Retirement
How To Think About Retirement Planning
We all need to think about retirement planning at some point in our lives. Relying on rules of thumb like saving 10% of your income or withdrawing 4% of your savings can get you part way there. But it’s also important to think about what retirement will look like for you. When will you retire?…
Read More5 Retirement Planning Options To Help You Reach Your Retirement Goals
There are lots of unknowns when it comes to retirement planning. Most of us focus on how much we need to save for retirement without giving much thought as to how much we’re going to spend in retirement. I’d say, in general, that most people want to maintain their existing lifestyle, if not enhance it…
Read MoreShould You Postpone Retirement?
Many years ago, my boss (Jerry) was all set to retire at age 58 when the federal government decided to impose a tax on the distributions of income trusts and royalty trusts. He was heavily invested in the energy sector – in oil royalty trusts with a history of generous payouts thanks to years of…
Read MoreThe Retirement Risk Zone
I often recommend deferring CPP until age 70 to secure more lifetime income in retirement. It’s also possible to defer OAS to age 70 for a smaller, but still meaningful, increase in guaranteed income. While the goal is to design a more secure retirement, there can be a psychological hurdle for retirees to overcome. That…
Read MoreUsing Annuities To Create Your Own Personal Pension In Retirement
*Sponsored by RBC Insurance* The reason why retirement planning can be so difficult is because the one variable we need to know – how long we have to live – is impossible to predict. Sure, we have mortality tables and family history to help guide us, but statistically speaking, half the population will outlive their…
Read MoreYour Retirement Readiness Checklist
A good portion of my financial planning clients are in what I’d call the retirement readiness zone, meaning they are 1-5 years away from retirement. They want a check-up on their financial situation and answers to big burning questions like, when can I retire, how much money can I spend, how long will my money…
Read MoreDesigning Your Retirement Lifestyle: Moving From Thought To Action
When you retire you want to be intentional with your time and focus on doing the things that will give you purpose and meaning, what makes you truly happy. In this final article, I’m going to bring everything together by telling you one of my favourite retirement lifestyle design stories. Part one: It all…
Read MoreDesigning Your Retirement Lifestyle: Embracing Your Ikigai
In our first article we discussed the importance of finding a good sense of purpose and how many retirees are finding it through paid or volunteer work. I’m a big fan of working part time as there is mounting evidence that working at something helps people live a longer, healthier and happier life. I’ve…
Read MoreDesigning Your Retirement Lifestyle: It All Starts With Purpose
Transitioning to a successful retirement is much more than a math problem, it’s a design problem. Every retiree needs to design a retirement lifestyle that will work for them based on their own unique values, needs and wants and then ensure they have sufficient cash flow to finance it. The challenge is that most retirees…
Read MoreAddressing Major Gaps In Your Retirement Plan
A good majority of my clients reach out to me looking for retirement planning advice. They want to know if they have enough assets to retire comfortably, how much longer they should work, what type of investment strategy makes sense in retirement, when to take CPP and OAS, and how to set up tax efficient…
Read More