Retirees and savers take note – inflation appears to be on the rise

An article in Castanet from Kelowna, B.C., warns us all that inflation appears to be making a comeback.

The article begins by noting that inflation is at its “highest level in 18 years,” and that continued high levels of spending by government could drive it even higher.

Inflation, the article explains, “is the general increase in prices and the fall of the purchasing power of a dollar. Put another way, it refers to the cost of putting gas in your car or buying groceries increasing.”

While no one can exactly predict how and when inflation will increase, your retirement plan should be prepared for action, Castanet reports.

Even modest-sounding inflation of three per cent “can cut the purchasing power of your money in half over a 20-year period,” the article notes. This is especially concerning if your income sources are not “indexed,” which means inflation-protected, or if your income sources are not growing, the article adds.

One good thing to be aware of, the article states, is that your government retirement income is inflation protected. So sources of income like the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security will be adjusted upwards if inflation is running higher.

If you have a pension plan at work, it may offer inflation protection – find out, and select this option if such a selection is required, Castanet advises.

If you are investing for retirement, the article advises a balanced approach. A portfolio that is completely risk-free – invested in Guaranteed Income Certificates (GICs) – can actually decrease in value in the inflation rate outpaces the GIC interest rate.

“Often, those that want no risk would be far better served by investing in a conservative portfolio that still holds some equity or other alternative investments that will offer a certain amount of inflation protection. These riskier assets can of course lose money as well, so it is imperative that the investor fully understands the plan they are putting in place,” the article explains.

“You may also want to consider investments in sectors that benefit from inflation like real estate and commodities,” Castanet adds.

The article also mentions real-return bonds as a sort of “hedge” against inflation.

Be prepared for inflation, the article concludes, or face “disastrous consequences.” Consider reviewing your plans with an advisor, the article suggests.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan’s Balanced Fund provides an easy way to ensure all your retirement eggs aren’t in one potentially inflation-sensitive basket? The fund is invested in Canadian, U.S. and Non-North American equity, but also bonds, mortgages, real-estate, short-term investments and infrastructure. That diversification has led to an average rate of return of eight per cent throughout the 35-year history of SPP. And while past results don’t guarantee future returns, it’s a pretty nice track record of helping build retirement futures! Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Our father used to preach the value of having only one of everything, rather than multiple, redundant masses of stuff. It’s good advice that we should have followed.  Dad liked to have one pocket knife, one set of golf clubs, one good snow shovel, and so on. And everything had its place, and was replaced only if it broke.  His was what the Radical Fire blog would call a “minimalist” lifestyle.

Radical Fire’s Marjolein describes such a lifestyle as having “less clutter, less maintenance costs, less things to worry about… less, less, less!”  Marjolein writes that over the years, she accumulated a lot of things that “don’t bring me joy or happiness.” While her place was neat and tidy, her closets were packed to overflowing with “stuff.”

People tend to keep stuff in case they may need it again, but Marjolein says getting rid of unneeded and unused possessions is very liberating. You will, she writes, “spend less time on maintenance and cleaning,” and less searching through closets packed with stuff you don’t need for things you do.

Another advantage – you’ll have more money. You can sell off surplus stuff, and you will spend less on new stuff once you adopt a minimalist gameplan, she writes.   Before buying anything new, she now asks herself “do I really need this, will it bring me joy, can I afford it, and do I really want to spend my money on this?”

Other tips include shopping with a list and starting “small” on your voyage towards minimalism.

Writing in Canadian Living, Paula McKee quotes Joshua Becker (founder of the Becoming Minimalist website) as saying, of minimalism, that “while it is true that you will have less, it’s less of what you don’t need, and more of what you want, like time and money.”

Becker tells Canadian Living that “material belongings become more of a burden than a blessing” over time. He agrees with the idea of starting small on minimalism, noting that a little of it “is better than none at all.”  His approach is to look at all your stuff, and group it by “trash, give away, keep and relocate.” You can give unwanted goods to a charity, have a garage sale, drop things off at a consignment store, or sell things off online, the article suggests.

The rewards will be a home that is “easier to clean and keep organized,” more time to spend doing what you want, and more money to do it with, the article concludes.

Writing for the Next Avenue blog, Michelle Black takes a look at how minimalism impacts retirement.

Her story looks at the lifestyles of Amy and Tim Rutherford of Colorado, among others. They first sold off their big home and bought one that was one-third the size. As part of that process – less space – they chose to get rid of excess stuff, “donating carloads of items to Goodwill” and selling things online for “pennies on the dollar.”

They felt more at peace in their new, uncluttered home, the article notes. “To us, physical clutter equalled mental clutter,” Amy Rutherford tells Next Avenue. On the spending side, she estimates that where they once spent $115,000 a year maintaining the big house and its clutter, they now are spending a “third of that — $36,000,” Next Avenue reports. And that includes a whopping 100 days of annual travel, the blog stresses.

Let’s unpack all this. Imagine a sort of “one of everything” existence where everything has its place, and you can always find it. Then imagine continuing to live like this after you have done a purge of all redundant “stuff.” Envision closets that are not stuffed, storage lockers that are no longer necessary, and the pleasure of simpler housecleaning and more cash in your wallet. There’s a Zen feel to it all.

And if, during the purging of your unloved extra stuff, you happen to pocket a few bucks – or trim your monthly budget by downsizing – you can “declutter” some of that extra cash by saving it for retirement. After all, your future clutterless you will still need money for travel and other tidy fun. A great home for those extra dollars is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, where expert investing will grow them into future retirement income. They’ve been doing it for 35 years – why not check them out today?

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Could a trick used in golf and other sports – visualization – work for retirement saving?

If you’re a golfer, you are probably familiar with the concept of visualization. You imagine your drive swinging gently into the middle of the fairway, landing, and rolling forward. The idea is that with that thought in your mind, your brain will deliver that desired swing result.

Could such an idea be helpful for retirement savers?

An article in Marketwatch suggests that yes, maybe it could work.

“Visualization is often used to boost confidence, reduce anxiety and take a few mental practice runs before we try something for real,” writes Jonathan Clements in the Marketwatch article. “Think about high-pressure situations like making a speech or interviewing for a job. By imagining these events in detail beforehand, we’re likely to perform better when it’s time for the actual thing.”

He argues that for savers, “the biggest benefit of visualization is increased motivation.”

“It can help us overcome our hard-wired tendency to favour today and shortchange our future self,” he notes, “while also helping us to get a better handle on what we truly want from our money.” Love the idea of looking after one’s future self!

So how do we get this working?

Clements suggests that you “picture a goal,” such as retirement, “in as much detail as possible.” The focus should not be on “winning” the goal (or even on not winning) but on the steps that need to be taken along the way to success, he writes.

As you fill in the details of how you want to achieve your goal, “the goal will become ever more real, its emotional intensity will grow – and you’ll be more motivated to go after it,” Clements writes. He quotes psychologist Jennice Vilhauer as saying “being able to do something in your head, greatly increases your chances of being able to do it in real life.”

For long-term saving, visualization is a great way to combat the “allure of immediate spending” which has such a powerful hold on most of us, Clements says.

The article concludes with a caveat – be careful what you wish for! Even if your dream is to save for retirement, be prepared for finding out that retirement itself isn’t what you thought it would be like.

This article makes some very good points. Few of us are organized enough or perceptive enough to accurately imagine, in advance, what retirement will be like. You don’t know until you’re there.

But the steps towards saving for retirement are easier to imagine. Join any pension program your employer offers. If there isn’t one to join, you need to develop one of your own.

What a pension plan does is to put away a portion of your pay for your future use, off the top of the cheque and before you have a chance to spend it. That money is then quietly invested, and typically every time you get a raise, you kick a little more into the pension. When it’s time to collect it, you contact the pension plan and learn your options for receiving income from your savings.

If you are a pension do-it-yourselfer, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, marking its 35^th year of operations. They have all the tools to set you on the path of retirement saving, making it an automatic, painless process – and easy to visualize.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Not everyone is comfortable talking about money with family members – spouses, kids, and so on.

In fact, Kelley Keehn, writing for FP Canada notes that she has always found it interesting that “people naturally retreat when the topic of finances comes up.”

“While it’s perhaps not the most engaging dinner table discussion or a conversation-starter on a date, money is an important subject to be comfortable talking about,” she writes. “No matter our age, salary, social or relationship status, money is an essential part of our lives,” Keehn continues.

She cites a recent national survey by FP Canada, The Discomfort Index, as finding that the topics that make Canadians squirm the most are politics (26 per cent), relationships/sex (24 per cent) and then money – tied with religion – in third place at 23 per cent. By comparison, notes Keehn, only 12 per cent of respondents found talking about their health to be a “taboo” subject.

Strangely, notes Keehn, at a time when women’s earnings now account for 47 per cent of family income, women are “more likely to avoid the topic of money than men,” by a margin of 27 per cent to 18 per cent.

While most Canadians confide in their partners about money, there’s a whopping 40 per cent who won’t, Keehn reports. Only three per cent would talk about money with strangers, two per cent with “hairstylists and estheticians,” and one per cent won’t talk about it to anyone, Keehn adds.

Save with SPP did an interview with Kelley Keehn last year.

So, what can be done to get people talking?

Writing for the Sun Life blog, Sylvie Tremblay suggests that one barrier to money talk might be our level of financial knowledge. “All too often, resistance to talking about money in a real, substantive way stems from a lack of confidence,” she writes. Consulting a financial advisor – a view shared by Keehn – is a great way to educate yourself about the topic.

Another money talk ice-breaker could be picking a financial goal you both are interested and excited about – a major vacation, putting together a down payment, or setting up a registered education savings plan (RESP) for the kids.

Other ideas from Tremblay include making an annual “money talk” appointment with your partner, setting rules about “who is handling what” when it comes to money and bills, and finally, to get started on talking right away.

An article from the Desjardins Financial Security network gives some great ideas about talking money with your adult kids.

The article points out, citing research results reported upon by the New York Times, that 83 per cent of respondents (folks making more than $100,000 per year) said they would NOT disclose their income to their adult kids. Only 17 per cent said they would, the article notes, with the main reason given for a “no” being the belief that the parents’ finances are “none of their (the kids’) business.”

However, the article says, that’s not really the case.  First off, your money may be theirs one day – and data suggests that one-third of inheritors “squander their inheritance shortly after receiving it.” Talking about money with them now, and discussing how to make it last, the article suggests, is helpful.

If you support charities, this is a nice idea to discuss with the kids – perhaps you can help grow their giving values too, the article adds. A money discussion plays a huge part in boosting the financial literacy of your children, the Desjardins article states.

“Parents with a certain degree of wealth have an opportunity to gradually expose their adult children to complex financial concepts such as investments, business ownership or overall financial planning,” the article adds.

Finally, the article suggests, it’s never a bad idea to involve a financial advisor in matters relating to inheritances or “in-life” transfers of wealth to kids, to game plan for any tax issues in advance.

The bottom line here seems to be quite simple – if you aren’t talking money with your spouse, it’s probably time to start. If everyone knows where the money is going and why, you avoid surprises, which people really only like on birthdays and other key holidays. If you are on the same page with spending, you can get on the same page with saving.

Thinking about saving for retirement, for couples and also for individuals, is a key financial consideration. If you have a retirement plan at work, be sure to join it and learn about what features it offers, particularly when it comes to benefits for your survivors. This is a good idea for both partners.

If you are saving on your own, take a look at the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, marking its 35^th year of operations in 2021. The SPP offers you a “do it yourself” pension plan that not only invests your savings, but provides the possibility of a lifetime pension with benefits for your surviving spouse. Check them out today.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Despite pandemic, retirement savings are still ticking along: report

As the brutal financial impacts of the pandemic washed over us – businesses forced to close, workers laid off, and so on – many observers expected that retirement savings might have to be raided so people could keep afloat.

New research from the U.S. suggests otherwise, reports Yahoo! Finance.

Recent research carried out by the Investment Company Institute found that “most Americans have not taken any withdrawals from their defined contribution (DC) retirement plans,” Yahoo! Finance reports. As well, “the vast majority of U.S. savers have continued to make contributions to their plans through the pandemic,” the article notes.

“Despite the economic challenges over the past year and a half, retirement savers show deep commitment to preserving their retirement nest eggs,” Sarah Holden, ICI senior director of retirement and investor research, states in the article. “The combination of ongoing contributions and few participants taking withdrawals reflects DC plan participants’ long-term mindset and preference to keep this money earmarked for retirement and avoid dipping into it.”

Paradoxically, the pandemic – a period where many thought money would be very tight – has turned out to be a period of higher rates of savings, the article notes.

“Though many households have been faced with financial constraints over the past year and a half, the aggregate personal savings rate has increased since COVID-19 first reared its head in the beginning of 2020,” the article states.

Indeed, here in Canada, the CBC reports that the average Canadian has saved $5,000 during the pandemic, thanks to “the combined impact of reduced spending and collecting more money from government support programs,” the broadcaster reports.

With less to spend on, Canadians attacked their debt loads and were still able to stash away “$5,574 per Canadian on average in 2020, compared to $479 in the previous year,” the CBC notes.

Back in the U.S., the ICI report found that only “1.1 per cent of all DC plan participants stopped contributing to their plans in the first half of 2021,” reports Yahoo! Finance.

It’s good to hear that people generally are leaving their retirement savings alone, despite the strange economy and overall odd spending era the pandemic has brought us. No matter what’s going on today, eventually all of us will reach an age where the income we get from working declines, and the income we need from our savings escalates.

Workplace pensions certainly help with retirement income; if you are in a program at work, be sure to maximize your participation if you can. If you don’t have a workplace pension plan, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a voluntary DC plan that professionally invests your savings and can help you turn it into an income stream when you hang up your working hat for the last time. They’ve been doing it for 35 years – check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Financial planner Jonathan Kestle of the Ian C. Moyer Insurance Agency in Ingersoll, Ont. sees annuities as a great way to strengthen the core of your retirement income strategy.

Talking to Save with SPP by phone, Kestle says he sees annuities as “one of our core planning philosophies.” He notes that while the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) may provide a “foundation for retirement,” people should look at their fixed expenses in retirement.

If CPP and OAS don’t cover off those month-to-month expenses like housing, heat, telephone, and utilities, then a good strategy would be to annuitize some of your personal savings to top that up.  CPP, OAS and an annuity will offer a “cash for life” core income amount that will cover off your basic expenses, he explains. Your other savings provide you with liquidity for “non-core” expenses.

Asked if an annuity offers any tax advantages over withdrawing money from a registered retirement income fund (RRIF), Kestle said not really, since both will have tax withheld at source. On the other hand, a non-registered annuity (an annuity purchased with non-registered funds) can offer significant tax advantages, since tax is set at a fixed rate over many years, he says.

The advantages of an annuity include the fact that “longevity risk,” or the fear of outliving your savings in retirement, is covered off, since an annuity is a “cash for life” product.

Put in perspective, Kestle explains that with a RRIF, you can arrange to have a set amount of money withdrawn each month, like an annuity. The difference is that with the RRIF, if investment returns don’t support the rate of withdrawal over time, you can run out of money while you are still alive. With an annuity, you can’t outlive your savings, he explains.

It’s important to realize, he says, that once you purchase an annuity, you lose control over that money in exchange for receiving guaranteed monthly payments. If you die at an early age, and don’t select an annuity that offers a survivor benefit, your “foregone” payments are used to help provide payments to other annuitants by the insurer via a “pooled risk” approach, he says.

This fear of dying early keeps some people on the sidelines with annuities, but statistically it is quite a rare thing, with most people living into their 80s and beyond, he says.

But if you are concerned about leaving benefits to your survivors, Kestle says, annuities offer a lot of options. You can choose one that offers a joint and survivor pension to your spouse, some will offer a guaranteed payment for a number of years, others will offer a return of premium if you die at a young age. “The more bells and whistles, the less the monthly payment is,” Kestle explains.

Kestle does not believe people should annuitize all their retirement savings. He reiterates that his firm advises reviewing core expenses, seeing if there is a shortfall between what your government benefits provide and what you need for core, fixed expenses, and then annuitizing some of your savings to cover the shortfall.

“You should consider annuitizing a portion of your savings; it shouldn’t be an `all or none’ decision,” he explains. You will need “pools of liquidity” in your savings for emergencies, such as having to put on a new roof. Kestle concludes by saying annuities “play a very important role” in a diversified retirement income portfolio.

We thank Jonathan Kestle for taking the time to talk with us.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers a number of annuity options? According to the SPP Retirement Guide, members can choose from these options – a life only annuity, which offers no survivor benefits; a refund life annuity which guarantees a refund to your beneficiary if you have not received the full balance of your SPP account as retirement income; and a joint and last survivor annuity where your beneficiary gets a lifetime pension upon your death equal to 60, 75 or 100 per cent of what you were receiving. Check out SPP, celebrating 35 years of delivering retirement security, today!

---

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Preparing emotionally for retirement may be as important as the financial side

An interesting report from Global News suggests that “preparing emotionally” for retirement may be almost as important as the financial side of things.

In the article, Edmonton retiree Donald Smith tells Global News that he “had trouble the first couple of years (of retirement)… I’m sort of like the racehorse that wants to still keep running.”

He found that he “really didn’t know what to do with himself.”

In the article, Shelly Adam reported similar feelings. After retiring at age 56, she found herself going back to work just two months later on a casual basis. “When everyone else is working what are you going to do?” she asks the broadcaster.

In the end, they both found plenty to do through joining the SouthWest Edmonton Seniors Association, Global reports.

There are regular meetings, including a coffee chat group, the article notes, as well as a book club, choir, arts and crafts, games and cards, and much more.

Both say the social connections they have made through the group are “very important,” Global reports.

University of Calgary psychology professor Candace Konnert tells Global that “emotional planning for retirement often gets overlooked.”

“The focus has been on the financial preparedness and people underestimate, kind of, the social and psychological issues in retirement,” states Konnert in the article.

“We have this term called the ‘sugar rush of retirement.’ That’s that sort of six-month period, sort of post-retirement where you’re just euphoric,” she tells Global.

“You don’t have obligations, your time is unstructured, you can choose to do whatever you want,” she states in the article. “Then after that sometimes people have difficulty coming to terms because they simply don’t have a plan.”

Without a plan, Konnert tells Global, the odds of facing anxiety or depression in retirement can increase. You need a plan on how you are going to spend your time once work is over, she states, and it is “crucial” that your plan includes “being socially engaged with friends or through activities.”

Your plan also needs to be flexible, as your health may change as you age. “Your retirement plan at 66 may not be the same at 76, 86, or even 96,” she tells Global.

Looking at our own circle of 60+ friends, this advice is being heeded. A retired engineer friend has become an avid vegetable gardener, and has taught himself how to carry out his own home renovations; he and his wife are constantly busy. Others are getting back into things they used to do – music, art, golfing, skiing, and more. While it’s true that you will lose some of your old work connections, there’s ample time to make new ones.

All those post-retirement activities will carry a cost, of course, so it’s important to set aside some money today for a fulfilling post-work experience later. For 35 years, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan has been delivering retirement security; perhaps they can do the same for you. Have a look at SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Andrew Weil’s Healthy Aging is a well-written, fact-laden look at our society’s fascination with the quest for living longer – even forever – and sets out some steps we can take now to live long and healthier lives.

Dr. Weil points out that humans are the longest-lived mammals, and that research has found that our cells can divide up to 50 times in order to replace themselves. He contrasts that with mice, whose cells can divide 15 times and live only three years, and the Galapagos tortoise, which can live to a whopping age 175 and has cells that can divide 110 times.

Historically, he writes, we are now at our longest-lived as a species. “There is no scientific evidence for greater longevity in any past age,” he notes. However, people have searched for a fountain of youth for many centuries, including Ponce de Leon, who searched for the island of Bimini and its magical spring of youth and Shangri-La, where legends suggest that monks who “plunged forthwith into rigorous self-discipline somewhat curiously combined with narcotic indulgence” claimed to be able to live for several centuries.

The biology of aging has led to research into anti-aging medicine and treatments, which Dr. Weil explores. He concludes that we “will never be able to reverse the aging process… so please forget about anti-aging and avoid obsession with life extension. Instead, let’s focus on preventing or minimizing the impact of age-related disease, on separating longevity and senescence, on learning how to live long and well, on how to age gracefully.”

The second part of the book goes into great detail on steps you can take to do just that. “In our society, and in developed countries generally, blood pressure increases with age, perhaps because of our dietary habits, the stress of modern life, and other unknown factors,” he writes.

Those with high blood pressure should “first try lifestyle measures to normalize it: losing weight, increasing exercise, practicing relaxation techniques… eating fewer foods high in sodium and more vegetables.” If the problem persists, get a doctor’s input and start on “anti-hypertensive medication.”

As we age, we should watch our cholesterol levels as well, he writes. Other advice: keep a medical diary of “past illnesses, injuries, treatments, hospitalizations, current medications, and family history.” Keep current with your immunizations. Get a physical every couple of years. Get screened for cancer and keep your blood pressure as close as possible to normal.

As well – don’t smoke, watch your weight, and watch for unhealthy fats in your diet.

On the eating side, be aware of the glycemic index; “reduce consumption of high-GL (glycemic load) foods… that means less bread, white potatoes, crackers, chips and other snack foods, pastries, and sweetened drinks and more whole grains, beans, sweet potatoes, winter squashes and other vegetables,” he writes. Eat less refined and processed food, fast food, products “made with flour of any kind” and products made with “high fructose corn syrup.”

Generally, he adds, you should eat less meat and poultry and “other foods of animal original,” and more vegetable protein.

Other tips – “white, green and oolong tea” is a good antioxidant, and you can have up to four cups a day. He likes the idea of people taking a daily multivitamin.

Exercise is good but as you age, should be body-friendly, he notes – walking, swimming, cycling, exercise machines and strength training are easy on the joints.

To relax, he suggests “breathwork” as “the simplest, most efficient way of taking advantage of the mind-body connection to affect both physical and mental health.” He concludes with a chapter on the importance of sleep.

He also considers what will happen if the trend towards more longevity in society continues – will we see a demographic change to an older population, with the need for more care for the aged? And, he asks, “what happens to retirement when Americans are no longer saving and are both retiring earlier (the average age is now 63) and living longer?”

It’s hard to do justice to this detailed and well-thought-out overview of the issue of aging well; it’s definitely worth getting a copy of this fine volume and adding it to your retirement library.

Longevity is an interesting topic. On the retirement planning front, longevity is sometimes referred to as a “risk.” It’s thought of that way because there can be a problem when people outlive their retirement savings. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan has an antidote for longevity risk. When you decide to collect your SPP retirement benefits, you can choose among several annuity options. An annuity provides you with a lifetime, monthly income that continues for as long as you live – even if you watch your weight, eat well, exercise and relax your way to 100 and beyond! Celebrating 35 years of delivering retirement security, check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

One in five over 50 will delay retirement plans: RBC

The pandemic has made many Canadians rethink their retirement agenda, according to new research from RBC, covered in a recent article in Wealth Professional.

According to the article, the study – called the 2021 RBC Myths & Realities Poll – indicated that nearly 20 per cent of Canadians 50 and older have decided to change their retirement date.

There are a number of concerns outlined in the research.

A total of 21 per cent of those with assets of $100,000 or more fear they will outlive their retirement savings. Most of this group, the article continues, “believe they will need $1 million saved for their retirement but more than three quarters are at least $300K short of this.”

It’s worse for those with less savings, the article notes. Those with $50,000 in assets think they will need $533,000 in their savings pots, but are “an eye-watering $473,000 short of this goal,” Wealth Professional reports.

So what are people considering in what the article calls a Retirement Rethink?

• 22 per cent are “thinking more about where they will live in retirement,” with 20 per cent “deciding where they don’t want to live,” typically meaning not in a retirement home, the article states.
• Fifteen per cent are said to be reviewing or updating their wills; 17 per cent are “taking stock of their financial affairs,” and 16 per cent “realizing life is short” and are taking up new activities and hobbies, Wealth Professional notes.

Other actions they are thinking of taking, the article concludes, are to “stay in their own home and live more frugally,” to return to work, to downsize or move home, or ask family members for help.

What do we make of all this?

For starters, the cost of a dream retirement condo, cottage or timeshare has gone up significantly lately. It’s not so easy to sell your city house and pick up a cheaper one somewhere else, as prices are up everywhere. This and the massive cost of long-term care, in the thousands per month in most places, makes one’s existing home have new appeal. After all, it is either paid for or in the process of being paid for, you don’t have to pay moving expenses, realtors and lawyers to stay put, and your costs of living are known and predictable.

The article makes the point that having a financial planner makes sense in terms of establishing your financial goals for retirement. For instance, if you plan to stay home and live frugally, will you really need $1 million? It’s important to try and estimate, in advance, exactly what you will need to live on when you live the workforce.

If you are among those Canadians who worry about running out of money in retirement, be aware that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers annuities as an option for SPP retirees. With an annuity (they come in various forms with different options) you forego the risk of running out of money in retirement, as annuities provide you with a lifetime income stream. And you won’t have to put your sand wedge down in mid-swing to worry about investment decisions; with an annuity, there are none. Check out SPP, celebrating its 35th year of delivering retirement security, today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

We accumulate so much stuff in our lives, to the point that eventually, many of us will find boxes of stuff in the basement that have remained unopened from the last, or maybe several, previous moves.

It’s daunting to see your place full of boxes of old stuff, and/or disused furniture, small appliances, TVs, and the like – it looks like so much work to get rid of it that it’s easier just to dust the clutter and close the door on it.

Save with SPP looked for help with this problem on the Interweb, and found some interesting suggestions.

The Simple Lionheart Life blog offers some great advice.

They recommend “frequency over intensity” when it comes to decluttering. “Even 10 minutes a day of decluttering will add up over time,” the blog advises. Schedule your decluttering sessions, and have clear goals for clutterless living in a decluttering plan, the blog adds. Another of the great tips (there are several more) is to target the areas of your living space where the clutter is the biggest headache.

The Quick and Dirty Tips blog offers a few more ideas. Here, the authors argue that clutter builds up “because it takes effort to put stuff away.”

A simple way to return things to their correct place is to take an empty box, make a pass through your office or home, and load up everything you encounter that’s in the wrong place. Pop it in the box, the authors suggest, and then when you make a second run through the house, put things where they belong as you pass by. Clever.

The Mommyhood Life blog advises that you create a “make trash, donate or sell” pile of things you aren’t using.

“A donate pile will be for any items that may be useful to another family in need. A sell pile will be for items that are in good shape and have value left to them. A trash pile will be for any items that obviously don’t fit in the sell or donate pile. This will help you get rid of clutter fast by not double thinking about an item, just toss it into a pile,” the blog states.

Other ideas from Mommyhood Life include tips on when to consider getting rid of something – such as, when did you last use it? Does it still help you? As well, get the whole family working on the same page with clutter, the blog says.

Over the years, Save with SPP has attacked clutter (on occasion) by a variation of the “trash, donate or sell” pile. Our pile was trash, donate or recycle. Because we were moving after 10 years in one place, we did a daily run through the house and added items to the three piles. We dropped off donatable items daily at the local thrift shop on the way to work. Trash and recycling went out on garbage day.

We also once employed the services of a junk removal company to clear everything out of the basement just before we moved. It was just like on TV – everything was gone very quickly and painlessly. Right now we are thinking of calling them back to get rid of our space-taking, non-used pool table.

Our neighbours regularly have yard sales to sell off their old stuff. A friend has found a company that will take his empties back for him, and give him a charitable receipt for it! There are companies that will buy your old golf clubs if you upgrade; there are shops that will buy your collectibles if you don’t want the hassle of trying to sell them off yourself online.

One idea that didn’t work was putting excess stuff in a storage locker. After a while you began to feel nagged by the idea that you were paying to hang on to boxes filled with heaven-knows what, old university essays from the 1970s, perhaps, or old sets of cheap crockery or pots and pans you forgot about after packing it up two moves ago.

The biggest obstacle to decluttering is getting going on it, so good luck and Godspeed!

If you make a few bucks from getting rid of your old stuff, a nice place to stash the cash is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You can make one-time contributions to your SPP account via your online banking site, by sending them a cheque, or by using their website to make a credit card contribution. All those little piles of extra cash will then be invested professionally and converted to retirement income when you’ve finally scaled the wall and escaped from the office! Check out SPP today.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!