Retirement savers can do a big “catch up” in their 50s

By the time you’ve reached your 50s, the kids are usually fully educated and gone from the back room, your mortgage is close to paid off, and you’re making the most you ever have – a perfect time to catch up on those neglected retirement savings.

Writing for Money Canada, Romana King takes a look at the “catch up” years – your 50s.

“According to a data report released by Money.ca, the average retirement savings for Canadians aged 55 to 64 is $833,696 — a significant increase compared to the $183,067 saved by those in the 45 to 54 age range,” she writes. “This sharp rise suggests that many Canadians focus heavily on increasing their retirement contributions in their 50s in an effort to close the gap before they retire,” she continues.

So, she explains, if you haven’t actually got around to retirement saving and you have hit the big 5-0, don’t get stressed. “If you’ve fallen behind on your retirement savings, don’t panic — there’s still time to make meaningful progress towards this goal,” she notes, reassuringly.

Her article shows a recent social media post by a 49-year-old woman who confesses that she is “almost 49 and I have zero retirement savings. No exaggeration. Absolutely nothing…. And I know I can’t be the only one.”

It’s not a surprise, continues King, that those among us who are middle-aged aren’t finding a lot of spare dollars to tuck away for their golden years.

“Many middle-aged Canadians report feeling unprepared, often due to competing financial responsibilities such as mortgages, children’s education, and daily expenses. A survey by YouGov found that only 19 per cent of Canadians aged 35 to 54 feel confident in their retirement savings, compared to 26 per cent of those over 55. This growing concern underscores the need for proactive financial planning, even for those who feel behind in their savings journey,” she adds.

So how to catch up? Take a look at how much room you have in your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), she advises. If you haven’t been contributing, you may have quite a lot of room in either of these savings vehicles, she explains.

Next, make savings automatic.

“Automate contributions to your RRSP, TFSA, or other savings accounts to ensure that you’re putting aside money regularly. Payroll deductions or pre-authorized transfers make it easier to stay disciplined,” she writes.

Consider meeting with a financial adviser to “maximize investment returns” through balancing your portfolio “between high- and low-risk assets,” taking advantage of tax-efficient savings vehicles, and looking at adding “dividend-paying stocks, mutual funds, or bonds that align with your risk tolerance and retirement timeline.”

Have you calculated when you think you want to retire, and how much you’ll get from government or company retirement programs? King says this is a crucial bit of research to carry out.

As well, in your high-earning 50s, it’s time to “pay off high-interest debt” and consider “downsizing or simplifying living arrangements,” she continues.

If it doesn’t look like you’ll have saved enough by your chosen retirement date, consider working longer, or part time, or developing a “side hustle,” she suggests. If you find yourself retiring after age 65, you can delay the start of your Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments, increasing what you’ll get per month.

“Catching up on retirement savings in your 50s is not just possible — it’s achievable with a well-thought-out plan. By taking advantage of tax-advantaged accounts, reducing debt, optimizing investments and boosting income where possible, you can bridge the gap and retire comfortably. Remember, the best time to start was yesterday, but the next best time is today,” she concludes.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is an invaluable partner for your retirement savings. SPP’s Balanced Fund features exposure to Canadian and international equities, fixed income, real estate, and more – all provided via a low-fee, professionally managed, pooled fund. If you want to make your contributions automatic, SPP can do that, via pre-authorized contributions from your bank account that can coincide with payday.

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We’ve read a ton of books on retirement/saving for retirement/living in retirement, and there’s one common thread that runs through all of them – the need to have a budget (and to stick to it).

Save with SPP decided to search for easy ways to get a budget in place, for those of us who either don’t currently budget or have given up due to fears it will be too complex and difficult.

At the Money Canada blog, writer Sandy Vong advises that if “you consistently look at your bank balance and wonder where the money goes then it’s time to take charge of your funds – and that starts with making a budget.”

“The good news is that it doesn’t have to be scary or time-consuming. But having a budget is critical. A budget gives you a big picture of your spending and saving habits and it’s a great way to take charge of your finances,” writes Vong.

Vong’s budget plan involves five steps – understanding and rating your values, setting your financial goals, tracking income and expenses, creating a budget and then regularly reviewing it.

The “value” idea is a bit unique.

“Values are those intangible measures of a good life. For instance, good health may be a value, as it a fulfilling career, or a place to call home. By starting with your values, you’re able to understand what value you are helping to support when you spend or save your money,” Vong explains.

The budgeting part itself, Vong notes, is fairly simple – track every expense and all of your income.

“Tracking your income and expenses is a simple exercise that takes a few minutes every day, but will quickly show you what your lifestyle is like and what areas you are spending the most on,” Vong notes.

“You can keep track of your income and expenses by using a note-taking app like Evernote.

However, there are more sophisticated budgeting apps such as YNAB (You Need A Budget). Whenever you go to purchase an item, whether online or in-store, record the date, the name of the store and the amount you spent. This way, you will have a full summary of where your money comes in and where it goes out at the end of the month,” Vong concludes.

There are other budgeting strategies.

Writing for GoBankingRates, Caitlin Moorhead explains the 75/15/10 budgeting approach.

“The 75/15/10 rule is a simple way to budget and allocate your paycheck. This is when you divert 75 per cent of your income to needs such as everyday expenses, 15 per cent to long-term investing and 10 per cent for short-term savings. It’s all about creating a balanced and practical plan for your money,” she writes.

She sees the 15 per cent as going for your future.  “By putting 15 per cent of your income into investments like stocks or real estate, you’re not just saving — you’re growing your wealth,” she explains. The 10 per cent should be used to build up an emergency fund that can cover up to six months of expenses, she concludes.

Another, somewhat similar approach is the “50/30/20 method,” reports Linda Howard of The Daily Record.

In this approach, she explains, 50 per cent of your money is earmarked for “essential spending such as bills and food shopping,” with 30 per cent going to fun “non-essentials, such as eating out and style and beauty,” and the last 20 per cent going into savings.

The great Gail Vaz-Oxlade has long proposed a “cash jar/envelope” budgeting system, covered via the Smart Canucks blog.

According to the blog, Vaz-Oxlade’s approach “recommends that of your total income, 35 per cent goes to housing, 15 per cent to transportation, 25 per cent on `life’ (everything from groceries, pets, kids etc.), 15 per cent to debt and 10 per cent to savings.”

As we all remember from her many TV shows, she encouraged people to actually set aside cash for each category in jars or envelopes. If there’s no money left in the jar, you need to wait until the next month.

You can figure out your own budget approach, but the chief idea is to spend less than what you earn. To do that you need to see what you are making and know what your bills add up to.

If you are developing a budget, be sure to put some money away for long-term savings, such as retirement. If you don’t have a retirement program at your workplace, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan as your savings partner. Open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan room SPP is like an RRSP that has, when you retire, built in options to turn savings into income. You can, for example, convert your account balance into a monthly lifetime annuity payment. Or you can select the more flexible Variable Benefit.

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Working past 65? Check to see if you’ll still have benefits

More and more Canadians – either because they need the money or love their work – are continuing to be on the job beyond age 65.

But, reports Money Canada’s Vawn Himmelsbach, “if you stay with your employer after age 65, your benefits could expire at a time you need them most.”

Mandatory retirement at 65 stopped being the law in 2009, she writes. Today, Statistics Canada figures show that “one in five seniors (21 per cent) aged 65 to 74 worked in 2022,” she continues, noting that while “some seniors enjoy their work or the sense of purpose it brings them… many others are working because they have to.”

Those in the “have to work” category are doing so for “financial security reasons, such as affording everyday expenses, paying off mortgage debt, or supporting adult children,” Himmelsbach notes.

But even though there is no longer a mandatory retirement age, your workplace benefits may be impacted by the candles you see lit on your 65^th birthday cake.

“Many group insurance policies terminate at age 65, which typically impacts disability and life insurance benefits,” she explains. She quotes Rajiv Haté, a senior lawyer at Kotak Personal Injury Law, as recently telling BNN Bloomberg that health and dental benefit coverage may also end at that point.

“Say, for example, you’re 66 years of age and have been working at the same company for 20 years, with full benefits. You’re injured on the job and make a claim, only to find out your insurance expired when you turned 65 and the insurer denies your claim. Since you don’t have coverage, there’s not much you (or even a lawyer) can do about it,” she explains.

It’s important to check with your employer about your benefits coverage, she stresses.

“Whether your health and dental benefits expire will depend on your employer’s policy. Some policies will continue past age 65, so long as you’re paying your premiums. Others will end at age 65, though there may be an option to convert it to private coverage,” she writes.

If you are able to convert your workplace benefits into a private policy, you might be able to do so without the need for a medical exam, the article notes. Getting your own private coverage is also a possibility (if you find yourself without coverage), but a medical test may be required and that could impact the price of premiums – or worse, you could be denied coverage.

Those without coverage should put aside money in savings to cover medical expenses, the article concludes.

As one who has retired from full-time work for a little over 10 years, it is for sure a great thing if you can continue to take part in your workplace program. The cost of prescription drugs, dental care, and new glasses – like everything else – keeps going up, and once you are retired, you will be living on less income (barring a lottery win) than you had while working.

Saving for retirement on your own can be daunting, particularly if you aren’t up on stocks, bonds, real estate, infrastructure, or other categories of investment. But there’s a solution – the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP does the heavy lifting of investing your savings for you. And, once it is time to turn in your name badge, SPP provides ways for you to turn those savings into income, such as via a lifetime monthly annuity payment, or our more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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Homeowners with pensions faring better than others: Stats Canada survey

New research from Statistics Canada finds that “Canadians… 55 to 64 who have both a principal residence and an employer-sponsored pension plan” have, on average, a net worth that is “$1.4 million more than those who have neither.”

The Statistics Canada Survey of Financial Security, based on 2023 data, was covered in an article by Money Canada’s Nicholas Sokic.

The article notes that “those near retirement age who rented and did not have an employer-sponsored pension plan had a median net worth of $11,900.”

“The longstanding expectation is that families build up their assets and reduce their debts over their working years and spend down their assets during their retirement years,” Money Canada notes, quoting from the report. “Canadian families with low net worth will be more likely to need to work longer, may need more government support and may be at greater risk of poverty.”

What about those in the middle of those two examples? Let’s read on.

“Families with only one of these two assets formed another, separate group,” the article explains.

“Families who owned their principal residence but who did not have an employer-sponsored pension plan had a median net worth of $914,000 in 2023. At the same time, those who had an employer pension plan, but who did not own their principal residence, had a median net worth of $359,000,” reports Money Canada.

The article notes that younger people without houses or pension plans are building net worth “in other ways.”

“Many young families are trying to build their wealth in other ways, given the economic challenges of that generation. Among young families who rented their principal residence and who had no employer pension plan, 15 per cent had a net worth greater than $150,000 in 2023, compared to five per cent in 2019,” the article explains.

“Members of this group commonly held assets in real estate that was not their principal residence with a median of $350,000. The median in their RRSPs was $35,000, and the median in their TFSAs was $20,000,” the article continues.

“The median net worth of Canadian families in 2023 was $519,700,” the article concludes.

If there’s a message here, it’s that if you can’t get into the housing market – and it is increasingly difficult for younger people to do that – you need to set aside some long-term savings in other ways, such as through a workplace pension plan or personal retirement savings.

If you have such an arrangement at work, be sure to sign up and contribute to the max. Often, there is an employer contribution match that speeds up the building of your nest egg.

Don’t have a workplace pension plan to join? Don’t worry. An answer for you may be the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Any Canadian with unused registered retirement plan room can join. Once you’ve joined as an individual member, you decide how much to contribute, and SPP does the heavy lifting of investing and growing your savings. When it’s time to retire, you can choose from such options as a lifetime monthly annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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