitness Hacks That Work


1. Schedule it: If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not happening. Even better, set a recurring date with a friend. Accountability is appealing.


2. Make it enjoyable: Not feeling spin class? Skip it. Try Zumba, power walking, or even disco gardening. Move as if no one’s watching (even if your neighbour is).


3. Start where you are: Don’t join Advanced Pickleball if your last workout was chasing a runaway dog in 2017.


4. Make It Social: Grab a friend or make new ones—bonus points for post-sweat smoothies and commiseration.


5. Keep Commitments (Especially to Yourself): Be a “serious person,” as Logan Roy would say. If you schedule a walk, show up—even if you’re in Crocs and a hoodie.


6. Track progress, not perfection: Count steps, not pounds. Celebrate consistency. Aim for “better than yesterday,” not “six-pack by September.”


Fitness Traps to Avoid:


1. Choosing Something You Hate: If you dread it, you’ll ditch it. Guaranteed.


2. Overestimating Your Ability or Availability: Planning to run a marathon in 30 days after a decade on the couch? That’s... aspirational.


3. Overpaying for Motivation: Fancy gym + guilt ≠ results. Try a budget-friendly gym, or even YouTube workouts in your living room.


4. Ignoring Recovery: If you can’t walk after leg day, you’re doing it wrong—stretch, hydrate, nap. Repeat.


5. All-or-Nothing Thinking: Missing one workout doesn’t mean the week’s a write-off. Perfection is the enemy of progress.


6. Comparing Yourself to 30-Year-Olds on Instagram: Just… don’t. Unless you want to feel bad in high def.


7. Try "Fitness Snacking" Squats while the kettle boils. Do wall push-ups before brushing your teeth. Have a dance break during Jeopardy. Movement matters.


8. Stretch Before Bed Nightly stretches improve sleep and help you wake up feeling refreshed. It’s five minutes that pay dividends.


Emotional Hacks: Mindset Is Your Muscle


This is the part they don’t teach in school—or even in yoga class. Emotional health is what sustains you when the stock market tanks, your golf swing falters, or the kids “forget” to call.


Emotional Hacks to Try


1. Upgrade Your Self-Talk: You hear your voice more than anyone else’s. Make it kind. Make it constructive.


2. Be Your Own Biggest Fan: Self-love isn’t arrogance. It’s survival.


3. Treat Yourself Like a Dear Friend: Would you tell your best friend she’s lazy, useless, and past her prime? No? Then stop saying it to yourself.


4. Forgiveness: Begin with yourself. Write that forgiveness letter, see a therapist, cry it out. Let go. No one leaves here flawless.


5. Basic Self-Care: Feed your body with wholesome food, ensure proper rest, and maintain regular grooming. Yes, plucking your chin counts.


6. Gratitude: morning and night. Focus on one thing you’re grateful for each day. It’s better than Botox.


7. Practice "Mental Hygiene" meditation, journaling, or a walk without your phone. It's like flossing for your nervous system.


8. Try Five-Minute Journaling: “What made me smile today?” “What felt hard?” “What do I want more of tomorrow?” Answer honestly—no grammar police.


Emotional Traps to Avoid


1. Negative Self-Talk: There is zero upside. Science backs this up—positive self-talk improves performance and wellbeing. Try this:

“Today wasn’t my best. I was tired and snappy. I’ll apologize and do better tomorrow.”

or

“I know I can do this. I need to practice and be patient with myself.”


2. Not Making Yourself a Priority: The oxygen mask rule is absolute. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t help anyone else.


3. Self-Medicating with Booze, Bingeing, or Buying: Feel the feelings. Don’t dodge them with Chardonnay or Amazon.


4. Righteousness Addiction: Would you rather be right or be happy? Being “right” is expensive—emotionally, physically, and energetically.


5. All-or-Nothing Perfectionism: Perfection is a myth—and frankly, a boring one. Flaws are where the fun and growth live.


6. Regret. Let’s face it, regrets are a part of life. The trick is not to dwell on them. Don’t store them in Samsonite to pull out whenever we want to beat ourselves up! Ever notice that the windshield on your car is much bigger than the rearview mirror? Read that again.


The Social Capital Audit


You are more than your RRSP and Fitbit stats. What do you bring to the table? Your kindness? Humour? Lived wisdom? A killer lemon loaf? Whatever it is—own it. Hone it. Make it your signature. Whether you’re the neighbourhood listener, laughter-bringer, or human glue-stick, your contribution matters.


What Are You Proud Of… and Is It Still Serving You?


Maybe once upon a time, you were known for your hair, your legs, your singing voice, or your abs of yesteryear. But here's the truth: gravity always wins. And that’s not failure—it’s biology. So if you’re still starting sentences with “Back in my day…”, you might be overdue for a mindset update.


Choose something new to feel proud of now: your resilience, your sense of humour, your garden, or your ability to FaceTime your grandkid without accidentally hanging up.  Adjust the metric. Celebrate the upgrade.


Some Mantras for the Journey


• “Done is better than perfect.”

• “I am doing the best I can, and that’s enough.”

• “Every day is a fresh start (even if my back cracks getting out of bed).”

• “Progress, not perfection.”

• “I am not too old, and it’s not too late.”

• “If not now… when?”

• “Stop acting my age.”


The Final Hack: Don’t Just Celebrate – Throw Confetti


Practice makes progress. And progress, my friends, is where the magic lives.

Every step matters. Every stumble adds a twist.


Perfection is overrated. Progress is the new gold standard. And as Mel Robbins reminds us:

“There will be many people who won’t appreciate your value. Make sure you’re not one of them.”


You’ve spent your life caring for others. Now it’s your turn to care for yourself—thoughtfully, warmly, and with plenty of good humour.  Retirement isn’t the end. It’s the ultimate reboot.


Be the Jean Smart of your own story. Jean, watch your back... and Kuzukai, watch our money. Star power meets allowance power.

Don’t Retire…Re-Wire!


Sue


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Sue Pimento

Sue Pimento

Founder | CEO

Focused on financial literacy and retirement strategies. Authoring new book on home equity strategies to help seniors find financial freedom

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When I think about aging well, I don't see a number on a birthday cake. I see capacity. The ability to think clearly. To move with confidence. To stay curious. To laugh easily. To remember where I put my keys. (Okay, that last one is still aspirational.) That's why I teach 4 fitness classes a week and pay close attention to how I fuel my body. Not because I'm chasing youth, but because I've learned, both personally and professionally, that the way we move, eat, sleep, and cope influences how we feel... and how we show up for the people we care about. I don't want to live forever. I just want to live well while I'm here. Like many Boomers, I've been interested in the growing research on longevity. And let's be honest: Boomers have never been good at accepting "no" for an answer. Why would we start now, just because it's mortality asking? We're the generation that refused to compromise. Retirement? Optional. Slowing down? Negotiable. Death? We'd like to speak to the manager. This leads us to a fascinating group of scientists known as "Super Agers." Who Are Super Agers, Really? In research terms, Super Agers are adults over 80 whose cognitive abilities, especially memory, perform at levels expected of people in their 50s or 60s (Rogalski et al., 2013). But here's what I love most: they aren't superhuman. They're not top athletes. They're not biohackers living on kale foam and cold plunges at dawn. (Though if that's your thing, carry on.).  They're everyday people who never disconnected from life. A striking Canadian example is Morry Kernerman, a Toronto violinist who kept on learning, hiking, and performing well into the ripe age of 101. His story embodies the spirit of Super Aging: it's not about dodging age, it's about refusing to stop living. In a CBC interview, Maury Kernerman doesn't sound like someone "trying to live longer." He talks like someone who's still interested in living, fascinated by the world, hungry for learning, and unwilling to stand still just because he might do something imperfectly. He also admits something that matters to a lot of readers: he wasn't always an exercise person. He started taking it seriously later in life and describes it as a "rear guard action" that hasn't stopped aging, but has helped him keep his capacity. One of the most poignant lessons: when we're afraid of doing the wrong thing, afraid of failing or being embarrassed, we stop.  And standing still is what really costs us. Haven't you heard? Sitting is the new Smoking!! What the Science Is Showing Us Canadian and U.S. researchers, at Western University and Northwestern University, are discovering something significant. Not a pill. Not a quick fix. A system. Angela Roberts (Western University) explained that the Canadian arm of the research isn't relying only on lab snapshots. Participants are sent home with wearable devices so researchers can monitor real-world activity patterns continuously (24 hours a day) over multi-week periods (CBC News, 2024 - https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/superager-centenarians-brain-second-opinion-9.7049411). That design matters because it turns "healthy aging" from a vague concept into measurable behaviours: how much movement you get, how intense it is, how consistent it is, and how it fits into the rhythm of normal life. Super Agers typically stay active, remain mentally sharp, maintain close relationships, handle stress effectively, sleep well, and keep a generally positive attitude (Rogalski et al., 2013 - https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00300; Sun et al., 2016 - https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1492-16.2016) Their brains display thicker cortical areas linked to attention and memory, experience slower atrophy rates, have fewer Alzheimer's markers, and show stronger neuronal connections (Gefen et al., 2015 - https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2998-14.2015; Harrison et al., 2012 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617712000847) A Data Point Worth Remembering When It Comes to Longevity From the wearables, the research study observed that many 80-year-olds in the study, both "super agers" and the control group, were averaging about 25 to 30 minutes of exercise a day (roughly aligned with Canadian movement guidelines). The difference wasn't that super agers moved a little more.  The study showed that they got about 30% more of the kind of movement that raises heart rate, what researchers call moderate-to-vigorous physical activity In plain language: it's not just steps. It's getting your engine up into that slightly breathy zone on purpose, most days. There's no single longevity switch. It's a belt-and-suspenders approach: multiple protective habits working together over decades. Let's Talk About Weight (Without Losing Our Minds) People often ask: Should Super Agers be skinny? Or a little plump? The research answer is surprisingly dull (and comforting): Neither. Super Agers come in all sizes. There is no evidence that they share a specific body weight or BMI. What matters much more than the scale is stability, strength, and body composition (Stenholm et al., 2008). Obesity Shows Up Consistently in the Research Midlife obesity is associated with an increased risk of dementia later in life. Several large studies indicate that obesity (BMI ≥30) during midlife raises dementia risk by 33 to 91% compared to individuals of normal weight (Kivipelto et al., 2005; Qizilbash et al., 2015) However, in older age, unintentional weight loss often signals frailty or illness. Weight loss in later life is linked to faster cognitive decline and higher risk of death (Diehr et al., 2008) Being underweight increases the risk of death. Studies consistently indicate that underweight older adults (BMI <20) have 2 to 3 times the all-cause mortality risk compared to those with a normal weight, with one study reporting a 34% higher risk of dementia (Diehr et al., 2008). A slightly higher BMI in later life may actually be protective, especially if muscle mass is maintained. The "obesity paradox" demonstrates that overweight and mild obesity in older adults (ages 65+) are often linked to a lower risk of mortality, particularly from non-cardiovascular diseases (Natale et al., 2023). So, the prescription is clear: avoid extremes. Not so skinny you could use a Cheerio as a hula hoop, and not so plump that tying your shoes feels like a full-contact sport. Here's What Truly Matters: Muscle Mass Strength defends the brain, maintains balance, boosts metabolism, and offers resilience during illness or stress (Peterson & Gordon, 2011) "Skinny-fat", low muscle, higher fat, is actually worse for aging than carrying a bit more weight with muscle beneath (Prado et al., 2012). Super Aging isn't about shrinking yourself. It's about supporting the structure you live in. Sleep: The Quiet Superpower If movement is the main act, sleep is the stage crew ensuring the entire show runs smoothly. Sleep isn't just one thing. It's a cycle (Walker, 2017). The Stages of Sleep (a quick, non-boring tour) Light sleep: The warm-up. Easy to wake from. Necessary, but not enough by itself. Deep sleep: The body's main repair mode. This is where physical repair occurs: muscle recovery, immune support, hormone regulation (Scullin & Bliwise, 2015) (Walker, 2017). REM sleep: The brain's spa. Memory consolidation, emotional regulation, creativity, and learning all occur here (Scullin & Bliwise, 2015) (Walker, 2017). Missing deep sleep leaves your body feeling exhausted. Missing REM causes your brain to become fragile and foggy (Mander et al., 2017). Super Agers tend to guard their sleep, though not perfectly, deliberately (Mander et al., 2016). Consistent bedtimes, morning sunlight, daily activity, and relaxing evenings appear repeatedly. For some people, slow-release melatonin or magnesium can help improve sleep maintenance (Ferracioli-Oda et al., 2013). However, the greatest benefits often come from simple routines: consistency, darkness, cooler rooms, and avoiding phone use at 10 p.m. Sleep isn't a luxury. It's essential brain maintenance (Mander et al., 2017). Stress: The Real Villain Chronic stress is like kryptonite for cognitive health (McEwen & Sapolsky, 1995). The main source of stress is not accepting what is. We argue with reality, and we lose every time. We revisit conversations. We resist change. We attempt to control others. Super Agers appear more accepting, not resignation, but realism (Sun et al., 2016) Here are some practical strategies to consider: Let them. (Thank you, Mel Robbins.) People will be people. You don't need to manage them. Save your energy for what truly matters. And remember: what people think of you... is none of your business. Calm isn't passive. Calm is protective. Gratitude also plays a role. Many Super Agers exhibit a distinct emotional tone: more grateful, less gripeful (Hill & Allemand, 2011) Life wasn't simpler; they simply didn't let bitterness steer the way. Relationships and Quality of Life: The Real Gold Standard Super Agers don't have more friends; they have deeper ones. Strong relationships are linked to better emotional regulation and preserved brain regions. (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2014) (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010) And this isn't about extending life. It's about quality of life: cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being. Because no one wants a farewell-to-life party where nobody shows up because you've been miserable, bitter, or exhausting to be around (thank you, BR). Strong body. Clear mind. Warm relationships. A sense of humour that endures gravity. That's the win. 3 Practical Takeaways to Steal this Week If you want the super-ager approach without turning your life into a science experiment, here are three low-drama moves: Add intensity, not just activity. Keep your regular walk, but pick one segment to walk faster, take a hill, or add short brisk bursts. Your heart rate is the clue. Keep a learning thread running. Music, audiobooks, a class, a museum habit, a book club, anything that keeps your mind taxed in a good way and makes you feel curious again. Make "don't stand still" a rule. If you're avoiding something because you might look silly (a dance class, a new hobby, a new friend group), that's exactly the place to lean in, gently, but on purpose. Super Agers aren't chasing youth. (No one needs to see me in low-rise jeans again.) They're cultivating engagement. (Do you want to dance?) They move. They learn. They sleep well. They stay positive. They accept what is. They remain connected. They rely on the belt and suspenders. And most importantly, they don't wait for permission to live life to the fullest at any age. Yes, biology will win eventually. None of us gets out of this alive. But the real victory isn't in defeating what we can't control. It's in mastering what we can, for as long as we can, and living fully right up until biology takes its final bow. Don't Retire...ReWire! Sue Want more of this? Subscribe for weekly doses of retirement reality—no golf-cart clichés, no sunset stock photos, just straight talk about staying Hip, Fit & Financially Free.

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