I am resigned to the fact that I will have no retirement savings. I have screwed up financially due to bipolar mania and simply bad decision-making. Right now I am just starting to pay off credit cards debts, when I am done, I will resume paying child support, when children are in college, I will have to pay for that (all this assuming that I will have a job) - no place for retirement savings. So I am resigned to the fact that I will live on SSDI when I am old, supplementing that with some tutoring, probably. You are in Canada, I gather, a different situation. I am just describing how one can be resigned to the fact that one will never have retirement savings (and likewise, never own even a condo) and still enjoy her surroundings, good food, good conversation, etc.