No financial planner? No problem + MORE Nov 13th

If you’re counting on inheriting your way to your dream retirement, you may want to rethink this scenario. Most beneficiaries think that they will be receiving a large chunk of money, in reality it may not be as big as they were expecting. Here’s some sound advice to keep in mind: Until you actually get the money in your bank account, there is no guarantee how much, if any, will be left to you.
Are You Certain You Will Receive a Sizable Inheritance?
There are several factors that can affect your inheritance that will impact your financial status and retirement plans.
Here are some scenarios that you should consider:

Mom passes on and dad remarries, leaving the bulk of his estate to his new wife. The balance of the estate is to be divided between five children (her three and his two).
Dad gifts out 80 percent of his estate to his favorite son before he passes on, leaving the remaining 20 percent to be split equally on his passing to his beneficiaries (including the favourite son)…

Filed under: Family Finances, Retirement and RRSPs, SavingBy Trent Hamm
via Daily Finance

At some point during each of our professional lives, we wake up to the fact that we really need to be saving for retirement.

The problem is that when we think broadly about saving for retirement, it seems impossible. A million dollars? More? How are we going to possibly come up with that kind of money?

Here’s the catch: None of those retirement articles out there — the ones that talk about having to save millions — are writing about your situation. Instead, they’re writing about someone else, often someone earning a lot more than you.

What you need is a plan that works for you, and that starts with having a good target number for retirement savings.Continue reading 4 Steps to Quickly Figure Out Your Retirement Number4 Steps to Quickly Figure Out Your Retirement Number originally appeared on Walletpop Canada on Mon, 11 Nov 2013 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Family Finances, Investing, Retirement and RRSPs
By Dan Caplinger
Daily Finance

Planning for how you’ll make ends meet when you stop earning a paycheck remains a huge challenge for millions of Americans nearing retirement. Yet despite the many concerns that a recent study of 45- to 65-year-olds revealed, taking some simple steps can help you feel a lot more confident about your own retirement prospects.

A study from Jackson National Life and the center for Financial Insight solicited opinions from more than 500 people between the age of 45 and 65. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting findings the study revealed and some simple steps you can take to resolve the concerns they raise.Continue reading Retiring Soon? How to Beat Your Biggest Money FearsRetiring Soon? How to Beat Your Biggest Money Fears originally appeared on Walletpop Canada on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

'It’s time for a real wake-up call for Canadians,' says one credit counsellor. 'Canadian debt levels are high, savings are low, retirement savings are woefully low and consumers just haven’t improved'

“I haven’t had a salary increase in a decade!”  This is a common refrain middle-aged Canadians beginning to picture their life in retirement. Modest salary increases, often simply a cost-of-living amount, have been consumed by increasing health and pension benefit costs. They wonder if they are financially ready to retire. Even so, many remain resistant to formal financial planning despite the obvious benefits. The reality is that some people will never have a written financial plan. Some will remain uninterested, others do not have asset levels that are attractive to professional financial planners and simple math reveals that there are not enough certified financial planners to provide this service for everyone who is interested in formal planning anyway.
Those without a planner may want to consider the following:

Are increasing pension costs chewing into your salary increases?  If so, this could mean a positive financial direction for your future retirement. Paying more now into defined-benefit (DB) or defined-contribution (DC) plans should pay off in future years…