Many of you who have already browsed my blog in the past know that I have written many articles about different topics relating to RRSPs. Due to my husband’s coaxing, I decided to try to write a short e-book on the topic so that it would be a useful reference for folks who were told they need to contribute to an RRSP but really have no idea what RRSPs are or how they work.
Browsing Tag
retirement savings
Retirement funding may not be the first thing on your mind when you’re worried about soccer practice basic meal planning and making it to the weekend, but saving for retirement now when your family is young – even if you’re on a tight budget – will ensure that you have a more secure future. While many parents are more concerned about saving for college than retirement, this is backwards thinking. Always remember: Your kids can find alternative funding for college, but no one is going to scholarship your retirement.
With that in mind, let’s talk about how you go about funding your retirement with an IRA. The main distinction here is Traditional vs. Roth IRA, and it can be tough to decide which is best for your family when you’re on a budget. Here’s what you need to know about the essentials of how these retirement accounts work and how you can choose which option will work best for your family.
Do you know if your company has a pension plan? All too often employees are very unaware of all the employee benefits their company has to offer. Even if they have a pension plan they are often unaware of most of the details around it.If your company does have a pension plan, consider yourself blessed. Not nearly as many companies offer them as in the past. However, it is important that you understand what exactly you will be entitled to when you retire or leave your current job. Also, if you want to ensure adequate funds during retirement, you are going to want to make sure you are contributing towards your pension plan if applicable.
On the Service Canada website, there is a calculator that is quite interesting and eye-opening. It takes you through a series of steps to help you to determine how much income you can expect during your retirement based on projections for Canada Pension (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and a number of other factors.
Although the official deadline has passed now to be able to use your RRSP contributions for the 2010 tax year, it doesn’t mean that RRSP season is over. In fact, it is better to contribute to your RRSP all year round than wait until the last possible minute to put a lump sum into it.
This year I challenge you to set up automatic payments into your RRSP every time you get paid. That way you will not have to burden yourself with coming up with a lump sum every year. If you discover that you still want to put in more, then you can top up your contributions before the deadline, but the lump sum will be far less of a burden.