Last year, while being laid off over a Slack call, I had a vision. I saw myself, greying and tired, in a white room. My theory is that the shock of the news swept clean the imagination of my entire future.<\/p>\n
That vision came on the heels of a long buildup. I freelance on the personal finance beat and often talk to Gen Zs and millennials about their money habits, career decisions and retirement plans<\/a>. <\/p>\n Some save every penny for a down payment on a home. Others live for today and figure tomorrow will sort itself out. I\u2019ve spent years comparing myself to them.<\/p>\n In the middle of one of my comparison spirals, I asked ChatGPT<\/a> a question I couldn\u2019t bring myself to ask a human: \u201cDo you think I\u2019ll be okay when I\u2019m 65?\u201d<\/p>\n We asked ChatGPT for personal finance advice. Here\u2019s what human advisers think about AI\u2019s answers <\/a><\/p>\n Off the bat, the bot, known for agreeing with its user, legitimized my feelings in its em-dash-heavy fashion. \u201cIt\u2019s totally valid to feel anxious about retirement \u2013 especially after a job loss,\u201d it replied.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not alone in this,\u201d it said, which is true. Almost half of Canadians lose sleep over money issues, according to a Financial Stress Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n It basically congratulated me for being proactive. \u201cYour concern shows you\u2019re thinking ahead, which is a great first step.\u201d <\/p>\n Opinion: Testing AI hype with questions about how to save a home down payment and when to start CPP<\/a><\/p>\n Next, it asked for details about my age, savings, income, expenses, retirement goals, eligibility for the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security, and whether I plan to buy a home.<\/p>\n I gave it all the details: I\u2019m a 29-year-old freelancer with $20,000 in my tax-free savings account, $5,000 in my registered retirement savings plan, some other savings, some gold and no real plan. I spend about $3,000 a month, have no debt or pension and rent in Toronto with my husband, who works full-time in technology. <\/p>\n My freelancing income swings between $1,000 and $5,000 a month. We don\u2019t own property, nor do my parents. We sometimes talk about buying a place, having a kid and retiring in Egypt, where his family has a home. I\u2019d like to retire by age 65.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Ms. Khozema asked ChatGPT a question at the heart of her financial anxiety: ‘Do you think I\u2019ll be okay when I\u2019m 65?’Ali Elmoudi\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re actually in a much better position than you might think, especially at 29.\u201d I found it hard to believe that I was on par with my peers, so I Googled it.<\/p>\n Again, the bot was right, kind of. Reddit<\/a> threads and a big bank\u2019s advice team<\/a> agreed that you should have around one year of your annual salary saved by 30, which I almost do. <\/p>\n But that\u2019s based on an entry-level salary, not enough to survive in one of Canada\u2019s most expensive cities.<\/p>\n Still, it continued to reassure me that I was on the right track, highlighting my lack of debt, low expenses and solid savings. <\/p>\n But it also flagged risks like needing to save more for rent later since I don\u2019t own property. It reminded me that my inconsistent income might affect CPP eligibility and to check on my contributions regularly. It even told me to get the ball rolling on conversations about kids and home ownership with my husband.<\/p>\n Four wealth traps that can derail your retirement<\/a><\/p>\n I already knew a lot of that. It didn\u2019t go into detail about whether my income was enough to survive the expenses of a home or child, how much more I needed or if my income would live up to the cost of living over the next few decades. I\u2019m sure it could if I poked around more.<\/p>\n I was already starting to feel better, so I skipped all that and went straight to the big number. I told ChatGPT about contributing $550 into my TFSA every month and about an upcoming fellowship. I also said I eventually did want to find a stable job with benefits. I asked it to give me the projection, as vague as that sounds. <\/p>\n Within seconds, it returned with numbers and showed just how. If I don\u2019t touch my TFSA until retirement, it said I\u2019d have almost a quarter of a million dollars. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t believe that. What would our monthly budget be? How long would it last? Would we be paying for our theoretical kid still? I had a lot of questions, but not enough will to poke holes in my perfect story.<\/p>\n I was ready to escape the spreadsheet vibes, so I ended by asking it to show me what a day in my retirement could look like.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re 67 years old. You live in a peaceful Nile-side neighbourhood in Egypt. The cost of living is a fraction of what it was in Toronto. You and your husband either own a small home or rent a beautiful, affordable apartment in a community where you\u2019re known for your stories,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n I asked ChatGPT to generate a picture of me in retirement, and this is what it created. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Ms. Khozema asked ChatGPT to generate a picture of her in retirement, and it produced this image.ChatGPT<\/p>\n It described my morning coffee, my afternoon hobbies and my evening reading. Between them, I occasionally co-hosted a podcast, edited a few articles and blogged about my travels from an Egyptian courtyard while my husband brought me coffee. It said that I could live a comfortable life travelling and hosting friends for dinner parties in Egypt. As romantic as it all sounded, it was a projection built on my TFSA alone. <\/p>\n