Many retirement conversations start with a lump-sum target. You may hear that if you want $10,000 a month after tax in retirement, you need $2 million saved. It sounds tidy, but it leaves out the part that matters most: retirement income does not come from one source, and it does not behave the same way […]
https://youtu.be/e3ldRt-Ni0s For many couples, retirement drawdown looks straightforward at first. One spouse has the larger RRSP or RRIF, the other has a smaller account, and the obvious answer seems to be to drain the smaller one first. It feels simple, orderly, and often tax-efficient on the surface. But RRSP meltdown planning rarely rewards tidy decisions. […]
https://youtu.be/xTZO7SyfdTc Taking less from your RRSP can lead to more tax later. It shows up when someone keeps withdrawals tiny in their 60s, then finds that an extra $10,000 in their 70s barely changes after-tax cash, or Old Age Security (OAS) starts getting clawed back. The issue usually isn’t whether you’ll pay tax on RRSP/RRIF […]
https://youtu.be/HknMY3smDRA Trying to “pay no tax” in your 50s and 60s by avoiding RRSP withdrawals can set you up for the highest-tax years of your life later. That’s not because you did anything reckless. It’s because of how retirement income stacks once CPP, OAS, and RRIF minimum withdrawals all arrive in the same window. This […]
A recent report lists Canada as having the highest percentage of couples without children among all developed nations.1 Financial life is different for this demographic group, with unique issues and opportunities. Here’s a look at financial decisions for a couple without children across several components of wealth planning, including investments, insurance and estate planning. When will […]
A spousal RRSP comes up all the time for couples, especially when one person has done most of the saving. It’s easy to think of it as a “bigger refund” move. But honestly, that’s not the real point. The real value shows up later, when you start taking money out. A spousal RRSP can help […]
https://youtu.be/_KzxGRUivgE Flow-through shares can look like a magic trick on paper: buy shares, claim a big deduction, get a refund. But they aren’t free money. The tax break can show up now, and the tax bill can show up later. And if you buy the wrong structure, in the wrong account, or with the wrong […]
https://youtu.be/LUQUsXe3UiU Dividends can feel like the “safe” way to retire. Your portfolio pays you, you don’t sell anything, and it all feels steady. But retirement plans don’t usually go sideways because someone picked the wrong ETF. They go sideways because the plan creates the wrong type of taxable income at the wrong time. Dividends and […]
https://youtu.be/QK95YgU8lMg 2026 brings a fresh set of updates to Canada’s main registered accounts. Some limits are increasing, others are staying put, and a few rules still work very differently than people assume. On their own, these changes can feel minor. But added together, they shape how you should think about saving, investing, and deciding where […]
Introduction: Making More Money Isn’t the Entire Answer We’ve seen households earning roughly the same amount, land in totally different places. One with everything scattered across random accounts. The other is building real options: flexibility at work, more control over taxes, a clear plan for family goals, and the ability to make decisions without that […]
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