By Sheryl Smolkin

RRSP season is in full swing and since the beginning of the year, we have been bombarded with a media blitz suggesting few Canadians are saving enough and exhorting us to maximize contributions to our retirement savings plans by the end of February.

If you wonder what all this retirement planning is for, anyway, take a look at Sandi Martin’s blog or boomer & echo. She says planning for that inevitable day when you stop collecting a paycheque, or invoicing clients, or collecting ad revenue is an exercise that will let you spend more money than vaguely worrying about “saving enough” or “running out” will.

In order to save enough to retire worry-free, you need to figure out how much you will need. On the Canadian Finance blog Tom Drake suggests that for every dollar of annual income you need in retirement you should plan to have $20 in savings. That doesn’t include the value of your home because it is not earning income.

You can save in many different kinds of accounts including the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, employer-sponsored pension plans and RRSPs. But Jonathan Chevreau at MoneySense says investing in a tax-free savings account (TFSA) should be a priority for most Canadians. In fact he says the moment you make your January contribution, you should start accruing for the next year’s installment, even if it means parking in short-term cash vehicles and paying a little tax for the balance of the calendar year.

Brighter Life discusses how you can pay yourself from your retirement savings when you retire. Some of the options are annuities, registered retirement income funds, and payments from several kinds of locked-in accounts holding funds transferred from locked-in company pension plans.

And Jim Yih on retirehappy.ca reminds us that one area of tax planning that does not receive enough attention is the designation of beneficiaries when it comes to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs).

When you open up an RRSP or RRIF, you are opening up a special contract under the Income Tax Act, which allows you to designate one or more beneficiaries. Far too often, this is done too casually and without enough thought. More importantly, as your circumstances change, like marriage, divorce or children, you should consider reviewing your beneficiaries to make sure you have the right people designated.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere. Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

I got my first library card when I was five years old and could print my name. I was an avid library user in Cornwall, Ontario where I grew up. I also worked in the library for three summers when I was in university.

But over the last several decades I’ve been buying books instead of borrowing them. Even buying paperbacks and trading them with family members became quite expensive. When I got an eReader app for my tablet computer a few years ago, I found I was spending even more on books because it was just so easy using wifi to order and charge them to my credit card.

Then I learned that eBooks are available from the Toronto Public Library and they can be downloaded at any hour of the day or night without leaving my comfy desk chair. Of course popular titles often have long waiting lists, but I can put a hold on a book and when it’s my turn, I get an email.

The Saskatchewan Public Library system offers members the same convenience. The seven regional libraries in Saskatchewan are:

• Lakeland Library Region (North Battleford area),
• Wapiti Regional Library (Prince Albert area),
• Wheatland Regional Library (Saskatoon area),
• Parkland Regional Library (Yorkton area),
• Chinook Regional Library (Swift Current area),
• Palliser Regional Library (Moose Jaw area)
• Southeast Regional Library (Weyburn area).

However, the eBook collection is shared by the whole province. So if you take a look at the websites for these regional libraries, you will see the same collection of available titles.

You can use your library card to download eBook and eAudiobook titles from library2go for either one or two weeks. When the loan period is up, your items are returned automatically so you don’t have to worry about getting them back on time. You can have a total of ten eBooks and eAudiobooks signed out at one time from library2go. Materials can also be renewed.

Or check out Project Gutenberg on the web for a huge selection of classic eBook titles. Regardless of what part of the world you live in you can download books in the public domain on which copyright has expired from this site for free. Some of the most popular titles are Grimm’s Fairy Tales, The Importance of Being Earnest, Wuthering Heights and Moby Dick.

Recently I decided that battery life on a tablet is not adequate for long plane trips so I decided to buy a dedicated eReader. I opted for a Kobo Glow that weighs only 6.5 ounces, fits in my purse and has a screen so I can read in the dark. It is rated for around 70 hours of use with the light at 15-20 percent.

The device cost $129.95 plus tax. But I figure that I only have to borrow and read 10 library books to amortize the cost. Of course I still buy books occasionally, particularly if I’m travelling for extended periods. But because I use the library regularly, my book buying budget is now much more manageable.

Do you have any ideas for saving money? Share your money saving tips with us at http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

By Sheryl Smolkin

“Best from the blogosphere” took three weeks off, but all of our favourite bloggers kept right on writing, so there is lots of great content for our first issue of 2014.

Many of you may have made financial New Year’s resolutions like paying off debt, spending less and saving more. On retirehappy.ca, Jim Yih says you will achieve your goals if you keep it simple, take responsibility and stay disciplined.

Krystal Yee’s top financial goal is to retire as early as possible. Therefore, on givemebackmyfivebucks.com she explains that she decided to divert $110 bi-weekly from excess mortgage payments to RRSP savings to ensure she saves at least $750/year for retirement. Then she will use her annual tax refund to pay down her mortgage.

Marie Engen at Boomer & Echo says you can save money by making major purchases at the right time of year. If you plan ahead you can realize substantial savings. For example, her Calendar of Saving Money suggests that January white sales are a good time to stock up on linens.

If you are looking for new ways to boost your earnings, a guest blogger on the Canadian finance blog offers 4 ways to generate income in your personal life. So if you have decided to finally clean out overflowing closets and drawers, you may be able to sell everything from good as new clothing to DVDs online.

And finally, if you are one of those lucky people who belong to a defined benefit pension plan, Sean Cooper’s blog on milliondollarjourney.com explains the financial implications of retiring early, depending on whether your pension will be reduced or you are eligible for an unreduced retirement.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere. Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to finally get serious about your family finances, How to Eat an Elephant by financial planner Frank Wiginton is a book you may want to take a look at.

For many years when Wiginton’s clients have approached him to make a financial plan he has asked them to bring in a series of documents. Clients often said that the amount of work they had to do and the quantity of information they needed to pull together was overwhelming.

To help them overcome this fear and stress, he began breaking down the required information into smaller, much more manageable bite-sized pieces – i.e., “small bites of the elephant.”

This was the genesis of the “twelve step program” in his book covering topics ranging from goal setting, debt management, and insurance to retirement savings, estate and tax planning. Wiginton suggests that by using this guide and doing about four hours a month of “homework” readers can develop a realistic financial roadmap.

Each chapter includes a breezy discussion of the topic, “Frank thoughts” from the author and anecdotes about how using these techniques have benefitted certain individuals. At the end of each brief chapter summary you are directed to easy-to-use web tools that help you to collect the information and use the strategies described in the previous section.

I particularly like that Chapter 1 asks readers to “blue sky,” prioritize and price a list of 50 things they want to do right now. Then by identifying the major things that must happen to accomplish each goal, reviewing the list regularly and sharing goals with others they have a better chance of making their goals a reality.

Chapter 2 teaches you how to create a net worth statement and by Chapter Three, Wiginton finally  deals with the dreaded “b” word – budgeting. That’s where he gets into “needs vs. wants” and ways to break “the spending habit.” Ideas like using cash only, saving 10% and re-negotiating mortgages and telecommunications bills are not new, but seeing them in one comprehensive list is helpful.

When it comes to retirement planning, Wiginton says the first step is to determine what you want to do in retirement and what it will cost. Then he presents various retirement savings options and the tax implications of each one.

Wiginton notes that you may actually need less money than you think to retire because:

1. You will pay lower taxes when you no longer are employed.
2. For many people, expenses are lower once the mortgage is paid off and the kids have left home.
3. People tend to spend less with age.

For example, when people are 60 to 70 years old they tend to be a lot more active than when they are 70 to 80 and the trend grows more pronounced with age.

As a result, in calculating what clients need, he usually reduces the amount of spending required by 15 or 20% around age 75 and by another 15 to 20% at age 85. However, he says that increasing costs of long-term care for seniors do have to be factored into the equation.

This is an engaging and clearly written book that runs to 274 pages of smallish print. There are no quick fixes but if you are prepared to work through it “one bite at a time,” by the end you will have a much better understanding of your finances and a plan that will help you achieve your personal financial goals.

The book is available in paperback or for Kobo and can be ordered for about $16.00 from the Chapters/Indigo website.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Later retirement and working longer is the new norm. That’s the message in Sun Life’s 2013 Canadian Unretirement Index report.

Over 3000 adults aged 30 to 65 years of age polled online by Ipsos Reid in late 2012 present a startlingly different picture than five years ago.

The number of Canadians who are planning to exit the workforce by age 66 has declined by nearly half since 2008. Just 27% of survey respondents expect to be retired by that age versus 51% five years ago.

As a result, there is a corresponding increase in the number of Canadians who assume they will be working retirees. And according to the study, we’re not talking about part-time work.

Twenty-six percent now expecting to be working full-time at age 66. This figure represents a 10-percentage point increase since 2008 in the number of Canadians who expect to be punching the clock for a full 40 hours or more a week.

Furthermore, most people say they will be working longer not because they want to, but because they need the money. This is apparent when we examine the order in which Canadians ranked their reasons for working at age 66 in 2008 as compared to 2012.

Reasons for working at age 65

2008	2012
15%: I enjoy my job or career	25%: To earn enough money to pay basic living expenses
14%: To stay mentally active	21%: To earn enough money to live well
13%: To earn enough money to live well	16%: I don’t believe government pension benefits will be enough to live on
13%: I don’t believe government pensionbenefits will  be enough to live on	13%: To stay mentally active
11%: To earn enough money to pay basicliving expenses	10%: I enjoy my job or career

SOURCE: 2013 Sun Life Unretirement Index Report

It is apparent that there is a serious disconnect between retirement dreams and retirement reality for many Canadians. According to the Sun Life study, on average Canadians anticipate needing $46,000 in annual retirement income and they expect to live in retirement for 20 years.

But the average amount they anticipate saving by the time they retire is $385,000 (not including the equity in their house). That’s well below the amount required to meet these average expectations.

In fact 58% of Canadians aim to have less than $250,000 saved for retirement. Thirty-eight percent say they will have less than $100,000 tucked away.

There is no doubt that we all have competing priorities that make it difficult to save for retirement. Paying down debt and raising our children are pretty high on the list. But small steps can make a huge difference.

A good way to start is to pay yourself first. That means arranging for automatic monthly deposits in a registered retirement savings account like the Saskatchewan Pension Plan.

And if you complete and file the Canada Revenue Agency’s T1213 form you can request permission from your employer to deduct a lower amount of taxes at source.

By reducing your withholdings at source, you are paying yourself and not the Canada Revenue Agency first, and increasing your net take home pay. You are effectively giving yourself a raise all year long, not just once at tax time.

In 2013 you can contribute up to $2,500/year to the Saskatchewan Pension Plan and contribution options include directly contributing from your bank account on a pre-authorized contribution schedule. Additional amounts up to your RRSP contribution limit can be contributed to your individual or workplace retirement savings plans.

Developing the “Pay yourself first” habit can help you build up a substantial retirement nest egg. For example, if you deposit $2,500/year in the SPP and earn five percent over a 40 year career (age 25 to 65) you will have a lump sum of about $317,000 in your account.

The value of planning and saving is that you can decide how and when you want to fully retire. Saving with SPP will help you accumulate the funds you need to enjoy your golden years on your own terms.

By Sheryl Smolkin

With this post, we are kicking off a 2014 series of interviews with personal finance bloggers. Many of the people we will be talking to are known to you already because we’ve linked to their blogs on our weekly edition of “Best from The Blogosphere.”

Our first guest is Tim Stobbs, a thirty-five-year old chemical engineer and father of two who lives in Regina and works for SaskPower. He was also a Regina School Trustee until the end of 2012.

Since 2006 Tim has blogged on Canadian Dream: Free at 45. He has also authored a book called Free at 45: How to Retire Early and Happy. In addition, in his spare time, he wrote a series of articles for the Toronto Star and has been interviewed by virtually every media outlet in the country.

Thanks for joining me today, Tim.

Thanks for inviting me Sheryl.

Q. You’re one busy guy. When do you find time to sleep?

A. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I regularly get about eight hours of sleep. My young children go to bed early so I still have a couple hours every night to work on personal projects.

Q. So how old were you when you decided to aim for early, early retirement at 45?

A. I first came across the idea of early retirement back in my early 20s about 2001. But I really didn’t do much of anything with it until several years later in about 2005 when I did a series of online calculations and realized that I might actually be able to retired at 45. So I took that idea and started to blog with it.

Q. What response have you had to the blog? How many hits do you get?

A. Each blog post gets maybe about 600 or 700 hits. It works out to about 20,000 page views per month or so, give or take. It’s been an odd experience because I’ve had a lot of interest from various media outlets. I did a bunch of radio interviews.

The Toronto Star contacted me and asked me to write a series for them. One opportunity that was really out-of-this world was when CBC, The National, contacted me for a story on early retirement.

Q. I can understand that would be quite cool. So what blogs have resulted in the highest number of clicks or the greatest interest?

A:  I think the highest amount of interest I’ve seen on my blog has been in regards to the early retirement calculation series. About every couple years or so, I’ll dust it off and re-do the calculations just to keep them updated. People question my assumptions and share the basis of their own calculations with me.

Q. So that’s your own calculations, as your projections evolve towards your own retirement?

A. Yes. Realistically everyone can make assumptions, but inevitably life happens and things kind of veer off a little bit. So you’ve got to go back and correct them periodically.

Q. So how much do you and your wife figure you need to pay your bills after taxes?

A. Well, we kind of did an odd thing with our retirement planning. We actually aimed for a very barebones kind of basic spending level of $27,000 a year and then we figured we’d probably, for incidental income and other things,  that we would pull in another $5,000  for more fun stuff.

Q. What lump sum savings do you think it will take to support your lifestyle once you retire?

A. A grand total of about 1.1 million net worth, but the majority of that is going to be investments. So about $700,000 in investments, I figured would probably pull that off.

Q. Is the rest the value in your house?

A. Yes, the rest would be the equity in the house.

Q.I see that your mortgage is paid off and you figure you’ll be able to retire at age 42 now. The numbers dropped again?

A. Yes.

Q. How did you do it? What did you give up in order to meet this objective?

A. Everyone is always asking that but I’ve never actually sacrificed anything. I could have decided to spend more money or do other things. But instead, I kind of ended up doing a little exercise and went through my life and my spending and went, “What things do I really not care about?”

Like, my power bill, I really, really don’t get excited paying off my power bill every month. So what I decided to do was to see, “How low can I make that?” So I looked at ways to save energy around the house and dropped that bill down and repeated that across all of my various bills.

As a result, what I managed to do was really customize my spending to be heavily tailored toward my particular interests. So I’ll spend money on books or DVDs that I like, but I don’t spend a lot of money on gas or power bills.

Q. I presume your wife is on board with the program?

A. She is, but in a different context than me. I’m more driven by the freedom to do what I’m interested in. She’s more about the whole concept of security. For example, we had a car accident last week and she knows without any doubt that we’ll have the money for the deductible for the car. So, she just loves that as a result of our financial plan that we are financially secure.

Q. Do you still go on vacations, go out to restaurants and upgrade your phone every now and then?

A. Oh yes, we still do all that stuff. Like, for example, this summer, my sister-in-law moved out to Newfoundland. We decided to go out there for a visit. So we took a month long vacation and spent over seven and a half thousand dollars. We drove all the way out and back. Seven provinces with two little boys in the back seat, but we survived.

Q. So what does retirement mean to you? How do you plan to spend your time once you don’t have to go to work?

A. Well, as I talked about earlier, we aimed for bare bones because I really think I’m retiring too early to stop working entirely. It’s just nice to be able to work on what interests me rather than what pays me most. Right now, I’m doing engineering because, well, it’s my degree and I’m quite good at it. As an engineer I also make quite a bit of money. However I enjoy writing a lot. But unfortunately, unless you’re really good at writing, it’s pretty hard to earn as much as I do as an engineer.

Q. Are you saying that might at some stage leave your engineering job and take a chance at working on something else?

A. Yes. I’ll probably switch over to just writing novels or non-fiction projects, stuff where I don’t have to worry about a profit margin, as long as I do it because I’m interested in it.

Q. Your wife currently operates a home daycare. I understand she has some ideas about what she’d like to do when you are more financially secure.

A.  She kind of has her hobbies she enjoys and is looking forward to expending those a little bit or even maybe going back to school and learning a bit more about a few other topics that interest her rather than having to go get a degree because it’s something economically viable to do.

Q. If you had one piece of advice for readers who want to manage their finances so they can retire early, what would it be?

A. I think the biggest piece of advice I’d offer people is don’t worry about what everyone else is doing about spending. Look at your own spending habits and kind of customize your budget . It’s really possible to live on a lot less than people think if you’re not so caught up in doing what everyone else is doing.

So if you don’t really care about the newest phone, don’t drop the money every three years to get it. It’s sort of as simple as that in some regards. By minimizing your spending on stuff you don’t care about, you’ll have more spending money for future things like retirement or even just things that interest you more.

—-

You can follow Tim’s progress on his blog and also read interesting posts from several regular guest bloggers.

This is an edited transcript of an interview conducted on November 25^th.

By Sheryl Smolkin

I must confess that at least once or twice when looking for something to distract me on the treadmill at the gym, I’ve watched Extreme Couponing and felt a little guilty. I can’t imagine spending hours every day looking for coupons, plotting my shopping strategy and stockpiling items I may never use. But it seems sinful somehow to pass up obvious bargains.

While the best source of coupons used to be newspapers and grocery store fliers, a big chunk of the business has gone online. In many cases coupons can also be downloaded to your mobile device. So I did some internet research to find the best Canadian coupon websites for those of you who are interested in taking advantage of these deals.

On yummymummyclub.ca, Sarah Deveau rates the following as the top five coupon sites in Canada and provides explanations for what you can expect to find.

Save.ca

The site offers coupons for baby formula, pet food, juice and plenty more. The selection changes frequently and they do impose limits on how many coupons you can request per household. Check out their sister site flyerland.ca for flyer deals, coupons, contests and more.

brandsaver.ca

This Procter & Gamble website offers coupons for their best-selling products, from laundry detergent to toothpaste and nearly everything in between. They also offer free samples. Check back often as supplies are limited and featured products change frequently.

Groceryalerts.ca

This is primarily a grocery coupon and grocery deals site, but shoppers can also read articles on how to shrink their grocery bill using coupons and sales, find recipes and check out product reviews. All coupons and policies are verified prior to being posted by Canadian founders Steven and Lina Zussino. Follow them on Facebook for breaking deals and limited quality sample giveaways.

smartcanucks.ca

On one of the top coupon sites for Canadians, users can not only print coupons directly from this website, but they can also trade coupons with others across the country. You can register for the forums and find out where the best sales and deals are at every major retailer in the country.

entertainment.com

The Entertainment Book has a 50 year history providing coupons for thousands of businesses in 145 cities across North America. So you can’t go wrong by picking up your Saskatchewan copy, as well as a copy for any cities you plan on visiting during the year. If you miss the school kids selling the book, you can usually buy the current Entertainment book at up to 50% off the regular price a few months into the season (no coupon required!).

However, before you embark on a full-scale campaign to save mega-bucks by couponing, read Part 1 and Part 2 of the Great Coupon experiment, also by Sarah Deveau. She managed to save $20 on diapers that were already on sale at Toys R Us but concluded that it definitely wasn’t worth the time she had put into the project. Furthermore, she says even stacking two or three coupons on one product wasn’t enough to price it lower than its lesser priced, no-name brand cousin.

I’m not a big fan of coupons, but I am reasonably diligent about using my loyalty cards from places where I shop regularly. At Shoppers Drug Mart and Longo’s in Toronto points accumulate with every purchase that can be redeemed for dollars on a future purchase. Sobey’s points are converted to Air Canada points.

Do you use coupon sites or loyalty cards that have saved you a bundle? Share your money saving tips with us at http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

Beginning in January we will be mixing things up a bit, and in addition to blogs that discuss ways to save money so you can save more for retirement, we will be interviewing our favourite financial bloggers, reviewing books that will help you better manage your finances and rolling out a monthly Retirement Savings 101 series.

The team at Saskatchewan Pension Plan wishes you a happy, healthy holiday season.

By Sheryl Smolkin

As the year draws to a close, I am pleased to join brighterlife.ca in celebrating some of the best Canadian retirement writers in 2013. I thank them for including me on the list.

Week after week we link to these and other fine bloggers who freely share their time and considerable insight with us. To get to know some of these people a little better in 2014 savewithspp.com will present a series of podcast interviews with prominent personal finance bloggers.

Retire Happy. Follow financial expert, author and speaker Jim Yih on Twitter: @jimyih

MoneySense. Follow MoneySense Magazine editor Jonathan Chevreau: @JonChevreau

Boomer and Echo. Follow mother-and-son financial writers Marie and Robb Engen: @BoomerandEcho

Sheryl Smolkin. Follow this lawyer and financial journalist: @SherylSmolkin

Unretired Life. Follow coach, consultant, speaker and author Eileen Chadnick: @unretiredlife

I’m a sonic boomer… not a senior. Royce Shook writes about issues important to Boomers, grandparents and others, who are changing what retirement looks like.

Canadian Dream Free at 45. Follow engineer and financial writer Tim Stobbs on his journey to early retirement: @canadiandream

Everything Zoomer. Follow executive editor and travel writer Vivian Vassos (@vivianvassos) and associate editor and arts and culture writer Mike Crisolago (@MikeCrisolago)

Grey Routes and Tips. Follow travel-for-grownups writer Jane Canapini: @janecanapini

Best from the Blogosphere will be taking a three week break, but I look forward to bringing you more great retirement and money saving ideas beginning again in mid-January.

Have a happy, healthy holiday season with friends and family.

By Sheryl Smolkin

There is probably nothing more irritating than watching the meter on the gas pump when you are filling up your car with gas for the second or third time in a week. Depending on the car you drive and the distance you go, gas alone can cost you hundreds of dollars a week.

The average current prices reported by Natural Resources Canada on October 29^th are noted below, but gas costs can vary significantly across the country or even around the block.

Regular gasoline:                124.4/litre

Mid-Grade gasoline:            137.5/litre

Premium gasoline:              137.6/litre

Diesel:                                 129.5/litre

In theory, parking the car and taking public transit may be cheaper, but in practice there may not be dependable, affordable public transit available in your area. And once you have had the convenience of a car you will never willingly take strollers, packages and pets on the bus again.

Here are some ideas that will help you save money on gas.

1. Limit your driving: Drive only when you must. Try and combine errands instead of making a separate trip every time you need something. Seriously consider whether grocery shopping in two or three places to save a few cents is worth the cost of gas.
2. Carpool: Find someone to carpool with to and from work on Saskatchewan kijiji. People also look for and offer rides when they have an empty seat in the car on weekends. Your company may let you advertise on its intranet.
3. Fuel efficient car: If you are in the market for a new car, check the fuel efficiency and ratings of various models that you like. We opted for a Diesel BMW last year and we regularly get 800-1000 km per tank when we drive to Ottawa to see our daughter. Hybrid cars can also save you money
4. Maintain your car: Make sure your car is properly maintained. A well-cared for vehicle will run more efficiently and give you better mileage.
5. Fill it up: Fill your car up each time so you don’t waste gas and time driving to and from the gas station putting in small amounts. Wait until you have a quarter tank but don’t push it much further, particularly in winter weather when you could be stranded if you run out of gas.
6. Tires: Check your tires every few weeks and top up the tires to the recommended pressure for your automobile.
7. Avoid idling: Turn off your car when you are waiting for someone.You get zero miles/gallon when you are idling.
8. Use a GPS: In most cases a GPS will help you navigate and find the fastest and shortest route to where you are going. But consider whether the suggested route actually makes sense if you know traffic is particularly bad or your software hasn’t been updated recently.
9. Use air conditioning sparingly: Air conditioning is a gas guzzler. In nice weather when you are travelling at lower speeds, open the windows and enjoy the fresh air.
10. Keep records: Keeping meticulous records of what you spend and how many miles you drive will help you quickly spot changes in vehicle performance and focus on the goal of saving.

Finally, stay safe. You can find winter driving hints from the CAA Saskatchewan here.

Do you have any ideas for saving money on gas? Share your money saving tips with us at http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

Beginning in January we will be mixing things up a bit, and in addition to blogs that discuss ways to save money so you can save more for retirement, we will be interviewing our favourite financial bloggers, reviewing books that will help you better manage your finances and rolling out a monthly Retirement Savings 101 series.

The team at Saskatchewan Pension Plan wishes you a happy, healthy holiday season.

By Sheryl Smolkin

If you are lucky enough to have a job you love, you have probably spent the last few weeks shopping and checking things off on your holiday list. But if you have been downsized or you are about to retire you may be holding off on major purchases until you are more settled.

Here are some blogs with hints for job seekers who are looking for a new career under the Christmas tree this year.

In Boomer & Echo, Robb Engen writes about how a lucky break launched a successful career. He worked his way up in the hotel industry, accepting a job in sales which eventually led to his current job at a university. He says rather than jumping from job-to-job, stick around and make your own luck by being in the right place at the right time.

Nicholas Zakas shares the best career advice he has ever received on NCZOnline. “Don’t accept a job where you’re told exactly what to build and how to build it. You need to work somewhere that appreciates your insights into the product as well as your ability to build it.”

On Recruiter.com you can find 10 career blogs you shouldn’t miss. A blog from an expert in careers can help you to find original ways to revamp your resume, find a new job, break into a new industry, wow a recruiter or anything else career-related that you need to know.

Even with retirement on the horizon, some people are still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Donna McCaw says almost half of us seek an encore career rather than volunteer work or hobbies.  Many people need to work to pay the bills. Others, however, seek further employment to give themselves a more positive sense of self worth.

And finally, as the world continues to mourn, we end this week’s Best from the Blogosphere with Career and life lessons from Nelson Mandela collected by Kevin Makra on Workopolis.

To honor this great man, we leave you with some of his words of wisdom:

 “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.”

“ “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”

 “Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.”

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

 “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.”

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere. Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.