Retirement is often framed as a financial milestone, but according to investment professional Martin Pelletier, its true value lies in how you allocate your time. He writes that there are three distinct phases: Go Go, Go Slow and No Go. The first phase, Go Go, is the period of highest activity and health, and it is the one most at risk if you delay retirement too long.
Pelletier recounts a message from a friend who unexpectedly retired early. “Sorry I jumped without saying goodbye. At this stage of my life, time is worth more than money,” the friend wrote. “There are three phases of retirement: Go Go, Go Slow and No Go. I didn’t want to cut into the first phase anymore.”
The true currency of wealth
Pelletier emphasizes that time is the most valuable currency, and its importance grows with age. He previously wrote a piece titled “If life gets shorter, like a roll of toilet paper, why do we work so long?” to illustrate how finite time really is. The habits built to accumulate wealth often prevent people from enjoying it, he argues.
His friend’s post-retirement activities include Gaspé snowmobiling, cat skiing in Kazakhstan, an 8,000-kilometre motorcycle ride from London to The Gambia through the Sahara Desert, hitchhiking to Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, and planning a cycle from Beijing to Istanbul. “There is something honest and raw in that decision,” Pelletier notes.
Comfort as the enemy of progress
Pelletier warns that comfort often prevents people from reallocating time toward enjoyment. “Why not push yourself to actually enjoy the fruits of your labour? Why not start allocating your time differently once you have built the financial foundation to do so?” he asks. Waiting until the Go Slow phase almost guarantees entering No Go sooner than expected.
For younger people facing rising costs and affordability crises, this perspective may feel out of reach. However, Pelletier suggests rethinking the return on time and money rather than abandoning discipline. He cites a younger colleague who built a sandbox for his children for $300, calling it “one of the best investments I have ever made.” The colleague described feeling the same presence he experienced on a Mexican beach vacation, right in his own backyard.
Applying the lesson
Pelletier concludes that financial plans should gradually convert capital into freedom. If they don’t, something is off. The goal is not to quit work early but to measure success by how well you allocate your most finite resource: time.
