All posts by Jonathan Chevreau

Global study finds 15% of Canadians plan never to fully retire but many will embrace semi-retirement

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By Jonathan Chevreau

Financial Independence Hub

nonameA global study on retirement finds 15% of Canadian workers don’t expect to ever fully retire, but many plan to downshift gradually into semi-retirement.

Compared to 14 other countries surveyed, Canadians do well in reaching their later-in-life goals, even if they have to spend all their wealth and leave less to their children.

HSBC’s latest global report — The Future of Retirement, Choices for later life – surveyed 16,000 working-age and retired people, including 1,000 Canadians.

When asked about their attitude towards spending and saving, 27% of working-age Canadians say “spend all your money and let your children create their own wealth.”

The study also found Canadian retirees are much more likely to reach their later-in-life goals than some of their counterparts in other countries. 44% of Canadian retirees have reached “at least one of their retirement hopes and aspirations,” well above the global average of 24).

Mixed sentiments on semi-retirement Continue Reading…

Unified & Defined: finally, some plain-English definitions for financial planners

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Here’s my latest MoneySense blog, which looks at a new book that provides unambiguous definitions of common terms like financial planning. Click on The New Definition of Financial Planner for the MoneySense blog.

Below is a guest post by Cary List himself, president and CEO of the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC). We thought we’d give Hub readers the take on the new book right from the horse’s mouth!

Unified & Defined: Let the Canadian Financial Planning Definitions, Standards & Competencies Be Your Guide to Sourcing the Right Professional

By Cary List, CA, CPA, CFP®

President & CEO, Financial Planning Standards Council

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

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Cary List, FPSC

Studies have clearly demonstrated that Canadians are not getting the financial help they need from qualified, professional financial planners. This is partially the result of a lack of understanding of how to identify a qualified financial planner and of what they should expect of a financial planner and/or a financial plan.

Today’s unregulated financial planning environment leaves many of us vulnerable and at risk of receiving advice from individuals who call themselves financial planners but who have not had to attain any qualifications specific to the financial planning practice and who are not held accountable to any oversight body related to the financial planning advice they offer.

Anyone outside Quebec can still call themselves a financial planner

Continue Reading…

Moving from Accumulation to Decumulation can be traumatic!

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Depositphotos_43929901_xsGood MoneySense blog today by fee-for-service planner Jason Heath. In Scared to spend your retirement savings?, Heath touches on a theme I suspect many baby boomers are going through as they prepare for the transition from full-time work to semi-retirement and ultimately full retirement.

I can relate to the anguish expressed by the subject of the piece, a single man now 56 who hopes to retire by 62 after a three-year transition phase of part-time work.

After 30 to 40 years of working, saving and investing — much of it tax-driven behaviour based on RRSP/IRA contributions and contributing to employer pensions — there’s a real paradigm shift involved in moving from the “Wealth accumulation” mindset to the “Decumulation” one.

That’s why Continue Reading…

Procrastinators get 5-day tax filing reprieve from the CRA

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Colored background with traditional elements for may 5th. Vector illustration
May 5 is the extended tax-filing deadline this year

Every once in a while, procrastinators catch a break. Such appears to be the case for the one in five Canadians who still had not filed their calendar-2014 taxes as of the weekend.

(See the Hub’s Procrastinator’s Guide posted on Sunday/Monday, which touched on an H&R Block survey on last-minute filing.)

As I tweeted earlier today, due to a communications mixup where it had accidentally said the filing deadline was May 5th, the CRA now says it will honour that statement and officially make this year’s deadline May 5th, which is next Tuesday. You can find the short statement here on its web site and we’ve reproduced it below: Continue Reading…

A post-budget TFSA primer

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Adrian
Adrian Mastracci, KCM Wealth

By Adrian Mastracci, KCM Wealth Management

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

“Measures from last week’s Federal Budget provided the TFSA a healthy shot in the arm.”

Many investors are wondering whether to pursue a TFSA or RRSP strategy. Quite simply, the TFSA, which started in 2009, complements the RRSP and RRIF.

It need not be an either/or approach.
Wise investors embrace the TFSA in pursuit of long term goals.

We present our TFSA primer:

How the TFSA works

Eligibility:

• Canadian residents, age 18 or older, who have a Social Insurance Number can open a TFSA.

Contributions:

• TFSA contributions can be made in cash or “in kind.” The deemed disposition rules for “in kind” contributions are the same as those for RRSPs.

• Maximum TFSA deposits are as follows: Continue Reading…