It makes sense to begin retirement planning as soon as possible. Success in retirement, however, can be enhanced by careful planning at any age.

Retirement planning should accomplish some important objectives. It should:

1. Let you know when it’s safe for you to retire in comfort without a drop in your standard of living.
2. Let you know what capital targets (how much savings you need in your investment portfolio) you need to achieve and preserve for your own situation, in order to remain safe and secure in retirement.
3. Assess your risk/reward tolerance level to help you, your advisor, and your portfolio manager determine the type of investments and the target growth and income that your portfolio could deliver consistently.
4. Anticipate a reasonable level of inflation, so that if you live a long time after your retirement, you can still afford to buy what you need, now and many years hence.
5. Lay out how your financial advisor and portfolio managers plan to weather markets in good years and bad to conserve your investments.
6. Address your income tax situation now and later to make sure that you have the most efficient portfolios.
7. Set up appropriate migration programs for your funds where possible to move potentially heavily taxed capital (ex. RRSPs and RRIFs) into more tax efficient holdings (ex. TFSAs, Annuities, non-registered accounts) over time.
8. Set up your income and the sale of capital assets (land, buildings, stocks and investment funds) to minimise OAS (Old Age Security) clawbacks now and in the future. (This part of your planning could save you up to 15% in additional taxes each year.)
9. Address travel plans and special projects you want to fund, without jeopardising your future security.
10. Include a schedule with your advisor to regularly review your retirement plan and investments, especially after you retire.

These and any other retirement concerns that you have will be addressed in the retirement section of your financial plan that we prepare for you.