What I learned by putting Viviplan to the test
Over the past year, as I experiment with semi-retirement, I’ve been putting a few retirement planning programs through their paces. As we noted earlier this year when I wrote about starting to collect...
View ArticleThe magic numbers for your findependence nest egg revealed
The latest RBC retirement poll came out today and the one thing I like about it is that they put the emphasis on my preferred term of Financial Independence, as opposed to plain old full-stop...
View ArticleWhy aggressive stock investors should take CPP early
When to delay CPP and/or OAS is perhaps the most popular topic in personal finance, at least for those at or nearing Retirement age. Certainly, the most common question fee-for-service financial...
View ArticleWhy so many athletes run into financial trouble
As an old-timer hockey player who still pays to play our national pastime, I can relate to the average sports fan’s tendency to envy the elite athletes who get paid millions to play kids’...
View ArticleHow “work optional” can fit into your retirement plan
I first came across the phrase “work optional” when it was uttered by financial planner Doug Dahmer, founder of Burlington, Ont.-based Retirement Navigator. “Work optional” often came up when we were...
View ArticleA new kind of annuity designed to help Canadian retirees live well, for longer
Two of the more promising measures in the recent federal budget could pave the way for deferred annuities and pooled-risk pension products designed to prevent retirees from outliving their money. The...
View ArticleAre GICs right for retirees who want fixed income?
The past decade of minuscule interest rates has been tough on retirees and those approaching retirement. As someone who doesn’t believe in taking more risk than you need to, I’ve always thought that...
View ArticleThe pros and cons of dividend investing
One of the more controversial investing topics confronted by near-retirees once they pass the age of 60 is the efficacy of dividend investing. One school of thought is that once you are near the stage...
View ArticleHow to avoid tax-payment nightmares when RRIF withdrawals start
One thing salaried employees take for granted is the automatic deduction of taxes “at source.” They receive their regular paycheque with “net” or after-tax deposits that go directly into their bank...
View ArticleHow long will your retirement nest egg last?
Apart from death, one of the most feared events faced by retirees is outliving your money. Certainly, rising expectations for longevity have to be considered, particularly if you’re a woman. Now that...
View ArticleCan you have too much invested inside an RRSP?
While not quite up there with outliving your money, for many seniors the idea of dying with too large an RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) or RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund) rankles....
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Good news: Your RRSP is probably in better shape than you think
My colleague David Aston has just published his first book—and it’s one I believe any MoneySense fan who’s interested in retirement will want to read. Titled The Sleep-Easy Retirement Guide, it...
View ArticleCanadians are still paying too much in investment fees
You’d think after decades hearing and reading about the long-term impact of high investment management fees on our retirement nest eggs, Canadian investors would have gotten the message by now. Among...
View ArticleIs early retirement a realistic goal for most people?
Personal finance bloggers and writers have been getting all “fired up” in recent months about the FIRE acronym, which stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. We wrote about the similar concept...
View ArticleWhen is the best time to start taking your CPP payments?
For retirees or near-retirees who lack traditional employer-sponsored Defined Benefit pension plans, the federal government’s Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) are the closest most...
View ArticleReconsidering when to take CPP benefits amid COVID-19 risk
In an earlier column, we looked at how to optimize the timing for taking your Canada Pension Plan benefits—early or late. We also touched on the issue of “survivorship,” mentioning retired advisor...
View ArticleShould you delay your retirement because of COVID-19?
Is the coronavirus-induced bear market reason to delay retirement? Some financial experts and commentators suggest Baby Boomers may be forced to set back their retirement by up to five years because of...
View ArticleShould retirees reduce RRIF payments during COVID-19?
If you’re a retiree drawing down on your portfolio, you should know the COVID-19 crisis has moved Ottawa to provide the option of reducing how much retirees can take out of Registered Retirement Income...
View Article12 top personal finance books to read this summer
For obvious reasons, a lot of personal finance and retirement books come my way and, from time to time, we’ve dedicated a particular edition of this column to a single book. This one looks at a dozen...
View ArticleShould you buy back pension service from your employer?
While defined benefit (DB) pensions are the Cadillac of retirement plans, they also entail a unique set of decisions. Buybacks are one of them. There are a few ways to build up the value of your DB...
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