MONEYMATTERS Tomorrow’s business or personal success is often determined the quality of the decisions Tomorrow’s by business or personal success ismade often today. determined by the quality of the decisions made today. Our professionals are uniquely qualied to play a key role in helpingare youuniquely to shapequali your ed future. Our professionals to play a Together, we make a good team. key role in helping you to shape your future. Together, we make a good team. For your independent nancial advice, call the professionals at MNP. nancial advice, call the For your independent professionals at MNP.
Planning Today 701 - 9th Street, Box 2590, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0 for Tomorrow Ph: 682-2673 Fax: 682-5910
Make early retirement a reality
Retirement is a goal for nearly every working adult. Long considered a time to enjoy the fruits of a life’s worth of labors, retirement has become something else entirely over the last several years, when the struggling economy has convinced many aging workers that their opportunity to safely retire may never present itself.
701 - 9th Street, Box 2590, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0
Tomorrow’s business or personal success is often determined by the Free: (877) 500-0789 quality of the decisions made today. Fax: 682-5910 Ph:Toll 682-2673
Our professionals are play a key role in helping you Tolluniquely Free:qualified (877) to500-0789 to shape your future. Together, we make a good team. For your independent financial advice, call the professionals at MNP.
Tomorrow’s business or personal success is often 701 - 9th 2590, of Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0made determined byStreet, the Box quality the decisions Ph: 682-2673 Fax: 682-5910 today. Toll Free: (877) 500-0789
THINKING FWD. Our professionals are uniquely qualied to play a THINKING FWD. key role in helping you to shape your future. Together, we make a good team.
ACCOUNTING > CONSULTING > TAX
MNP.ca
For your independent nancial advice, call theMNP.ca ACCOUNTING > CONSULTING > TAX professionals at MNP.
Income Tax for Individuals, Agriculture, 701 - 9th Street, Box 2590, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0 Small Business & Corporations Ph: 682-2673 Fax: 682-5910 & Consulting TollAudits Free: (877) 500-0789 On/Off site Bookkeeping & Payroll Services/Training AgExpert, QuickBooks & Simply Accounting Advisor/Trainer
517 Main Street Chamney Platz P.O. Box 1508, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0 Tel: (306) 682-2060 cbowman@coleenbowmancga.com THINKING FWD.
ACCOUNTING > CONSULTING > TAX
MNP.ca
It begins with a conversation. Ask about our in-depth wealth program to help drive the the performance performance of your investments. investments. drive of your Talk to our wealth experts experts today. today.
Retirement savings behind schedule? Don’t give up - catch up! Registered Disability Savings Plans
10 ECT Friday, February 1, 2013
RBC INVESTMENTS
For the boomer generation, the concept of saving for a comfortable retirement has always been an important goal. Many boomers are in their peak earning years; some are at or near retirement; and with volumes of financial and investment information available, awareness of the need to save is greater than that of any previous generation. The truth; however, is that it’s not too late. By implementing some catch-up strategies, it may still be possible to reach your retirement goals. To catch up on retirement savings, consider doing the following: • Make Regular Contributions to your RRSP: Sometimes, people who are behind in their saving are reluctant to even explore strategies that could help them get back on track. Why? Because they think they can’t afford it. One approach is to start slowly, setting aside small amounts. Consider an automatic RSP contribution program to make these small steps a priority in your financial life. • Carry forward unused contribution room: Investors who don’t regularly maximize their annual RRSP contributions miss out on significant tax-deferred growth potential. The good news is that you can carry forward any unused contributions to future years. • Reduce your debt: Making regular payments to reducing debt can make it difficult to find money for an RRSP contribution. Generally, the best strategy is to start reducing high-interest debt such as credit card debt, then focus on lowerinterest debt such as a mortgage. • Take out an RRSP loan: In certain situations, it makes sense to take out a loan to top up your RRSP. For example, if you have unused RRSP contribution room, you can borrow money to catch-up, and then use the tax savings to help repay the loan. • It may be you or someone you know who may qualify for the Registered Disability Savings Plan. Some huge grants/bonds are available from the government. Call me and I will explain. While it’s important to create a plan to help you meet your financial goals in retirement, it’s also important to focus on how you want your life to look in retirement. Take a step back from your financial worries and look at where your retirement future is going. It’s possible that anxiety about retirement savings can be put into perspective once your life plan is considered.
money you will need to maintain that standard upon retirement. This should give you an idea of how close or how far you are from early retirement and what you need to start doing now so early retirement can be a reality later on. * Don’t sell savings short. Men and women who retire at the traditional retirement age can count on certain benefits that early retirees aren’t eligible for. Senior discounts can decrease the cost of living for typical retirees, who can also access retirement accounts like a 401(k) or an IRA without paying a penalty. Younger retirees are not eligible for senior discounts, and accessing a retirement account before a certain age can result in a substantial penalty. So men and women whose goal is to retire early should not underestimate the value of a healthy savings account. Retiring early will require a more robust savings account than if you were to retire at a more typical age, so calculate how much more you will need to save in order to retire early. Once you have calculated that figure, ask yourself if it’s realistic that you can save that money and what effect this increased emphasis on savings may have on your quality of life between now and the day you’ve targeted for
early retirement? If you cannot realis- The road to early retirement will have tically save enough money or if you its peaks and valleys, so periodically have to sacrifice too much to make reassess how your plan is going and if early retirement happen, then you you need to alter the plan in any way might want to reconsider this goal. to make early retirement a reality. This * Accept sacrifices. Making sacrific- reassessment should be conducted es with an end goal of early retirement annually, and you must be completely may be easier for younger men and honest with yourself. If the plan is women who have yet to grow accus- going off course, determine the cause tomed to a certain standard of living. and if there’s anything you can do to Regardless of their age, however, those catch up or if you need to change your who hope to retire early will need to targeted retirement date. accept that they will have to make Early retirement is a goal for many certain sacrifices to achieve their goals. people. And despite the uneasiness These sacrifices can be considerable, many people feel with regard to retiresuch as downgrading to a smaller ment, early retirement can become a home, or relatively minor, such as can- reality for diligent men and women celling a cable television subscription, who develop a plan and stick to that but for the average worker they will plan in the years to come. be necessary to make early retirement MM12C732 happen. The earlier you can make these Don’t have the cash for an RRSP? sacrifices the easier Do you have RRSP contribution Room? they will be, as it won’t Take advantage of our “Take Ten RRSP Loan” be as hard to sacrifice and take up to 10 years to repay. something you’re not used to having. In adFor all your RRSP needs speak with one of our dition, the earlier you qualified Investment or Loan Specialists today! make these sacrifices www.accentcu.ca the quicker you will be on the road to early Quill Lake Branch 383-4155 retirement. Kelvington Branch 327-4728 * Periodically reasJansen Branch 364-2057 sess how it’s going.
Dan Tratch, RBC Investments
Humboldt 682-8316 • Lanigan 365-5000 Wadena 338-5550
Everyone needs to save for retirement, but not everyone needs to worry about it. With a plan and a program you can be a savings success story. We can help you get there. LeRoy Credit Union Limited offers many different fully guaranteed investment options – RRSP’s, RESP’s and Tax Free Savings Accounts. We also offer different RRSP loans to help you get started, such as the Take 10 and RRSP Quick Loan. We can help design a savings plan that will meet your goals. Call us today at 306-286-3311. LeRoy Credit Union Limited 101 - 1st Avenue NE, LeRoy, SK Phone: (306) 286-3311 Fax: (306) 286-3377 E-mail: info@leroy.cu.sk.ca
Will your retirement savings last your lifetime? Now that you’re retired, do you wonder how much of your savings you can afford to spend each year? You want to get the most out of retirement but, don’t want to run the risk of outliving your money.
1511 - 8th Ave Canoustie Center 306-682-6173
There’s plenty to consider: ‣ What’s your retirement income ‣ Which expenses are essential and which are discretionary? ‣ What’s you age? How’s your health? ‣ What are your plans for your money? Let’s talk about growth potential, taxefficiency, guarantees on your capital and innovative payout strategies. If you’re unsure where you stand financially, I can help.
Amanda Fischer Humboldt, SK
Your Dreams
We can help with your plan. A Tax-Free Savings Account can help you get there.
For more information about RRSPs, or to speak with a financial planning professional, please visit any RBC Royal Bank® branch.
Financial Planner
advantagecu.com advantagecu.com
But retirement does not have to feel like a wild goose chase with the end goal nowhere in sight. In fact, many men and women who develop a plan early on can retire early, reaping the rewards of their success at an age when many people are still wondering if they can retire at all, much less retire early. * Conduct an immediate audit of your finances. The road to early retirement begins, quite frankly, very early. If your retirement goal is to retire early, conduct an audit of your financial situation as soon as possible, even if you are a relative newcomer to the professional sector. Examine all of your debts and other liabilities, as well as your income and your potential earnings. It may be difficult to forecast potential earnings, but paint a realistic forecast with regard to your earning potential, and then use that to determine your standard of living and how much
Jeff Bernhard
Consultant jeff.bernhard@investorsgroup.com
Regan Bernhard, CFP
Executive Financial Consultant regan.bernhard@investorsgroup.com
Richard Voellmecke
Associate Consultant richard.voellmecke@investorsgroup.com
Ask us how. c o n e x u s .c a
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Friday, February 1, 2013 ECT 11