Is your pension safe? + MORE Oct 9th

When thinking about your retirement, it is important to look beyond just the financial aspects and take some time to think about the kind of life you envision having in your Golden Years. What makes you happy and brings enjoyment to your life? What would you like to spend more time doing and less time fretting about? How will you replace the benefits you currently get from your work environment – friendships, validation, purpose and structure once you don’t have a job to go to every day?
Plan for Your New Lifestyle
Retirement lifestyle planning looks at all the facets of the life you wish to have when you move into this stage of life. It isn’t just about money, although your finances are an important part of it. You also need to consider your health, relationships, career and personal growth needs. Start the process by asking yourself these questions:

When I think about retirement, what are my personal goals? What goals do I want to reach with my spouse or partner?
What activities will I do to continue growing as a person?
What activities will I do to have purpose in my life? Are there certain causes that I want to support?
How will I continue to stimulate and grow my mind? What kinds of activities will I be involved in?
How will I support my current relationships and develop new ones? If my spouse or partner will continue to work when I retire, how will that affect our relationship?

Start Planning for the Retirement You Want Now
It is important to have a clear idea about what will bring you fulfillment and happiness in your retirement years…

You’re likely aware that traditional defined benefit pension plans are having a tough time these days. They’re beset by low interest rates and increasing life expectancy, both of which make pensions more expensive to run. And you’ve probably read about threatened U.S. public sector pensions in places like recently bankrupt Detroit. All of which may cause you to wonder: is my pension safe?
You may have less to worry about than you think: Canadian plans have robust legal safeguards and cases of promised pensions being cut back are rare. Even if you lose a portion of your pension, you’ll probably still get the lion’s share. That said, the enormous cost of these plans means unearned future pension entitlements are less secure.
Who makes up the shortfall?
In a typical workplace pension, the employer (and often the employee) makes contributions while the employee is working, and that money is earmarked to pay benefits due in retirement. But plenty can go wrong with the calculations, and the plan can end up with a shortfall…

If you are saving for retirement in an RRSP, at some point in time you are going to have to make a decision on how you are going to start the income from that account.