RETIREMENT PLANNING

RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING

What exactly is “retirement income planning”?

Retirement income planning is the process of creating a strategy to replace the monthly pay cheque you’ve been receiving for the past thirty to forty years from the financial assets you’ve accumulated over your lifetime.

COMMON CONCERNS OF RETIREES

• Making sure they can do the things they want in retirement,
• Maintaining consistent income for life,
• Paying less tax,
• Providing financial security for loved ones, and
• Transferring family wealth successfully to the next generation.

OUR SOLUTION:

Create a retirement income & cash-flow strategy that includes but not limited to:

1. Documenting your current situation, income requirements and estate objectives.
2. Creating a detailed income & cash-flow strategy that will:
   • Outline if you can achieve your goals using cash-flow based financial planning software,
   • Utilize ‘what if options’ to maximize your income & cash-flow plan,
   • “Stress Test” your plan,
   • Detail how to best sequence the withdrawal of income from your various income sources; (CPP/OAS/RRIFs/TFSAs etc.) to reduce taxes and increase asset longevity,
   • Provide a strategy on how to best deploy your financial assets and investments to achieve your goals,
   • Plan for health care and real estate assets as you age,
   • Estimate of taxes and estate costs.
3. Ongoing guidance, review, and annual update of your retirement income & cash-flow plan.
4. Strategies for the surviving spouse and the successful transfer of wealth to the next generation.
5. Co-ordination with your accountant and lawyer.

FAMILIES & PEOPLE WHO CAN BENEFIT MOST:

Those who are retired or within 10 years of retirement will benefit most if they:

• Wish to find out if they are on track.
• Want to develop a reliable retirement income & cash-flow stream that will last a lifetime.
• Would like to feel in control of their financial future and wish to make sure they will be able to do what they want, when they want.
• Wish to minimize taxes today and in the future.
• Would like to provide for their spouse/family if they are no longer around.
• Desire the efficient transfer of wealth to the next generation.

What is the difference between saving for retirement and retirement income planning?

Excerpt from Preserving Wealth: The Next Generation

“The key thing is that once you retire, you’ll want to create a strategy to replace the monthly pay cheque you’ve been receiving for the past thirty to forty years with the assets you’ve accumulated over your lifetime. The basics still apply; however, there is a slight change in approach. Do you remember when you were younger and we used to go to Blueberry Hill, climb up the rock cliff, pick the blueberries, and then climb down? Later, you took your own kids.”

“Absolutely, but why to you mentioned that?”

“When you took your own kids, did you let them go ahead of you on the way up to the top of the rock cliff?” 

“Yes, we did.”

“And then on the way down, were they allowed to go alone?” asked Uncle Wayne.

“No, we used to hold their little hands when climbing down,” Mark continued.

“Why was that?” asked Uncle Wayne.

“Well, on the way up, if they slipped or fell, they’d just fall down a bit, and we were there to pick them up and start again. On the way down, if they slipped or fell, they could tumble to the bottom and really get hurt,” Mark explained.

“This sort of explains the difference between saving for retirement and retiring with the need to generate an income and cash-flow stream from the assets you have accumulated and inherited. The way up the rock cliff is like saving for retirement. If you make a small mistake or slip, you can recover and continue your journey to the top. However, once you reach the top and start the descent, it’s like being retired. If you make a mistake, you have less time to recover. You could tumble to the bottom and get hurt badly.

“Just like when you held your kids’ hands on the way down the rock cliff to protect them, an experienced retirement income advisor can help retirees navigate their income and cash-flow requirements.”

Cash Flow Planning Questions We Help Answer For Our Clients

• Do we have enough?
• How much can we spend each year without running out of money?
•  How do we create a monthly paycheque to our bank account?
• When should we start to collect government benefits such as Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan?
• Whose account should the income be withdrawn from?
• How do we co-ordinate all our sources of income from sources such as CPP, OAS, pensions,investments, TFSAs, RRSPS and RRIFs?
• What do we do with our company savings plans and pensions?
• Should we take an early retirement package?
• How do we reduce the taxes on our income?

Retirement & Cash Flow Planning Resources

Below we have generated a number of articles you may find interesting when considering your future needs and lifestyle into retirement. As we service our Burlington, Oakville and related clients, we are constantly talking about retirement planning and cash flow needs.

1. Risks To Retirement Income Planning 
2. How Much Income Do you need in Retirement 

ALL CASH FLOW ARTICLES

Other Resources:

1. Cash Flow Calculator 
2. Can you retire earlier
3. Financial Planning For The Future