Retirement
Where Does My CPP Money Go After It Gets Deducted From My Paycheque?
If you’re like many Canadians, you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this whole pension thing we have going on. You know/hope it will be there when you turn 65. You know that a decent chunk gets taken off of your cheque each month (along with a bunch of other acronyms and taxes).…
Read MoreA Realistic Retirement Income Target
In The Essential Retirement Guide, author Fred Vettese argues that the widely accepted retirement income target of 70 percent of final pay is too high. A more realistic retirement income target, according to Mr. Vettese, may be closer to 50 percent and in some cases could be as low as 35-40 percent (i.e. for couples…
Read MoreIs Every Day A Saturday In Retirement?
Is every day a Saturday in retirement? That’s what behavioural scientists Dan Ariely and Aline Holzwarth claimed in a recent study about retirement income. The premise being that when you’re no longer working 40 hours a week (or more) all of a sudden you have 40 hours a week available to spend money. Every day…
Read MoreHow Much Will My Defined Benefit Pension Pay In Retirement?
I contribute to a defined benefit pension plan at work. How much will I get from the pension plan in retirement? That depends on when I retire or leave the plan. Hang on, we’re about to get math-y. Normal retirement age is 65 and I joined the pension plan in 2009 at age 30. Retiring in…
Read MoreThe 4 Percent Rule: Is There a New Normal for Canadian Retirees?
How much do I need to retire? How much income can I create from my investment portfolio? These are two of the most common and important questions that retirees will often ask. Those two questions are certainly related, or let’s say one can determine the other. If you can earn a 7 percent annual return…
Read MoreRetirement Planning For Late Starters
We’re always hearing dire warnings about how woefully unprepared boomers are for retirement. An Ipsos-Reid survey done for CGA-Canada reports that 25% of their respondents have never made a savings contribution and 29% said they had no money left over to save after paying expenses. So, what if you’re now in your 50’s, still have…
Read MoreDownsizing Retirees: Should You Own Or Rent?
There’s been a lot written about the advantages of renting rather than owning a home for young people as they try to find the right balance between their financial situations and their housing needs. These days many older homeowners are struggling with this decision too. Empty nesters are thinking, “Our 5-bedroom house is too large…
Read MoreBuild Flexibility Into Your Retirement Plan
Prospective retirees want a simple formula for making their retirement plan. There are hundreds of calculators that will crank out numbers showing how many years until you can retire, how much you need to save, and how long your money will last. It’s a good place to start, but don’t stake your entire future on…
Read MoreInvesting In Retirement: How Much Money Should You Keep In Stocks?
Much is written about investing during your working years, but surprisingly little about investing in retirement. How much money should you keep in stocks after retirement? One rule of thumb says the percentage of equities in your portfolio should equal 100 or 110 minus your age, meaning someone turning 70 would have just 30 to…
Read MoreGenerating Retirement Cash Flow From Your Investments
Once you stop working your objective shifts from growing your investment portfolio to generating income from it. Many retirees obsess over generating enough retirement cash flow from their investments. They prefer a predictable stream of income to partially replace their previous salary income. Here are some strategies for getting cash flow from your retirement portfolio:…
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