For Cassie Campbell, going for gold doesn’t involve hockey any more. Now that the 33-year-old former captain of Canada’s national women’s hockey team has hung up her skates for good, she has set her eyes on a different prize — saving for a comfortable retirement in her fifties, she hopes. That goal is keeping her very busy. Now earning her keep as a reporter on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, Ms.

Campbell’s life is a hectic crush of airports, hotels and hockey rinks. She’s also writing two books, earns some extra money as a motivational speaker and is a representative for McDonald’sÖ and General Motors.

“Oh, the real world is definitely much harder than being an Olympic athlete,” she laughs from an airport waiting room in Edmonton, en route to Denver for an Oilers-Avalanche game earlier this month. “I’d like to retire in Canada ..... Living near a golf course and just golfing and having enough money to travel. If we have kids, see them.” Ms. Campbell’s interest in saving began at an early age, as did the fascination with hockey that led her to be the only Canadian to captain two Olympic gold-medal winning teams. It was her mother’s frugal habits that taught her to be careful with money, and her father who recommended she and her brothers save for retirement.

“He didn’t really give me advice on what to put it in, it was just the fact we needed to do it,” she recalls. “My mom was always making sure she was saving money at the grocery store, and I never, as a youngster, got brand names.” Thanks to her parents’ example, she has built a portfolio that’s into the “five-figure” range, she says. She and her husband, Hockey Canada spokesman Brad Pascall (also a saver, she says), have no consumer debt, a mortgage on their Calgary home, and make payments on only one car. As part of her contract with GM, she gets a car, and their vacations are covered with travel-reward programs. Their one extravagance, she says, is dining out together.

But it hasn’t been an easy ride to get to this point. Through the years, Ms. Campbell socked away any extra money she could. After growing up in Brampton, Ont., she attended the University of Guelph, where her father helped her with her tuition, rent and bills.

“Although I had help from my dad, I always had a part-time job,” she says. “I put a certain amount of money away every week, even if it was $20.”

Canadians are well aware of how expensive it can be to play hockey. But even with high expenses, she continued to save. “A lot of it went into the sport, but I’ve always saved money. In today’s life you never know if you’re going to lose your job, or have an emergency situation where you need money.”

The toughest time to save, she recalls, was after she finished university in 1997 and her career started to take off.

“I became a full-time Olympic athlete,” she explains. “Not working a full-time job [and] not really having a part-time job, but I managed [to save] a little bit.”

Through the federal Athlete Assistance Program, she was given a living and training allowance, becoming what is known as a “carded” athlete. “Carding helped, and there was the odd [paid] appearance I would do,” she says.

Younger members of Team Canada would approach her and ask how she managed to invest. The key? Automatic deductions. “Once you get it taken out of your account you won’t miss it,” Ms. Campbell says. “A lot of people think they can’t afford it, but even if it’s $50 a month, I think you won’t miss it. Make it automatic.” Today, she puts about 25 per cent of her pay directly into savings.

In her playing years, Ms. Campbell developed a reputation as a quick skater, who set up goals by racing to the puck. She was known for aggressively and assertively fending off opposition players, but she’s far less aggressive when it comes to her portfolio. It is geared toward a conservative balance of about 60-per-cent equity funds, and 40-per-cent fixed income, she says. She has little interest in playing the stock market directly. “Never say never, but it’s not something I really know a lot about.”

For all her careful planning, Ms. Campbell has learned from her first retirement, from hockey, that it’s a process best started only once you’re absolutely ready to deal with it.

“I had been thinking about retirement for two years. I was prepared for it. I had been turning down a lot of opportunities, and I had won everything I could possibly win as a player and wasn’t as motivated. I wanted to try to do different things.”

Successful people, she believes, are driven to move on and do better things. For now, she says, what drives her is becoming a better broadcaster; down the road, her goal is a comfortable retirement in the more traditional sense. Like any true team player, Ms. Campbell isn’t pursuing her financial goal single-handedly. She is a big believer in getting expert help. She works closely with Pam Somers, a financial planner at RBC Investments. They talk every three months or so about investments, Ms. Campbell says.

“It’s important to take the time,” she adds. “If you’re not interested in it, much like myself, you need to surround yourself with people who can help you out.”

Theresa Ebden is an associate producer for Report on Business Television.