Lots of people are afraid of running out of money in retirement.
Lots of times the root of that fear is that they don’t have a plan. They haven’t really thought about what kind of lifestyle they’ll lead, how much money they’ll receive from the government, or how much money they’ll really need to do the things they want.
Instead, they just kind of assume they’ll need a massive portfolio of investments that they aren’t even remotely close to having. And that creates a lot of dread, anxiety and worry.
So the first step to getting rid of that fear is to start thinking about all those things and sketching out a plan. You need to make things more specific and concrete. This is exactly what I do when I work with clients on retirement planning.
The plan will be based on your personal situation, but in general, will likely include taking some or all of these steps:
1. Starting to save now
2. Investing regularly in buckets of assets that will grow over time
3. Not looking at those accounts all the time, but rather just continuing to save and invest regularly
4. Buying a home you plan to live in a long time and slowly paying off your mortgage (Typically, no reason to rush it)
5. Getting Whole Life Insurance, using the cash value to make big purchases throughout your lifetime, paying yourself back like you would with any other loan, and tapping into the policy to help fund your retirement later on
If you own your home, have a maxed out RRSP and TFSA, and a Whole Life policy optimized for cash value, you’re likely going to be okay.
But having a more specific plan tailored to you is best. If you want to sit down and go through the numbers, shoot me a message!