GoBankingRates

Dec 5: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

December 5, 2022

How to get your retirement savings back on track when money’s tight

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog via Yahoo!, Vance Cariaga offers up some interesting tips on how to keep your retirement savings effort going, even while record inflation and roiling markets are battering away in the background.

A survey from Allianz Life, he writes, found that 54 per cent of Americans “have stopped or reduced retirement savings due to inflation.” A further 31 per cent have reduced contributions to their 401(k) plans (similar to a capital accumulation savings plan here in Canada), he notes.

“Cutting back on retirement contributions is understandable in periods of high inflation — especially if you need the money to pay for essentials such as housing, utility bills, and groceries. However, doing so comes with serious consequences,” he warns in the article.

Cutting back now, even for good reasons, means you will have to play catch up later, the article continues. The “worst move” we can make is to cut back completely on retirement savings, he writes.

Here are the ideas Cariaga has for keeping the savings going despite living through a tight money era:

  • The first idea is to tweak your budget. “You’d be surprised how many discretionary expenses can be reduced or eliminated altogether,” he writes. Brewing your own coffee, cutting back on dining out, avoiding “pricey” vacations and trimming back on memberships are ideas to free up money for savings, the article suggests.
  • Next, he recommends cutting back on credit card spending. “The best move is to cut down on your credit card use. After that, try to pay the balance in full every month to avoid interest charges,” he explains. Another idea expressed in the article is doing a “balance transfer” from one card to another with a lower interest rate.
  • Side gigs, the article notes, can bring in up to $1,000 a month, creating some more cash to save.
  • If you have some sort of ongoing retirement savings arrangement, either through work or individually, Cariaga suggests you “reduce, instead of eliminate, retirement savings.”

Some workplace pension systems require contributions at a mandatory rate, but if you are doing your own automatic contribution to a savings vehicle, you could temporarily dial down the amount, the article notes – and then dial it back up when better times return. This is completely doable if you are a member of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP), for instance.

Even if you squeak through this economic downturn with reduced retirement savings, your future you will be thankful you kept your eye on the ball.

And as mentioned, with the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, you are the quarterback when it comes to deciding how much you want to set aside for retirement each payday. You can contribute any amount you want up to $7,000 annually to SPP, who will grow your savings at a very low management expense rate, and then convert your nest egg into income down the road. Be sure to check them out today.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


SEPT 12: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

September 12, 2022

Some clever ways to tuck away more money in your retirement piggy bank

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog, Jami Farkas comes up with some “clever” ways to save more for our collective retirements.

First, the article suggests, use an online calculator to figure out how much you need to save. There are plenty of these, and the Saskatchewan Pension Plan’s own Wealth Calculator can show you how much your savings can grow.

Next, the article urges, make savings automatic. “Don’t give yourself the option of whether to set aside money each month. Automate your savings so it’s not a choice,” the article suggests, quoting David Brooks Sr., president of Retire SMART. This option is available to SPP members too – you can arrange to make pre-authorized contributions to your account.

If you are in any sort of retirement arrangement at work, be sure you are contributing to the max, the article notes. And if there is no employer match to your retirement savings, “set up your own match” by giving up a cup of coffee daily, the article suggests.

Once you’ve started automatically saving for life after work, be sure to bump up your annual rate of contributions every year, the article tells us. “A 25-year-old earning $40,000 a year who contributes just one per cent more of his salary each year (or $33 more each month) until age 67 would have $3,870 of additional yearly income in retirement, assuming a seven per cent rate of return and a 1.5 per annual pay raise,” the article explains.

It’s the same, the article continues, for raises. If you get one, so should your retirement savings – stash some or all of it into savings. “Since workers are already accustomed to living on their existing salary, they won’t notice money that they never had before is missing,” the article explains.

We’ll Canadianize the next tips – consider putting some or all of your tax refund back into retirement savings, such as your SPP account or a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). A few of the ideas for saving in this article, intended for a U.S. audience, aren’t available here, but remember that SPP operates similarly to a registered retirement savings plan, so contributions you make to it are tax-deductible. If you put money in a TFSA, there’s no tax deduction but as is the case with both vehicles, your money grows tax-free. And with a TFSA there’s no tax payable when you take the money out.

Other ideas – don’t downsize after you retire, but before when you can more readily afford to move, the article suggests.

Spare change can power your savings, the article adds. “Tossing spare change in a jar might seem like an old-fashioned approach to saving, but you’d be surprised how quickly your nickels, dimes and quarters can add up,” the article notes. Do the same with any money you save on purchases using coupons or apps, we are told.

We’ll add one more to this list. If you get a gift card that can be spent like cash anywhere, why not add it to your SPP account? SPP permits contributions to be made from credit cards, so it’s a nice way to turn a gift, or a rebate, into retirement income for your future self.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


AUG 22: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

August 22, 2022

U.S. study links health, happiness to sound financial planning

We’ve often heard how things like rising interest rates and market volatility “keep us up at night.”

But, reports Gabrielle Olya, writing for GoBankingRates via Yahoo!, a new study out of the U.S. suggests that there’s actually a link between having a good financial plan and happiness – as well as being able to sleep at night.

The Northwestern Mutual 2022 Planning & Progress Study found that “people with financial plans and those who work with financial advisors are happier and sleep better than those who don’t plan or work with advisors,” she writes.

The numbers she reports on from the study are indeed eye-openers.

“Eighty-seven per cent of Americans surveyed who work with financial advisors reported that they are very or somewhat happy, as did 84 per cent of those who considered themselves disciplined planners,” the article notes. Those numbers drop to 72 per cent for those without financial planners and to 68 per for those who aren’t following a plan.

And then there’s the whole sleep thing.

“Eighty-one per cent of Americans who work with financial advisors said they sleep well or very well, and 76 per cent of disciplined planners said the same. Among people who don’t work with financial advisors, 65 per cent said they sleep well or very well, and that percentage dropped to 62 per cent for informal planners and non-planners,” Olya writes.

“As we dug into the results, we saw that people who have an advisor or identify as a disciplined planner reported being happier and sleeping better. This signalled to us that there is a clear link between financial wellness and overall wellness,” states Northwestern’s Christian Mitchell in the article.

He further states that having a plan and/or working with an advisor “eliminates a lot of the uncertainty surrounding your finances and allows you to feel more confident about your complete financial picture. This clarity can help create peace of mind and even lead to increased happiness and better sleep.”

The article concludes by outlining some steps those of us who aren’t using an advisor, or following a plan, can take – “setting a budget, reducing spending or paying down debt.” As well, focusing on long-term goals – “such as buying a house or saving for retirement” can be a positive step.

Perhaps we can take away from this article – thinking chiefly of retirement savings – that those of us who have either a plan or a strategy for handling this long-term goal may feel happier/healthier than those who don’t have a plan.

As we’ve seen, the majority of Canadians don’t have any sort of workplace pension or retirement arrangement. That means the responsibility for retirement savings falls squarely on their own shoulders. If you want someone to help carry the ball for you, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Through SPP’s open, voluntary defined contribution model, you contribute the savings, and SPP takes on the tricky part – investing your money, growing it, and getting ready to turn it into future retirement income. Leave the heavy lifting and stress to SPP; get them working on your retirement strategy!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


JUL 11: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

July 11, 2022

Even if you have zero saved for retirement, these steps will get you started

One of the findings of a recent survey from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) was that “32 per cent of working Canadians said they have yet to save anything for retirement.”

South of the border, reports GoBankingRates via Yahoo! Finance, the situation is similar, with 23 per cent of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, and “25 per cent of Americans between 45 and 55 years old” not having even started saving.

Like dieting and going to the gym more often, saving for retirement is something we know is good for us but is easy to avoid doing. GoBankingRates offers a few ways to fire up your own personal retirement savings program.

The first step is to start budgeting, the article notes. “When payday comes around, it’s tempting to pay for immediate expenses, such as rent and groceries, and use the rest of that money for spending and splurging. Instead, you should consider budgeting,” the article urges. “By setting aside a little money every month towards retirement, you will be able to enjoy that money in the future,” states Jay Zigmont of Live, Learn Plan in the article.

Next, the article continues, is addressing your debt load.

“Debt is a frustrating thing to have, but the sooner you are able to eliminate it, the more money you will have for saving for retirement, investing and spending,” the article tells us. This is a very valid point. Next time you get your credit card bill, see how much interest you were charged on the balance over the last month. That amount could go to savings if you were able to pay off the card.

To target your debt, the article advises you to first be sure to make at least the minimum payment on all debts. They then advise that you put any extra money you can on the debt with the highest interest rate. Once that one’s gone, add what you were paying on high-interest debt 1 to high-interest debt 2, and repeat until you are debtless.

A third idea in the article is goal-setting for savings.

“Make sure you know why you are saving,” Zigmont states in the article. “What do you want your retirement to look like? What are you willing to give up to get there? What is the dollar number you need to hit to retire? When do you want to do it by?”

If you want, for example, to have $20,000 in savings for 20 years of retirement, a target might be $400,000. For simplicity, we are not talking about interest rates and investment returns in this example, but both can help you get there.

Other ideas from GoBankingRate include investing your savings, rather than putting it all in a savings account. “Follow the general rule of only investing in things you understand,” Zigmont states in the article. “Take the time to learn what your options are and be sure to understand both what you are investing in.” In Canada, your choices include workplace pension plans, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and plain old cash trading accounts. Be sure you know the limits and rules for each type of investment vehicle.

The final advice in the article is to “take ownership” of retirement. “The key to retirement is making it your own,” the article concludes. Do you want to fully retire, or move to part-time work? Having an idea of what your own retirement will be like will help guide your savings plan, the article concludes.

Over many years of reviewing books for Save with SPP, there was one piece of advice that really stood out, and actually worked for us when money was tight. That idea was to put aside five per cent off your pay for savings right off the top, and then live on the rest.

A barrier to savings is the feeling that you won’t have anything left over after bills and groceries. But if you take five per cent off the top, and put it somewhere where you can’t get at it to spend, you’ll be amazed how quickly the savings start to add up, and how little you miss the five per cent (eventually).

A safe and secure cookie jar for your newfound savings is available through SPP.

With SPP, you can stash away up to $7,000 per year in a locked-in, voluntary defined contribution plan. “Locked-in” means you can’t raid your savings for non-retirement expenses; you can only access the money once you reach retirement age. And during that run up, your money will be invested professionally and at a low cost. SPP is a sensible savings option available to any Canadian with RRSP room; check them out today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Looking for tricky ways to boost your retirement savings

June 30, 2022

We’re living through some very weird times. First we get a pandemic that keeps many of us from working for an extended period of time, and the rest of us with nothing to spend our money on. Now we’re facing crazy inflation that is making even routine purchases very expensive.

Are there any tricky ways to put away a few bucks for retirement out there? Save with SPP decided to seek out a few new tricks – ideally ones we haven’t covered off before.

A GoBankingRates article posted on Yahoo! offers up 42 savings tricks.

One is to watch the fees in your retirement savings accounts, the article suggests. Here in Canada, this would be in registered retirement savings plans – RRSPs – or Tax-Free Savings Accounts, TFSAs. Do you have mutual funds that charge a high fee, say two per cent or even more? Maybe you can switch to a lower-fee exchange traded fund (ETF). Other ideas include renting out a spare room or an unused garage for extra savings cash, “shopping around” for the best possible insurance rate, and the idea of “putting every tax refund into savings.”

“It’s tempting to use the extra money from your tax refund on a new toy or vacation,” the article states. “But these spurts of cash provide the perfect opportunities to give your retirement savings a big boost.”

The My Money Coach blog has some great ideas, including freeing up money for savings by paying attention to your pre-retirement cash flow.

“A very important key to saving for retirement in Canada – that many have lost sight of – is to earn more than you spend,” the blog explains.

If you are following a budget and still have little room for savings, the blog continues, “the next thing to do is to up your income. You can ask for a raise at work, or you can apply for a job that offers a higher pay and better benefits. You can also pick up extra shifts or take on a second job during the weekends or evenings, if your schedule allows it.”

Other ideas to boost cash flow (and create more savings) are “a side business or freelancing,” the blog notes. “Capitalize on one of your passions and see where it takes you.”

From the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) site comes a little bit of savings psychology advice.  “Try this little trick to motivate yourself,” the site suggests. Simply change the name of your savings solution. Seeing “My world trip,” “Better living” or “Playa del Carmen 2030” every time you log into… e-banking or (a) mobile banking app will remind you of your big dream, and give your motivation a boost,” states Daniel Bregenzer of UBS.

Other tips from UBS include making it “harder” to access your savings account so the temptation to spend it is lessened, “like keeping a box of chocolates out of sight,” and making savings an automatic habit.

Save with SPP can add a couple more.  First, if you get a cash gift card – say it’s issued as a rebate on a purchase of tires, or contact lenses, or whatever – did you know that you can use that gift card to make contributions to your Saskatchewan Pension Plan account? SPP allows you to make credit card contributions, and we have used gift cards quite a few times over the years. Here’s the page where credit card contributions can be made.

And, if you have a cashback card, what better place for the cash than your retirement savings plan – just set up SPP as a bill payment on your bank website or app, and when the cash is deposited, contribute it.

Whatever way you can wring a few extra bucks out of your living costs will work, and your future self will greatly enjoy the work your current self has put in!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


JUN 20: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

June 20, 2022

Things to start getting rid of before retiring

An article by Gabrielle Olya, writing for GoBankingRates via Yahoo! Finance, notes that when we retire, we tend to downsize, both in terms of our living space and – for nearly all of us – our income.

Her article identifies 25 things we can sell prior to retiring, in light of the twin truths that we may not only be living in smaller quarters, but with less income.

First, she suggests, is your home. By selling off your current abode, “you can use the funds to buy a smaller place or put the money toward rent and deposit any leftover money into savings. Downsizing your home can not only save you money, but it also can save time and effort because you have a smaller property to maintain.”

You won’t, she continues, need your fancy work clothes anymore, and may be able to get some dollars for them at a consignment shop. With more time and workout options at hand, maybe the home gym equipment can be sold off as well, Olya writes.

Another area for downsizing is the garage, she notes. “Even if you’re done paying off your car, it can still be a major expense between gas, insurance, maintenance and repairs. If you and your partner each own a car, consider selling one of them. Even if you only have one car, it might be cheaper to sell it and get around using rideshare services or public transportation.”

Consider, Olya suggests, selling off “bulky furniture” if you are moving to a smaller place; this can be done easily via Facebook Marketplace or Kijijii, or you can go “old school” and sell via consignment shops.

Other things the article mentions that can be sold off include holiday decorations, old computers (that still may be worth something), old kids’ toys that your adult children (or their kids) don’t want or need, the book collection, and, notably “collectibles and antiques.”

“Like books, collectibles and antiques can take up a lot of space that you might no longer have if you downsize your home. It’s fine to hold onto a few things with sentimental value, but assess whether these items would be worth more to you if you turned them into cash for your retirement savings,” writes Olya.

For years, Save with SPP had a large collection of boxed items that made the move, years ago, from Barrie to Waterloo, and on to Toronto and finally Ottawa. When we finally had time to open all the boxes up, we found it was mainly keepsakes and low-value collectibles that mostly ended up at Value Village. So take inventory of what you have boxed up in the basement, and see if any of it has resale value or can be gently donated. Your future you will thank you.

The money you save through this process will give you more spending power in retirement. And if you trim back on things before retirement, this newfound money can form – as the article says – a part of your long-term retirement savings. If you’re a Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP), a voluntary defined contribution plan that may be just what you’re looking for to help you save. You can contribute up to $7,000 a year to SPP, and can also transfer up to $10,000 annually from other RRSPs. Check out this made-in-Saskatchewan solution today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


JUN 6: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

June 6, 2022

Taking a look at common barriers to retirement

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog via Yahoo! Casey Bond provides a rundown of the barriers that get in the way of our retirement plans.

Although Bond is writing for a U.S. audience, many of the topics raised are equally relevant here in Canada.

Bond begins by citing TransAmerica Centre for Retirement Studies research that found half of American workers agreed that “I don’t have enough income to save for retirement,” and 57 per cent said they planned to continue to work after hitting retirement age. A whopping 80 per cent of that group cited “financial reasons” as the reason why they won’t be leaving work.

Bond’s article cites these key barriers to being able to retire.

High debt: While having some debt in retirement can be coped with, high levels of debt are a problem, the article notes. High levels, the article explains, are mortgage costs exceeding 28 per cent of your “pre-tax household income,” and total debt of more than “36 per cent of your pre-tax income.” Certified financial planner Melissa Hannum is quoted in the article as saying “if you are already struggling to keep your debt below these percentages, then you are not ready to retire.”

Spending more than you earn: Hannum states that if “you are spending more than you’re earning, you are not on track to retire.” She tells GoBankingRates that those of us still working have a chance to pay down debt via a pay raise or a bonus – you don’t get either once you are retired.

Little to no emergency funds: You should, the article notes, “have at least one full year’s worth of expenses saved in a liquid and conservative form of investment.” They suggest a money market fund, guaranteed investment certificates (known as certificates of deposit in the U.S.) or a high-interest savings account.

You haven’t reviewed your retirement savings portfolio: If funds earmarked for retirement savings, in a registered retirement savings plan, tax free savings account or other account are in a portfolio you haven’t been keeping an eye on, that may impede your retirement.

“Taking on excess risk as you near retirement can be extremely hazardous and your portfolio could take a major hit just as you’re ready to call it quits,” Hannum states. Your investment focus should be changing towards “wealth preservation” rather than growth as you near retirement, Hannum states.

Social plan: Are you, the article asks, mentally prepared for retirement? “If your social circle is strictly co-workers and Facebook friends, you may not be ready to retire,” Hannum states in the piece.

Summing it up – you need to pay your future self first via dedicating a portion of your current income towards retirement savings. You need to try to get rid of debt before you retire (it will be harder to pay it off after). Become someone who spends less than they earn, build a one-year emergency fund, and have an idea of what you’ll do with all your newfound time. It’s a great take on the subject by the GoBankingRate folks.

If you are among the fortunate few with a workplace savings plan, be sure you are taking part to the fullest. If you don’t have a plan, and aren’t so sure about investing and the tricky “turning savings into income” stage, any Canadian has another option – the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP will invest your savings professionally and at a low cost in a pooled fund, and when it’s time to punch out for the final time, you’ll be able to choose from several options, including a lifetime monthly pension via an SPP annuity. You can transfer any bits and pieces from past pension plans into SPP to collect a unified amount from a single source! Check them out!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Mar 21: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

March 21, 2022

How much is “enough” when setting an early retirement savings target?

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog, John Csiszar takes a crack at a challenging topic – how much is “enough” when setting your retirement savings goals, particularly if you want to retire early?

“While the fantasy of early retirement sounds great, the reality can be difficult to achieve. If you retire early, you’ll need much more than a standard retirement nest egg to fund the extra years that you will be retired and not working,” he writes.

Drum roll, here – Csiszar next tells us that since a “standard” retirement nest egg should contain one million eggs (all eggs are U.S. denominated in his article), then an early retirement nest egg should cost “$2 million or more, to fund a long, early retirement.”

He then does the math. For those wanting to retire at age 40, they need to first understand that their retirement (according to Internal Revenue Service stats for the U.S.) could last around 45.7 years.

In order to have a “modest” $40,000 income for life starting at 40, you would need to save $1.84 million once you hang up the name tag for the last time.

To get that $1.84 million, he adds, you would need to start saving $92,000 a year beginning at age 20. And even if you could manage that feat, Csiszar adds, you would need to have average investment returns of seven to 10 per cent annually.

Well, OK. What about early retirement at 50?

Csiszar does the math on that idea, with the same goal of having $40,000 in income annually. Americans aged 50 at retirement can expect 36.2 more years of life, so you’ll “only” need $1.448 million in savings. And you’ll need to save $88,266 annually from age 30 to 50 to get the job done.

These are scary numbers, but let’s not overlook the fact that most Canadians will get a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefit at retirement, and may also qualify for Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (the latter is for lower-income retirees). These don’t start at age 40 or 50, of course, but you can get CPP at 60 and OAS at 65.

The average CPP payout in Canada, according to our friend Jim Yih at the Retire Happy blog, is $645 per month. That’s $7,740 per year. If you were to retire at age 65, and live for 20 years, the CPP (assuming you got the average rate cited here) would provide you $154,800, and that’s not including the inflation increases you would receive each year.

The Motley Fool blog tells us that the average OAS payment in Canada is $613.53, or $7,362.36 per year. If you were to start collecting OAS at 65, and received this average amount for 20 years, you would have received $147,247.20. Again, that figure doesn’t include inflation increases.

These are estimates based on average payouts; what you will actually get depends on your own earnings and employment history. But the point is, these two federal programs can provide a significant chunk of your nest egg – you are not completely on your own in your savings program.

We can save on our own in registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), and another The Motley Fool blog post shows that the average RRSP balance in the country is $101,555.

Saving a million bucks sounds impossible, but maybe, it’s not as big a mountain as it appears.

Those with company pensions as well as RRSPs, tax free savings accounts, and other savings, can get closer to the target. The value of your home can be a savings factor if you decide to sell and downsize for your golden years.

If you do have a company pension plan, be sure to contribute to the max.

With a committed approach to saving, and assuming you can get decent investment returns with low fees, we can all get a little closer to that “standard” savings level. For those without a company pension plan, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, which currently allows you to save $7,000 annually toward retirement (you can also transfer in up to $10,000 a year from other RRSPs). The SPP has a stellar investing track record – the average rate of return has been eight per cent since the plan’s inception in 1986. And while past rates of return don’t guarantee future rates, the SPP has been helping people build their retirement security for 36 years. Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Feb 28: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

February 28, 2022

Is “semi-retirement” a way to address a lack of readiness for “full” retirement?

Could the lack of adequate retirement savings prompt most of us to move to “semi-retirement” following the end of full-time work?

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog, Vance Cariaga notes that semi-retirement may be “where a lot of boomers might be headed, as employers try to convince older staffers to stick around longer in a labour market plagued by a shortage of workers.”

He notes that recent research by The Harris Poll in the U.S. reveals that only 48 per cent of employees believe their companies have “an adequate successor in place when they do retire.”

“One potential answer,” writes Cariaga, “is ‘semi-retirement.’ This might take several different forms, ranging from flexible schedules and consulting work to reduced hours,” he notes.

The Harris research found that “most employees would take part in semi-retirement if it were offered. Nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) favoured doing so through a flexible work schedule, while 66 per cent said they would be willing to transition to a consulting role…and 59 per cent said they would be open to reduced hours and benefits. But only about one in five (21 per cent) said their employers offer semi-retirement options.”

The idea of encouraging older workers to hang around is a pretty big change. It’s not that long ago that retirement was mandatory at age 65, and most people completely left the workforce and entered the Golden Years without a backward glance. This practice is now known as “full retirement,” where the retirees do no work of any kind.

So what’s changed from long ago to now?

The article notes that two things are driving the new outlook for semi-retirement – the lingering effects of COVID-19, and a general lack of retirement saving.

Regarding COVID, Cariaga writes, “more than one-fifth of the survey respondents said the pandemic has caused them to delay their retirement plans, while about one-tenth said COVID convinced them to retire earlier than planned.”

However, he adds, “a much larger percentage — more than two-thirds — said they are worried about saving enough for retirement, making them prime candidates for work arrangements that would let them keep earning money.”

The article concludes by suggesting that employers “investigate all available alternatives to fill their payrolls.”

Save with SPP has friends and family members who are still working into their 60s and beyond. When we asked why, some said they wanted to max out their company pensions and government benefits by retiring at 70. Others still had younger kids in post-secondary and/or mortgages to finish off. Some just like working, love the people at work, and the fun of being part of a team. A few really like remote work and are hanging in while it is still available.

All valid reasons.

There is a factor to be aware of with the “let’s just keep working” approach to retirement planning, however. If, heaven forbid, one gets ill, or develops a physical problem that prohibits working, that retirement date may get moved forward, rather than into the future. So don’t lose sight of the importance of retirement saving.

If you have a pension plan at work – or you wish to supplement it – consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Once you’ve joined, you decide how much you want to contribute, and SPP does all the rest. SPP professionally invests your savings, building them over time, and can turn them into an income stream at any time once you reach age 55.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Savings resolutions for 2022

January 13, 2022

The start of a new year often has us thinking of things we “resolve” to do – changes we want to make – in 2022.

Save with SPP had a look around the “information highway” to see what people are resolving to do on the all-important savings front.

From The Guardian , ideas include getting debt-free, starting a rainy day fund, and to “have a goal” for savings. The newspaper notes that debt is a real barrier to savings.

“There is no point trying to save if you are burdened by costly debts,” The Guardian reports. While savings accounts in the U.K. pay only about 0.2 per cent interest, the article continues, credit card, store card or overdraft debts may be “in excess of 20 per cent.”

Writing for the GoBankingRates blog via Yahoo!, John Csiszar suggests resolutions should include “bumping up your retirement plan contributions by one per cent,” reviewing your spending from 2021, and that you “don’t buy anything until you get rid of something else.”

Increasing your contributions to a retirement account (here in Canada, this might refer to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), or your Saskatchewan Pension Plan account) by one per cent is, Csiszar writes, an achievable goal. If you earn $50,000 a year, and are contributing five per cent to a retirement plan, he writes, bumping that up by one per cent will boost your retirement savings by $41.67 per month.

Back in the U.K., The Express recommends dropping costly habits, “start counting the pennies” (or nickels here in Canada), and following the 50/30/20 rule.

“Allocate 50 per cent for essentials, such as rent, mortgage and bills, 30 per cent for `wants’ such as hobbies, shopping or subscriptions, and 20 per cent for paying off debt or building up savings,” the article suggests.

Finally, MSN Money adds a few more – review your retirement plan contributions (to ensure you are contributing as much as you can), contribute to both “traditional” retirement savings accounts (here in Canada, an RRSP or SPP) as well as tax-free savings vehicles (for Canadians, the Tax-Free Savings Account) and increase any automatic savings you have going.

These are all great strategies. Another one to add is to live within your means. Don’t spend even a nickel more than you earn, because that overspending can snowball on you. Pay the bills, then pay yourself (and your future self), and spend what’s left over. As the bills go down, you’ll have more to save.

And the SPP allows you to make contributions the easy way – automatically. You can set up a pre-authorized payment plan with SPP and have your contributions withdrawn painlessly every payday. It’s easier to spread your contributions out throughout the year in bite-sized pieces than to try and come up with one big payment at the deadline. And the good folks at SPP will invest your contributions steadily and professionally, turning them into future retirement income. It’s win win!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.