For people ~5 years from retirement · Canada

Retire in five years. On purpose.

Not someday. Not “when the money feels right.” A clear, week-by-week countdown — CPP & OAS timing, the math that actually matters, and the life you’re retiring to — so work becomes a choice, not a necessity.

Start the countdown — free Get the book

Free articles Mon · Wed · Fri + the Sunday digest. No spam. Educational only — not financial advice.

5 yrsTo prepare
3× / wkNew articles
SunWeekly digest
$8 CADPaid, per month

The Countdown Plan

Five years. Five jobs.

Scroll through the countdown. Each year has one job — do that job well and the next one gets easier. The photo tells the same story: at five years out, retirement is a dream — hazy at the edges. Year by year, the planning brings it into focus, until at Year 1 it's simply your life, right in front of you. Miss a year and you don’t fail, you just pay for it later.

Back view of a man in a bright modern apartment, holding a tablet showing the Retire Smarter with AI cover with a laptop and smart home display on the desk — the retirement picture, hazy at five years out and in focus at one
Year 55

Year 5 — See it clearly

Inventory everything: pensions, CPP & OAS, savings, debts, and the date work could become optional. No fixing yet — just the truth on one page. Most people have never actually seen it.

Year 4 — Run the real numbers

When you claim matters. CPP grows 0.7% for every month you delay past 65 (to 70); OAS grows 0.6% a month. Model two or three claim dates side by side and pick on purpose — not by default.

Year 3 — Fix the leaks

Debt, fees, and the quiet spending that adds up to a working year. This is the year small, boring fixes buy back months of freedom. Organized beats intense, every time.

Year 2 — Test the life

Retirement fails on Tuesdays, not on paper. Trial the schedule, the budget, and the place. What will your ordinary week actually look like — and do you like the person in it?

Year 1 — Walk through the door

Final claim dates, the handover, the last paycheck math — and a first 90 days with a plan, not a void. You’re not stopping. You’re starting, on your terms.

The question worth sitting with

Do you want to retire — or do you just need to?

Four boxes. Everyone heading toward retirement is in one of them — and from the outside they all look identical. Tap yours. The goal of the countdown isn’t any single box: it’s moving from the “need” column to the “want” column, while you still have time.

From the article “Do You Want to Retire — or Do You Just Need To?” — if it made you think of someone, send it to them.

What lands in your inbox

A rhythm, not a firehose.

Lake at dawnMon · Wed · Fri

Short, sharp articles

400–700 words. One idea that moves your countdown forward — retirement mechanics, real business-journey lessons, and the younger-reader mindset: retirement is real, and it sneaks up.

Coast at sunsetEvery Sunday

The Sunday digest

The week’s detailed edition, plus a talking-reel episode with burned-in captions — made for muted scrolling on the couch. The one email to open with coffee.

Forest in morning mistDaily

Notes & reels

One short Note a day and a daily reel — no black backgrounds, no fluff. The relatable factor, headline-large: your age, your years left, your number.

The books

Start with the books.

Both live on Amazon — that's where every purchase happens. Paid members also get a free digital copy of Retire Smarter with AI included.

Paperback copy of Retire Smarter with AI lying on a wooden table next to a cup of coffee

Retire Smarter with AI

The practical playbook: use today’s tools to organize the money, test the scenarios, and build a retirement plan you actually understand — without handing your future to a black box.

  • Organize your whole money picture — pensions, savings, debts — in one place
  • Test retirement scenarios and claim dates before you commit to one
  • Turn the results into a written plan you actually understand

For: people roughly five years from retirement who want a plan they can explain in their own words. Not: personalized financial advice — it’s education, and your own advisor makes the final calls.

See the Amazon listing for formats and the current price — the price on Amazon is the price you pay.

Buy on Amazon →
Read a free sample on Amazon →

Sold by Amazon — Amazon handles payment, delivery, and returns. Checkout happens on Amazon, not on this site.

Illustrated cover art — five golden stepping stones crossing a river toward dawn
Coming next · Flagship

The Countdown Plan

The flagship 5 Years to Freedom book — the full five-year system, held to the strictest review bar we’ve ever set. Join free today and you’re first in line for founding-reader pricing.

Inside: the complete Year 5 → Year 1 system from the countdown above — the inventory, the claim-date math, the leak-fixing, the life-test, and a planned first 90 days.

First accessMembers first

Founding-reader list is open now — it closes before public launch.

Join the founding list →

About the author

I'm Peter Push — that's my pen name — a Canadian business owner, and I'm not in my own retirement countdown yet — but I will be soon. So I'm being proactive about it: looking at my options, running the numbers early, and planning ahead instead of hoping it sorts itself out. 5 Years to Freedom is what I'm learning as I go — out of running real businesses and doing this math for real, the same business-journey lessons that run through the writing. Everything published here is education, not financial advice.

Also by the author, as Peter Push: Monetize Your Poo: From Poop to Profit — the standalone humor-business book on turning an overlooked problem into profit. Live now in ebook & paperback — buy it on Amazon (checkout is on Amazon).

Start reading

Recent thinking.

Back view of a person at sunrise over a misty lake
The big question

Do You Want to Retire — or Do You Just Need To?

Four boxes, one honest answer — and what it takes to move from “need” to “want” while you still can.

Mountain sunrise
CPP & OAS · Canada

CPP and OAS Are Not One Decision

Two cheques, two clocks, two very different rules — lumping them together is the mistake.

 Calm lake at dawn
Sunday digest

The Sunday Countdown — The RRSP Deadline Nobody Warns You About

The week’s detailed Sunday edition — this week: your RRSP has an expiry date, and the clock runs out at 71.

Membership

Free gets you started. Paid gets you there.

Paid tiers are in CAD, through Substack. Annual is the smart money — two months free versus monthly. Free members start with the 3-page Countdown Checklist. Go paid — monthly, annual, or founding — and you get the full three-part toolkit: the Countdown Workbook, the Readiness Scorecard, and the Retirement Income Map.

The planning toolkit

One toolkit — the checklist free, all three for paid members.

The 3-page checklist is the free starting point — a quick taste of the system. Paid members get the comprehensive tools: a workbook to do the work, a scorecard to see where you stand, and a map to see where the money comes from.

01 · The Workbook

The Countdown Workbook

The full system, as worksheets — not just articles. Work year by year from five years out to one, with the tables and planners to run your own numbers.

  • Year-by-year action lists — Year 5 to Year 1
  • CPP & OAS timing tables — claim dates side by side
  • TFSA / RRSP / RRIF decision worksheets
  • Monthly cash-flow planner
  • Retirement-cost budget — what life actually costs

Paid members · Fill-in & printable

02 · The Diagnostic

The Readiness Scorecard

Score yourself honestly, then fix what matters first. Four pillars, one clear picture of where you stand — and what's holding you back.

MoneyHealthWorkLifestyle
  • Self-score across money, health, work & lifestyle
  • See strengths and gaps at a glance
  • Get a clear “fix this first” priority
  • Re-score as your countdown moves

Paid members · See where you stand

03 · The Visual Planner

The Retirement Income Map

Your whole income picture on one visual planner — every source, year by year, from day one of retirement onward. No more guessing which cheque covers what.

CPPOASRRIFTFSAPensionPart-time work
  • Maps CPP, OAS, RRIF, TFSA, pension & part-time work
  • Laid out year by year from retirement day one
  • Spot gaps, overlaps, and lean years early
  • Built to revisit when a claim date changes

Paid members · See the whole picture

Free members start with the 3-page Countdown Checklist. Paid members — monthly, annual, and founding — get all three comprehensive PDFs: the Countdown Workbook, the Readiness Scorecard, and the Retirement Income Map. Use them in order — Scorecard first to find the gap, Workbook to close it, Income Map to see the result — or start wherever your countdown needs you most.

Free

$0

forever

  • Articles Mon · Wed · Fri
  • Sunday digest
  • Daily Notes & reels
  • The 3-page Countdown Checklist — the free starting point
  • Community comments
Join free
Most popular · Best value

Paid — Annual

$80 CAD/yr

Just $6.67/mo — save vs. $8/mo monthly

  • Everything in Free
  • Monthly deep dive (the 15th)
  • Monthly live Q&A (the 28th)
  • Free digital copy of Retire Smarter with AI
  • The Countdown Workbook — full Year 5 → 1 system
  • The Readiness Scorecard — money · health · work · lifestyle
  • The Retirement Income Map — every source, year by year
Go annual — get all three

Founding Member

$240 CAD/yr

For the all-in countdown

  • Everything in Paid — Annual
  • Countdown Workbook included
  • Readiness Scorecard included
  • Retirement Income Map included
  • First access to The Countdown Plan
  • Founding-reader pricing, locked
Become a founding member

Monthly paid is $8 CAD/mo through Substack — it includes all three toolkit PDFs (the Countdown Workbook, Readiness Scorecard, and Retirement Income Map) plus the monthly deep dive, Q&A, and free digital book. Refer friends and earn paid time: tiers at 2, 10, and 25 referrals. Educational only — not financial advice.

Straight answers

Before you ask.

Is this financial advice?

No. Everything here is educational only — lessons, frameworks, and verified public figures (like CPP & OAS deferral rates) to help you ask better questions. Your decisions deserve your own advisor for your own situation.

I don’t want to retire. Is this still for me?

Yes — arguably most of all. The countdown isn’t about stopping; it’s about reaching the point where work is a choice. Plenty of readers plan to keep working. They just refuse to have to.

I’m not Canadian. Will this help?

The mindset, the five-year structure, and the want-vs-need work travel anywhere. The country-specific strategy pieces (CPP, OAS, Canadian taxes) stay Canadian — we don’t publish US-specific strategies.

What do paid members actually get?

Every paid member — monthly, annual, or founding — gets a monthly deep dive on the 15th, a monthly Q&A on the 28th, a free digital copy of Retire Smarter with AI, and the full planning toolkit, all three comprehensive PDFs: (1) The Countdown Workbook — year-by-year action lists (Year 5 to Year 1), CPP/OAS timing tables, TFSA/RRSP/RRIF decision worksheets, a monthly cash-flow planner, and a retirement-cost budget; (2) The Readiness Scorecard, to score yourself across money, health, work, and lifestyle and see what to fix first; and (3) The Retirement Income Map, a visual planner mapping CPP, OAS, RRIF, TFSA, pension, and part-time work year by year from day one of retirement. Free members get the 3-page Countdown Checklist — the quick-start version of the system.

What happened to the Countdown Checklist?

It's still here — and it's the free one. The 3-page Countdown Checklist is what every free subscriber gets: the year-by-year actions in quick-start form. The comprehensive version is the Countdown Workbook, which expands those same actions with the timing tables, decision worksheets, cash-flow planner, and budget — and paid members (monthly, annual, and founding) get the Workbook plus the Readiness Scorecard and the Retirement Income Map, all three.

Where do I actually buy the books?

On Amazon. Every book purchase on this page links out to Amazon — there is no checkout, cart, or payment on this site. The price you see on Amazon is the price you pay, and Amazon handles payment, delivery, and returns.

Can I read part of the book before buying?

Yes — the Amazon listing for Retire Smarter with AI carries a free sample you can read before you spend anything. The free articles here work the same way: they cover the same countdown thinking, so you can judge the approach first.

Who handles returns on a book?

Amazon does. Purchases, delivery, and returns all run through Amazon under its own policies — this site never takes payment, so it can’t offer its own guarantee. What Amazon promises on the listing is what applies.

Do paid members really get Retire Smarter with AI free?

Yes — a free digital copy of the book is included with paid membership. The planning toolkit is tiered separately: free members get the 3-page Countdown Checklist, and paid members of either tier — monthly, annual, and founding — get all three comprehensive PDFs: the Countdown Workbook, the Readiness Scorecard, and the Retirement Income Map.

Follow 5 Years to Freedom

Follow the countdown, wherever you scroll.

The writing lives on Substack, the daily reels live on Instagram and YouTube. Pick your platform — it's the same countdown everywhere.