Siouxie

This is really useful for working it out: Canadian Retirement Income Calculator

I'll be working until they put me in the ground, I had an amount put by from an inheritance but sadly lost it (long story). Now I save whatever is left over at the end of each month after I've put money away for taxes and CPP (I'm self employed). It's not a lot and certainly not enough to make much of a difference overall, but every bit helps.

magnumpi

Could one retire by selling ones house I always wonder.

Of course u would need a place to stay, maybe rent, or live on a cruise :@)

We paid 280,000 for our house 5 years ago, the same, similar, house in our court sold this week for 550,000. Maybe at this rate these houses will be worth 1mil in 10 years, that would be a nice retirement fund.

I did think how good it be to put all our money on roulette. We was on a cruise a few years ago and tested this, we were given 25$ each free bets and placed the lot on red, it landed on green. My thoughts on this idea have changed a little since

Tirytory

A lot of those posts with all the abbreviations make my head spin. We've been moving house and I'm currently spending our retirement money on new things needed

I do need to start thinking about this topic again though!

Piff Poff

I shall be looking at that calculator at some point, thanks.

scrubbedexpat091

Not a bad 7.

The defined pension plan at an employer seems the most difficult of them all to obtain, even the union jobs I have had didn't offer those, seems to be a pretty rare benefit these days.


We have started life so late in the game, it almost feels rushed now...

Shard

Don't get stressed out about starting late, bear in mind that there are many, many people of your generation that are in the same boat. The first requirement for retirement investing/planning is income, and if you don't have it (or sufficient) then you simply can't invest in any meaningful way.

Shard

Interesting rule of thumb - 30 at 30 has a nice ring to it. Assuming the said 30 yo would retire at 70, the $30K would grow to $211K at 5% or $1.3M. at 10% returns.

Yorkiechef

Or stick it in property, stop renting and pay mortgage and watch the value rise spectacularly. In the past 10 years, you could not save as fast as property has risen. Ask anyone in a house in Vancouver or Toronto, less so for some other communities i concede. When you are old, downsize to an aged community and enjoy the proceeds. You will still leave your family with an inheritance too.

Shard

Yes, that's the rub. It's hard to justify retirement saving if you don't yet own property.

not2old

The thing about retirement planning at any age (outside of any along the way health issues that can change this) is that there are too many variables that can put a huge dint in the money planning part.

Will you always have the same job with benefits (what about a pension plan) to getting a yearly increase? Will you or your OH always work, will there be periods of unemployment?

A financial crisis can occur many times over, similar to what it has done in the past 30 years, then all the savings & investment including your job can go out the window.

All the media hype about this that & the other, that interests rates and inflation will be x% for the next 30 years.... what do they really know, after all, its just a prediction., or that the Canadian govt wil not have enough to pay OAS or CPP down the road.

For retirement planning, there are too many things that come up along the way (seen from my nearly 50 years in Canada), such as - will you be single, continued to to married to the same person (maybe twice, three times) divorced, separated, widowed, the all in cost of raising children till they finally leave home, replacement vehicles, taking annual costly vacations, repairs to a house that you may own or what about the huge rent increases, right down to 'cost of living' which could increase more than the pay raise (in dollars) from your job

As for saving (RRSP, TFSA, other), most folks I believe are unable to consistently do that, even $1000/yr, for many of the reasons stated above.

On the $30k at age 30 invested to be enough for retirement is all BS, even invested luckily at 5% compound return (show me the guarantee on this, because its not possible) - then at age 70 if that could be done you'd have that $200k extra for whatever.

$200k 40 years from now might only be worth [if you believe this] approx $100k in todays money & that IMO will not go very far in your retirement years. With all good intentions retirees strive for the 'we are going to travel' (not enough for that) to ' the government doesnt cover all the the costs of medical care , so we need that $100k for that' and/or special care needs

So many variables in a retirement plan, from having the cash to begin with, maybe a deposit on a house for first time buyers seems to be far a few between these days, retaining a job, especially one with benefits or a pension plan - folks are talking about having $30k pot at age 30, thinking & believing it will be enough for retirement

I don't belive so

My suggestion is keep fit & healthy as best you can, work happy, enjoy your life & your family, stress less, everything in moderation, because you never know what might be around the corner. Plan accordingly for what works best for you the individual.

'Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart'

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not2old

compound interest calculator

http://www.getsmarteraboutmoney.ca/t...alculator.aspx

from the earler post, on the basis $30k at age 30 could be invested compounded at 5% for 40 years to grow to $211k

The future value of $30k in 40 years time, you'd need just over double that amount for the future value based on a yearly inflation rate of 2%. From the calculator below, the future value of of $30k is $66,241.1is what you'll need then to equate to $30k today

http://www.investopedia.com/calculator/fvcal.aspx

That $211k in todays money 40 years from now might only be worth in the future ~$100k of value or buying power. How far will $100k stretch 40 years from now.

Examples, what was the price of an average vehicle in 1976 (approx $4000), the price of an average house back then compared to todays price, even the cost of gasoline.

Many other considerations in the 'money part' of the retirement planning

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scrubbedexpat091

Income has always been the issue, hard to save when there isn't much income to go around.

Rent climbs so fast in this area it eats a crap ton of income. 2 weeks income just to pay rent and we are in what is considered cheap for this area.

I try not to worry too much, but then you realize you may have as little as 22 years of working life left and maybe 30 on the very high end.

Not a ton of time in the big picture.



Property would be a good idea if we were not priced out of the market, but we are like many others so it's not an option unless our income increases quite a lot.

Shard

That's understandable, but don't look at it in those terms. The retirement planning industry is aimed at middle/higher income earners who can afford to put money away. The main thing is don't worry about it, we are in developed countries and at the end of the day, there is social security. Obviously it's best to save what you can, but the aim ought to be to acquire a house first, which from previous postings is challenging enough. Perhaps in Oregon it will be more achievable in the long term.

scrubbedexpat091

Yes. Housing is more achievable in the US in general owning wise and we have a better chance of owning there vs here.

It's just not like we can hop into a moving truck and go, so will take a few years to save funds needed to pay immigration fees and costs, as well has have money set aside for deposits and rent and living costs while we look for work. So at least 5 years maybe more. Not going to rush it.

not2old

The industry as I see it is full of 'product specific salespeople' that do it as a job. They are performance paid & you'll see them all ages from all walks of life

Those still doing this in their 50's, 60's makes you wonder ' if they are so good at this investment advice/planning' then why are they still working, with many of them living in rented housing?

Back in the 80's I asked a top Bay St Toronto stock broker who claimed he handled millions of millions dollars of his clients investments - 'why do you do this & why are you working'. His response was ' I need the paycheque to pay the mortgage & bills'

Investment advisors/financial planners IMO are groomed sales people are 'nothing more, nothing less', just the person next door or who you went to school with. They sell their employers products or the freelance ones push their associates products to make money, as well as from advice to clients selling them into any investment products, similar or no different to life insurance sales people or mortgage broker.

No one will guarantee you a return, simply stating ' past performance is not an indication of future resturn'

Back on topic, this retirement planning road is for everyone, few have the ways or means or resources to go to a fancy pants investment planner, do or follow what are in the media retirement articles.

As for the, 'at retirement age' folks with minimal to no savings, no RRSP, TFSA, no personal or occupational pension, saying that the 'social blanket' government will take care of you - thats hogwash, especially in Canada

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