My retirement income plan

A well-thought-out strategy
Many points should be considered before you start withdrawing funds:

• The tax impact
• Major expenses (e.g. car purchase, home repairs)
• The state of your investment portfolio
• The possibility of receiving the Old Age Security (OAS) pension.

It’s important to have a structured plan to make the right choices.

You know your financial needs but, even in retirement, you’ll still have to pay taxes! Avoid nasty tax surprises by planning the withdrawals from your investment accounts.

Strategic withdrawals
Here are some attractive options to consider as part of your retirement income strategy:

• Pension income splitting with your spouse, if your eligible retirement income is higher than your spouse’s.
• Sound allocation of your assets between registered and non-registered investments. Know that dividend income, interest income, capital gains and other income are all taxed differently.
• Use of a TFSA. For example, sums withdrawn from your TFSA are non-taxable and can be recontributed later.
• Transfer of your RRSP to a RRIF.
• Use of your prescribed annuity.

Plan your expenses
Home repairs, buying a new car, or carrying out a special project are some of the major expenses you have to plan for. Withdraw the necessary funds in advance, little by little. A single big withdrawal to cover these expenses could be very costly in terms of taxes and could destabilize your investment portfolio.

Celebrate your 71st birthday
This is an important birthday for you… and your RRSP. Be sure to transfer all of your RRSPs to a RRIF by December 31 of the year in which you turn 71 to avoid paying tax on all of your RRSP funds.

Many things affect the performance of your portfolio. The two key factors are:

• Your asset allocation. This is the factor that has the greatest long-term impact on the stability of your returns.
• Diversification of your assets.

These two factors determine your portfolio’s capacity to weather market fluctuations. It’s essential, therefore, to have a personalized asset allocation plan. Aim for above-median performance and avoid changing your plan for emotional reasons.

Make your life easier!
Tax rules change, as do your needs. Review your plan once a year to make sure it’s still appropriate. Our Wealth Management Advisors can help you prolong and optimize the total decumulation of your assets.

Retirement experience
Beyond taxation, master this new stage of your life by participating in customized conferences organized each year by Professionals’ Financial. Register for our Retirement Experience Weekend, a series of dynamic workshops that deal with the realities of professionals and that focus on different aspects of retirement (psychological, social, taxation, investment, insurance, etc.).

A strategy for each season
Each season, there is a strategy tailored to your situation to optimize the decumulation of your assets or to maximize your investments. Take full advantage!