The complexities of income tax at retirement can come as a shock to pensioners, but most plan sponsors are providing limited assistance in helping their retiring employees deal with these issues. “In our experience, much of the communication and education provided by employers/sponsors or their plan record keeper focuses on basic retirement and investment knowledge, […]
Multiple stakeholder groups are praising the 2019 federal budget’s proposal to amend tax rules to allow for late-life and variable annuity structures. The proposed advanced life deferred annuity would be a qualifying annuity purchase under registered retirement savings plans, registered retirement income funds, including trusts run by these accounts, as well as defined contribution pension […]
Pharmacare and flexible annuity options top the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s list of recommendations for the upcoming 2019 federal budget. In its submission, the association stated it’s supportive of the work being done through the federal government’s advisory council on the implementation of pharmacare, introduced in last year’s budget. However, it also said it’s important to […]
From decumulation options to investment choice, capital accumulation plan members face several challenges when they reach retirement. On the decumulation front, many members leave their assets with their final employer’s pension provider, which offers group registered retirement income funds or life income funds with well-managed investment options and lower management fees. As well, an increasing number […]
Many cheered when the federal government lowered the minimum RRIF withdrawals in the 2015 budget, reports Advisor.ca.
The 2015 federal budget’s reduction of the mandatory minimum withdrawals from RRIFs and similar tax-deferred accounts will reduce the risk that many Canadians will outlive their savings. Yet with yields on safe investments so low, and longevity continuing to increase, the risk is still material, according to a C.D. Howe Institute report.
Organizations like CARP and CPA Canada have been lobbying for years to lower the rate of, or even eliminate, mandatory RRIF withdrawals. On Tuesday, part of their efforts paid off.
There weren’t many surprises in the 2015 federal budget, which includes changes to TFSA contribution limits and the amount seniors will be required to withdraw from registered retirement income funds (RRIFs).
The Conservative government is expected to court the support of older Canadians in next week's federal budget with a number of measures aimed at demonstrating that they're making seniors a priority.
Decumulation is a trending topic in the pension and broader financial services industries. A Google search on decumulation (and variants) and retirement filtered on Canadian domains yields about 65,000 results! Notwithstanding the discourse, recent experiences of my 80-year-old mother with her retirement portfolio demonstrate that the financial services industry currently does a very poor job when it comes to decumulation.