ARTICLES BY CATEGORY: preparing-for-retirement
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Your Savings Options Explained: RRSP, TFSA, and FHSA
By Ryan Gee on 21 Apr 2026
Let’s set the scene. It is the end of the day, and you are now finally able to relax for the evening. As you sit down on your cozy couch in your living room to relax, your brain starts to ponder your mental to-do list. You have managed to set aside some extra cash throughout … Your Savings Options Explained: RRSP, TFSA, and FHSA
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Redefining Retirement
By Tara Ennevor on 17 Jul 2025
For decades, retirement was seen as a finish line – a moment when work stopped and leisure began. But it’s no longer a one-size-fits-all concept. As one client said to me when looking toward retirement, “I am figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.” As financial advisors, we’re seeing retirement take … Redefining Retirement
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Case Study: Optimizing Retirement Income and Estate Planning for Multi-Generational Support
By Linson Chen on 29 Apr 2025
Jack (age 75) and Jill (age 62) are a retired couple with three children and six grandchildren. They’ve built a strong foundation with more than $2.9 million in investments, a mortgage-free home, and a solid pension plan paying $50,000 per year. They are looking for a plan to help their children without jeopardizing their own … Case Study: Optimizing Retirement Income and Estate Planning for Multi-Generational Support
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How Much Do I Need to Save to Generate an Income in Retirement?
By Clay Gillespie on 27 Jan 2025
This is a complicated question with many variables. We will argue that what you really want to know is what your after-tax income will be over your expected lifetime. Stages of Retirement Spending There are three stages to retirement – the first stage is called the “Go-Go” stage, the second the “Slow-Go” stage, and the … How Much Do I Need to Save to Generate an Income in Retirement?
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Case Study – When to Start Receiving OAS Benefits
By Bryn Hamilton on 14 Jul 2024
Government benefits are often an area that gets confusing for Canadians as they plan for retirement.
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Discovering What’s Next: Navigating the Transition through Retirement
By Susan Phelan, MA (ABS) on 12 Jul 2024
Retirement isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience. In today’s dynamic world, it’s more of a gradual transition than a sudden event.
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The Importance of Retirement Income Projection
By Chris Eynon on 11 Jul 2024
As retirement approaches, ensuring financial stability becomes a priority. One crucial aspect of this preparation is creating a retirement income projection.
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Longevity and Life Annuities
By Clay Gillespie on 28 Jul 2022
A couple of questions we commonly get asked are “What is a life annuity?” and “Should I consider a life annuity in my situation?”
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Case Study: Solving the Retirement Income Puzzle
By Anne Hammond on 07 Jan 2022
“Retirement” – the word represents many things these days. It could be a lifestyle full of travel and adventures, or perhaps a transition to volunteer work…
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Pension Considerations – One of the Biggest Decisions of Your Life
By Teresa Black Hughes on 07 Jan 2022
Called the Great Resignation, since the pandemic, employees are leaving the workplace/workforce or switching jobs in droves.
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Today’s Executor is a Digital Executor
By Sharon Hartung on 23 Jul 2021
On May 13, 2021, I was delighted to join RGF advisors and clients for their second virtual event where I discussed the ideas covered in my first book, Your Digital Undertaker– Exploring Death in the Digital Age in Canada.
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Planning for Retirement… Mentally
By Debbie Saleem on 29 Apr 2021
You’ve met with your advisor and are delighted to find out that you’re financially on track to retire within the new few years.
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When Should You Start Receiving Your CPP Retirement Pension?
By Doug Runchey on 07 Jan 2021
Since 1987, when the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) first introduced flexible retirement pension start dates, this has been one of the most common questions that I get asked…
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Retirement on Your Horizon? Considerations of the Pandemic ’s Ripple Effects
By Isabelle St-Jean on 21 Oct 2020
While leading retirement seminars for pre-retiring professionals over the past 10 years, I have observed diverse levels of readiness, attitude, and concern toward this major work/life transition.
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What is a Financial Plan?
By Anne Hammond on 20 Jan 2020
What does it mean to create a financial plan? And why is it important to do so?
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Do You Have a Will?
By John Hale on 21 Oct 2018
Is that will of yours looking a little worn and tattered or perhaps you don’t have a will at all?If the answer is yes, you are not alone.
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What does Life Expectancy Actually Mean?
By Clay Gillespie on 27 Apr 2018
Life expectancy is one of the most misunderstood aspects of retirement income planning – yet, it is one of the most important factors.
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Maintaining your Retirement Capital
By Daniel Sitar on 02 Oct 2017
Everyone has different goals and expectations for their retirement. Likewise, everyone has a different level of financial resources they can use to achieve these goals.
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Q and A: What is an annuity and how does it work?
By on 03 Jul 2017
A life annuity is a financial vehicle that allows you to exchange a lump sum of capital for a guaranteed income for as long as you live (or you and your spouse or partner lives).
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The Importance of Budgeting
By Nick Hearne on 03 Jul 2017
A strong awareness and understanding of your personal finances is an integral part of the financial planning process. This holds true regardless of your phase in the financial life cycle.
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Pools and Streams – Retirement Income
By Alain Quennec on 03 Jul 2017
Louise is retiring soon, and it just dawned on her that she isn’t clear what’s going to happen to her cash flow after the regular paycheques stop coming in. I find this a great source of concern among the nearly-retired…
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Keeping More of what you Earn
By Christian White on 03 Apr 2017
You’ve saved long and hard for many years. You’ve made sacrifices and put your long-term needs ahead of your current desires for that vacation, the newer car or upgrading the kitchen.
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Beneficiary Designations – benefits and considerations
By Nick Hearne on 09 Sep 2016
Individuals have the option to designate beneficiaries directly on assets such as registered plans, insurance policies and annuities.
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2016 Horizons Report
By Clay Gillespie on 01 Jul 2016
We are pleased to present the results of the 2016 Horizons Retirement Report. This report summarizes the dreams, fears, hopes and challenges of Canadians planning to retire within the next 3 to 7 years.
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Q and A: How do I take advantage of the Government of Canada online tools and resources?
By on 01 Jul 2016
A good place to start would be to register to access your information with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) online.
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Building your Financial Future
By Bryson Milley on 01 Apr 2016
One of the most regular questions I’m asked by retiring clients is, “How do we manage our investments once we’re retired?”
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Human Capital and the Financial Life Cycle
By on 01 Jan 2016
Take a moment to think back to the day you got your first job. At that time, you likely had minimal financial assets and no real estate…
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2015 Horizons Retirement Report
By Clay Gillespie on 18 Jul 2015
Many of our clients are concerned about what life will look like during their retirement years. For this reason, we started our retirement survey five years ago to explore what Canadians are thinking as they approach retirement.
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Case Study: The Costs of Health
By Shaun Sun on 03 Jan 2015
Don and Jane Smith are the proud and loving parents of 2 children age 15 and 16. At a meeting with their accountant, one of the topics of concern for the family is the large health costs…
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Horizons Retirement Report 2014
By Clay Gillespie on 01 Jul 2014
Every year, we commission a survey (conducted by Concerto Research) to explore what Canadians are thinking and feeling as they approach retirement.
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Retirement Income Planning
By on 01 Jul 2014
During your working life, you may have had one or two sources of income with limited ability to manage the timing of cash flows.
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Aligning your Goals
By Cecilia Tsang on 01 Apr 2014
Is your portfolio the result of your goals (or lack thereof)?
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Beyond the RRSP
By Mark Neufeld on 01 Apr 2014
When you require income from your RRSP, a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) may be appropriate for you.
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Tax Savings and RRSPs
By John Hale on 01 Jan 2014
Many of our clients use Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) as one of the pillars of their wealth building strategy. An RRSP is a type of retirement savings plan that is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency.
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Horizons Retirement Report 2013
By Clay Gillespie on 01 Jul 2013
We’ve just completed the 2013 edition of the Horizons Retirement Report. This survey is done with Canadians who are approaching retirement.
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Personal Corporations and Retirement Income Planning
By on 01 Apr 2013
Many of our clients who operate a small business or professional practice in law, medicine, real estate, or accounting will be incorporated.
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Saving for Retirement
By Vera Vlaovich on 01 Jan 2013
RRSPs were introduced in 1957 by the federal government to encourage Canadians to save for retirement.
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Growing Your Money Was Only Half the Job
By Chris Eynon on 08 Jul 2026
For most of your working life, the goal was straightforward: save consistently, invest wisely, and build your wealth over time. Retirement changes that goal. Once the paycheques stop, your investments have a new job. Instead of helping you accumulate wealth, they now need to provide a reliable income that can support your lifestyle for decades. … Growing Your Money Was Only Half the Job
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Why Market Volatility Is Normal
By Clay Gillespie on 19 Jun 2026
Over a typical 10-year period based on investment returns – you’re going to love us twice, hate us twice, and be indifferent to us six times. What this actually means is that over a 10-year period, the market typically goes up dramatically twice (the years you love us), goes down dramatically twice (the years you … Why Market Volatility Is Normal
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Defined Benefit Pension Plans
By Bryn Hamilton on 14 Apr 2023
Do you contribute to a defined benefit pension plan?
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Government Benefits
By Clay Gillespie on 16 Dec 2021
There are two main types of government pensions that most Canadians can expect to receive during their retirement years: Old Age Security (OAS) and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
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What are the major risks when planning your retirement?
By Clay Gillespie on 14 Aug 2019
To design an effective retirement planning strategy, you need to understand some of the variables involved: 1) life expectancy, 2) inflation, 3) how much income is needed 4) stock market risk and 5) health care costs. Life expectancy is one of the most misunderstood aspects of retirement income planning yet it is one of the … What are the major risks when planning your retirement?
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Sequence of Returns Risk
By Nick Hearne on 17 Sep 2018
Most investors understand that to achieve their long-term target rate of return, they will need to accept some volatility in the short and medium term.
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Changes to the RRIF Minimum
By on 07 Jan 2018
In the year you turn age 71, you must convert your RRSP funds to a RRIF, annuity, or cash out. Converted to a RRIF, the plan must pay out a minimum of 7.38% of the value on January 1st.
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RRIF withdrawal rates
By Chris Eynon on 20 Dec 2017
In the most recent federal budget, there were some interesting and progressive changes. The most obvious to many was that the TFSA annual deposit limit was changed from $5,500 to $10,000. While this is very helpful for many people, let’s talk about the changes to the RRIF withdrawal rates. Over the years, there have been … RRIF withdrawal rates
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How to Succeed at Retirement
By on 20 Dec 2017
Don’t simply retire from something; have something to retire to. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick
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Income Splitting 101
By Bryn Hamilton on 20 Dec 2017
If you or your partner receive qualified pension income, the federal government’s pension income-splitting provisions could mean extra money in your pocket when you file your income tax returns.
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The Ultimate Currency
By on 20 Dec 2017
What is the ultimate currency? Is it money? Canadian dollars or U.S. dollars? Is it gold or real estate? No, the ultimate currency is not a tangible asset at all. You can’t save time. You can only spend it… Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
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What are OAS and CPP worth?
By Clay Gillespie on 20 Dec 2017
Both OAS (Old Age Security) and CPP (Canadian Pension Plan) are government income entitlements that are meant to provide Canadians a guaranteed inflation-indexed pension for as long as they live. But what are they worth to you today? Another way to look at this question is to ask how much it would cost to buy a pension (life annuity) to replicate these government pensions.
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Holiday conversations…
By Mark Neufeld on 20 Dec 2017
As we approach the holiday season, you’ll hopefully find some time to spend with family and/or friends. Many conversations will be had and some may be about that overdone turkey and some may even be about the investment markets.
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What is responsible investing
By Linson Chen on 12 Dec 2017
Responsible investing (also known as ethical investing and socially responsible investing) is growing in popularity as more investors are seeking to align their portfolios with their values.
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