Susan Daley

In a recent blog we discussed how a fall in market prices today leads to an expectation of higher returns tomorrow. We explore this in more detail by considering the impact of the fall in portfolio values at the end of March and the revised expected returns on investors in different stage of their lives.

With stock markets down significantly across the globe as a result of the novel coronavirus in a matter of a month, it’s tempting to think stock markets are on sale and that you need to take advantage of that. Most don’t have large amounts of cash lying around, so borrowing to invest is one way to access that cash.

In the opening sentence to his book on Asset Management, published in 2014, Professor Andrew Ang said: “The two most important words in investing are bad times”

You’ll know how withdrawals from RESP’s technically work if you watched my last video, but you want to limit the amount of taxes and penalties when making withdrawals. That’s where today’s video comes into play.

In summary, you can pay student’s bills through two types of payments from an RESP. A withdrawal for post-secondary education (PSE) is a refund of the original contributions. There are no limits to the amounts that can be taken out of this bucket, and the amounts are tax free. Educational Assistance Payments (EAPs) come from the grant and accumulated earnings bucket within the RESP. There are certain limits to these payments to keep in mind, and the payments will be taxed in the student’s name.

Old Age Security, commonly referred to as OAS, provided a base level of retirement income to over 6 million Canadians in January 2019. I outline how OAS works and how to determine the amount you will be eligible for.

The foundation of many Canadians’ retirement is the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The CPP is designed to replace a certain amount of your average work earnings, up to maximum limits each year. I outline what CPP is, how it works, and how much it might pay out.

How much of your current income will you need in retirement? The answer to this question is called the replacement ratio and is a major driver of the retirement planning piece. It will be different for everyone, so I outline how you can figure out your own replacement ratio that will ultimately determine how much you need to save for retirement.

When talking about saving for retirement, most people default to the common 10 or 15 percent of income towards retirement. But are those numbers accurate and is this a reasonable approach? I outline this traditional approach, and compare it to another approach that takes into consideration a typical Canadian’s financial scenario.

For most millennials, retirement seems like it’s ages away; a future you problem. The cards might seem to be stacked against us: the number of Defined Benefit pension plans are falling, we’re living longer, student debt levels are rising, and house prices are massive compared to our incomes. I break down the basic concepts of retirement planning in this video to help you get started.