While it’s never great to make a mistake, they have the interesting side effect of teaching you what not to do.

Save with SPP decided to hunt around for some tips on what not to do when it comes to saving for retirement.

According to the Espresso blog on MSN, there are a couple of retirement plans that can backfire on you.

Many who haven’t saved much for retirement plan to continue working past age 65. But, the article warns, your body may have other ideas. A StatsCan finding from 2002 was that 30 per cent of those who took early retirement did so “because of their health.”

If you are saving via an investment product that charges high fees, you may find those charges “can eat up huge amounts of your savings over time,” the article reports. Be careful and look for lower-fee options, the article advises.

A key tip is to get saving, even if you start late. “According to BNN Bloomberg, 32 per cent of Canadians approaching retirement don’t have any savings,” the article notes. “Anyone hoping to rely only on the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security will find it difficult to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, which is why middle-aged and older Canadians should start saving as early as possible,” the article concludes.

The Motley Fool blog offers up a few more ideas.

Be aware of your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) limits, the blog warns — there can be penalties if you over-contribute.

If you are running your own money and wanting to think outside the box, don’t use your RRSP as the test bed, The Motley Fool warns. “You should test out your investment strategies in a non-registered account before investing in RRSPs. Apply your successful investment strategies in RRSPs because losses cannot be written off,” the blog suggests.

Other advice includes diversification — don’t go fixed-income only in an RRSP, because you’ll get more growth from equities, the blog advises.

Over on LinkedIn, Brent Misener, a certified financial planner, provides a few more ideas.

Don’t procrastinate on retirement saving, he notes. “The power of compounding is a significant advantage when it comes to saving and investing. Starting early allows your money to grow and work for you over an extended period. Take action now and harness the power of time to maximize your retirement nest egg,” he writes.

Have a handle on what your expenses will be after you retire, Misener writes. “Medical costs, housing, leisure activities, and unforeseen events can quickly deplete your savings if not accounted for,” he warns.

In a similar vein, he says you must not ignore the possible impacts of inflation. “Consider inflation as you plan for the future and ensure that your investments and savings can keep pace with rising prices. Consider how much everyday items like groceries and utilities have increased dramatically in the last two years,” he adds.

If you are among the fortunate few who have a workplace pension plan, don’t stop saving outside that plan, Misener states. “Whether it’s a defined benefit or defined contribution, it’s important to remember that your pension may not cover all of your spending needs. Most retirees plan on spending more in retirement and often work pensions may only cover basic expenses,” he concludes.

These are all good tips to be aware of.

If you don’t have a workplace pension plan, or you want to supplement the savings you are getting from one, have a look at the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP is an open, voluntary defined contribution plan that will invest your money at a very low fee. Your savings will grow within SPP’s pooled investment fund, and when it’s time to retire, you have the option of a lifetime monthly annuity payment, so that you will never run out of money. Check out SPP today!

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How will the pandemic affect your retirement?

As we prepare to start a new year, it appears that there is a faint light visible at the end of the tunnel that is the pandemic. Vaccines have been developed that appear promising and hopefully they’ll start to be in distribution by the time you are reading this.

That said, the pandemic has had a serious impact on all of us, and especially on our plans for retirement. An interesting article in Espresso covers the topic in detail. Here are some of their key findings.

Those relying on their own savings, rather than a pension plan from work, for retirement may have to postpone their retirement “by up to five years,” the article reports. This is because of the shellacking our economy – and our savings – took due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

But in an unusual twist, the article continues, “some people in their 50s and 60s are being forced to retire early.” Many of these folks are people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the article notes.

Many of us with adult children are having to help them out more than usual due to the crisis, Espresso reports. “If you want to help your kids out,” states financial planner Lawrence Sprung, speaking to U.S. network CNBC, “make sure you don’t give them an amount that is greater than, or outside the scope of your normal excesses.” The implication is that if you raid your retirement cookie jar to help the kids, it will mean you’ll retire later or with less.

And, Espresso reveals, the opposite situation – kids helping parents – has also become more common. Research from the American Association for Retired People “found that roughly a third of adults in their 40s to 60s had offered financial support to their parents in the last year.”

While Espresso warns that some of us will retire with less, others will retire with more savings than planned. “A significant number of Americans – including more than half between the ages of 55 and 64 – are spending less money during the pandemic,” the article tells us.

One thing that’s become popular as we all sit around at home more is renovating the old home office. Be careful, advises Espresso. South of the border, the average kitchen renovation costs $56,000, but tends to add only $38,000 (on average) to resale prices.

The article advises older people to consider part-time work, launch a business, or to delay government retirement benefits for as long as possible. “It’s worth it to wait until (you can) receive full benefits,” Espresso suggests.

Finally, the article says, if your savings have taken a hit in the short term, “focus on the long-term plan.” Markets can rebound so don’t let short-term bumps in the road cause you to “act irrationally,” Espresso says.

Members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan have flexibility when it comes to retirement savings. If you’re out of work and can’t contribute, you can take a pause. If you’re one of the lucky ones who is finding they have more money to save these days, consider adding a few extra dollars to your SPP account. The experts running SPP’s finances always focus on long-term investing, and that’s allowed SPP – which celebrates its 35^th year of operations in 2021 – to have an average rate of return since inception of over 8 per cent. That’s quite an achievement when you consider that the last 35 years includes Black Friday in 1987, the “tech wreck” of 2001-2, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-9 and our current pandemic! Be sure to check out SPP today!

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