The Canadian Retirement Guide

People over 65 years old constitute the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population. By 2011, as the first baby boomers turn 65, seven million Canadians will be senior citizens. And by 2041 it is estimated nearly one in four Canadians will be over 65. The aging population will radically change society as individuals face the challenges of growing older, caring for parents and often times for children still at home. As our life spans increase so do our options for how we will spend our later years. However, this large group of elders is facing a crisis. Many have made few if any plans for retirement. Without clear goals, plans to support dependants and means of paying for financial commitments, in addition to increasing health risks, retirement could be a time of misery and uncertainty. The Canadian Retirement Guide solves that problem. It sets up a process by which we can plan for retirement as a family, taking into consideration the retiree, the spouse and those who depend on them. Topics covered include estate planning, wills, taxation, how to choose financial professionals, your role as a caregiver, physical and mental health issues, and the different challenges facing us as we enter our golden years.

Let’s face it, planning and saving for retirement is not easy. We are told that the earlier we start the better and that the “magic of compounding” will make our dreams come true if we simply trust the stock market and our investment advisor. ​But for most people it’s simply not possible. People in their twenties are often saddled with student debt and may be struggling to find suitable full-time employment. Saving for retirement is the last thing on their minds, as it should be. ​Then in our thirties and forties we tend to do things like get married, have kids, and buy houses. All these things cost a lot of money! So for many people there simply isn’t any money left to put away for retirement. Therefore many of us become procrastinators when it comes to saving for retirement. ​But there is hope. This book will take you step-by-step though planning and saving for retirement starting in your fifties and the best way to fund your retirement years. It is designed for people approaching retirement who want to ensure it is comfortable and stress-free.

You can retire but your money can't! For much of your adult life, the question is "How much do I have to save to fund my retirement?" But as you approach retirement, or if you're already retired, the question becomes "How can I make the most of what I have saved?" Many Canadians live for over twenty years in retirement — that's a long time to make your nest-egg last. If you're not working, then your money had better be! Make the Most of What You've Got is the comprehensive, common-sense guide for everyone who wants to make the most of their retirement, whether you're already retired, or just approaching the threshold: Helps you maximize your retirement income and minimize your tax bill. Explains how to plan for a dependable retirement income, turn your investments into income, and manage your investment portfolio in retirement. Alerts you to the top ten retirement planning mistakes. Covers the complex decisions you need to make about your nest-egg: dealing with maturing RRSPs, deciding whether a RRIF or an annuity is right for you, determining if you can afford to retire early, and much more. Prepares you for working with your financial advisor or planner. Features practical examples, checklists, forms, tips, and Q&As.

Retirement planning is difficult enough without having to contend with misinformation. Unfortunately, much of the advice that is dispensed is either unsubstantiated or betrays a strong vested interest. In The Essential Retirement Guide, Frederick Vettese analyses the most fundamental questions of retirement planning and offers some startling insights. The book finds, for example that: Saving 10 percent a year is not a bad rule of thumb if you could follow it, but there will be times when you cannot do so and it might not even be advisable to try. Most people never spend more than 50 percent of their gross income on themselves before retirement; hence their retirement income target is usually much less than 70 percent. Interest rates will almost certainly stay low for the next 20 years, which will affect how much you need to save. Even in this low-interest environment, you can withdraw 5 percent or more of your retirement savings each year in retirement without running out of money. Your spending in retirement will almost certainly decline at a certain age so you may not need to save quite as much as you think. As people reach the later stages of retirement, they become less capable of managing their finances, even though they grow more confident of their ability to do so! Plan for this before it is too late. Annuities have become very expensive, but they still make sense for a host of reasons. In addition, The Essential Retirement Guide shows how you can estimate your own lifespan and helps you to understand the financial implications of long-term care. Most importantly, it reveals how you can calculate your personal wealth target - the amount of money you will need by the time you retire to live comfortably. The author uses his actuarial expertise to substantiate his findings but does so in a jargon-free way.

What if you didn't have to work for 35 years in order to retire? This Canadian-based guide will help you retire way earlier than you think possible. Réjean Venne and his wife left the corporate world to retire at the ages of 29 and 28. In this book, they share the strategies that helped them reduce their family expenses to under $30,000 per year and quit their jobs to become full-time parents. Their common sense approach helped them generate enough passive income to no longer rely on traditional careers, and made them millionaires by the age of 30. This unique account of a Canadian family's journey to early retirement will explore: Why you should retire, especially if you have children; How retirement doesn't have to be thirty or forty years away; How you can rapidly grow your net worth in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve financial independence early; How to generate and manage passive income; How you can live a very happy and fulfilling life with plenty of travelling for less than $30,000 per year.

Canada’s #1 bestselling retirement income book is now completely revised and updated. Vettese will show you how to mitigate risk and secure your financial future in these unpredictable times. As COVID-19 rocks the economy in an unprecedented black swan event, retirees and those who are preparing to retire need answers to pressing questions about their financial futures. Originally published in 2018, the second edition of Retirement Income for Life, has been completely revised and updated, and now includes: New chapters on early retirement, retiring single, what to do when one spouse dies young, and more. Three strategies for mitigating your personal financial risk in the current downturn in equities and other investment products. Advice on how to plan for (and even benefit from) the coming bear market, resulting from COVID-19, which will create unprecedented equity buying opportunities, possibly as early as 2021. Information on the impact of unbearably low interest rates on annuities and fixed income investments and what to do if you hold them. The reasons retirees should be deferring CPP until age 70 and why the case for this is stronger than ever. Author Frederick Vettese demystifies a complex and often frightening subject and provides practical, actionable advice based on five enhancements the reader can make to mitigate risk and secure their financial future. With over one thousand Canadians turning 65 every day, the cultivation of good decumulation practices — the way in which you draw down assets in retirement, ideally to have a secure income for the rest of your life — has become an urgent matter that no one can afford to ignore.