The Annuity Puzzle is about a curious phenomenon in Canada: while life annuities sold by insurance companies seem to have all sorts of compelling reasons to acquire them, more often than not, retirees shun them. Financial planner Robb Engen recently tackled this puzzle in his Boomer & Echo blog, “Why Canadians avoid one of retirement’s most misunderstood tools.” Engen […]
Your RRSP contribution limit is the maximum amount you can add to your registered retirement savings plan each year without triggering penalties. It’s based on your unused RRSP deduction room plus 18% of your previous year’s earned income, up to the annual CRA limit. Use our RRSP contribution limit calculator below to find your exact […]
This story is part 2 in a series on financial caregiving for seniors. Read others in this series: 3 signs you need to take control of your parents’ finances After the realization set in that I had to take a more active role in managing my parents’ finances, and after my initial scavenger hunt of […]
Ask MoneySense I liked your coverage of RRIF taxation. I would like to see more information on LIF taxation. More precisely, on the following scenario: Individuals do not get the $2,000 tax credit for RRIF withdrawals before age 65. Did I read properly that for LIF withdrawals the $2,000 tax credit applies to anyone, irrespective of […]
Retirement brings many changes in a person’s life and your investment portfolio is one of them. Tracy Andrade, a wealth adviser and certified financial planner at Marnoa Private Wealth Counsel, says it’s challenging for people to see their savings start to decline as they begin spending their nest egg. “That’s the biggest mental mind shift that […]
Ask MoneySense My dad is 77 years old and we live together in a house worth $840,000, which we own together. Dad retired at age 70 and commuted his pension so he would have money to leave to me. He has about $580,000 divided between a LIF and a RRIF and his CPP is $17,000 […]
Canada’s largest pension fund is being sued by four young Canadians who claim that CPP Investments is failing to properly manage climate-related financial risk. The four allege in a lawsuit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday that the investment manager for the Canada Pension Plan is breaching its duty to invest […]
Because I get a lot of free review copies of financial books, it’s rare that I actually order one from Amazon, let alone three. But I did just that recently when I was curious about three influential authors who released new financial books within weeks of each other. The first can be regarded by retirees […]
Ask MoneySense I am 64 and retirement is coming up soon. Not sure exactly when. I took my CPP at 60, and will take my OAS June of 2026. I have no private pension plan and limited RRSP ($50,000). My dilemma is do I sell my condo (no mortgage) as I will not be able […]
In the fall of 2019, some troubling patterns emerged with my father that would change my life. It began innocently with what I thought were phone calls about confusing letters from creditors that turned out to be bills he had forgotten to pay for months. Soon after, he failed a mandatory cognitive test required for […]