10 Things Retirees Must Do Before 2027 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00As 2026 wraps up, here's 10 things you
2. 0:02need to do before the end of the year.
3. 0:04Number one is review your income wedge.
4. 0:06If you're retired and planning to draw
5. 0:08money from any of your accounts in 2027,
6. 0:11you need to make sure that that income's
7. 0:13prepared. And most Canadians do not do
8. 0:16this, and
9. 0:17it's worked okay year to year because
10. 0:19we've had some fantastic markets. But go
11. 0:21back to 2022, 2020, 2018, 2015, 2011,
12. 0:252008, these years where the markets had
13. 0:28their corrections or drops or whatever
14. 0:30you want to call it.
15. 0:31Were you pulling money out? If you were
16. 0:33retired in years when markets were bad,
17. 0:35how did you give yourself your income?
18. 0:37You need to draw money out of your
19. 0:38accounts. And so building out that
20. 0:40income wedge protects that.
21. 0:43We've had some good markets. When are
22. 0:44those going to drop? At some point, we
23. 0:46don't know when, why, how much, but
24. 0:48markets will pull back many times
25. 0:50through your retirement. The idea of the
26. 0:52income wedge is to make sure your income
27. 0:54that you're going to draw for the next 1
28. 0:55to 3 years is protected, not in the
29. 0:57market. So when it drops, not if, but
30. 0:59when the market drops, you can keep
31. 1:01paying yourself that income. You're not
32. 1:03selling anything at a loss to do the
33. 1:05things you want to do, especially in
34. 1:06these go-go years of retirement.
35. 1:08So make sure your income wedge is built
36. 1:11out for 2027 already so that when you
37. 1:13get there and you need to start drawing
38. 1:14that income, it's well planned ahead.
39. 1:17Number two is review your spending. So
40. 1:19many people when they walk into
41. 1:20retirement, they don't review their
42. 1:22spending. It's like, well, I have more
43. 1:23money than I'm spending, so I'm good,
44. 1:25right? It's like I'm not living on a
45. 1:27budget, but I know my budget's okay.
46. 1:28Well, where's your money actually going?
47. 1:31And maybe the flip side of this, the
48. 1:32psychology part of all this is maybe
49. 1:34you're not spending enough.
50. 1:36If you're early in retirement, if you're
51. 1:38in your go-go years, we find a lot of
52. 1:40people are not spending enough money.
53. 1:42They're holding back. There's more money
54. 1:45to spend. Go spend that money. You can't
55. 1:47spend it when you're 80 and 90. Now's
56. 1:48the time if you're in your go-go years.
57. 1:50So again, review your spending. Are we
58. 1:52spending too much? Do we need to pull
59. 1:53back? Where where are we spending too
60. 1:55much? But I think for more Canadians,
61. 1:58it's actually the opposite.
62. 2:00You're not spending especially in those
63. 2:01first few years of retirement. You're
64. 2:03holding back, you're fearful of running
65. 2:04out of money. Again, do you have a clear
66. 2:06plan? Do you know how much you can spend
67. 2:08without running out of money? Most
68. 2:09Canadians can answer that question. Get
69. 2:11a retirement plan done. Know exactly
70. 2:13what you can spend, where that money
71. 2:14should come from, and then go go spend
72. 2:16it, enjoy it. You've worked hard to get
73. 2:18to this point.
74. 2:19And so what does your budget look like?
75. 2:21Where are you spending your money and
76. 2:23are you spending enough? It's a good
77. 2:24question that you should ask yourself as
78. 2:26you walk into 2027. Number three is to
79. 2:29check your account balances compared to
80. 2:31your plan. So in a good retirement plan,
81. 2:33you should be able to see what is my
82. 2:34account balance should be at the end of
83. 2:37every single year.
84. 2:39And so if the end of the year your RIF
85. 2:41account should be worth $100,000, but
86. 2:43we've had really good markets and it's
87. 2:44worth $110,000,
88. 2:47sit down with your financial planner, at
89. 2:48least reach out to them. Does this
90. 2:49change anything? Should I adjust
91. 2:51anything for next year? Maybe it's only
92. 2:52worth 80 or 90,000. Do I have to reduce
93. 2:55spending next year? Like what's the
94. 2:56money movement here?
95. 2:57It's always good at the end of every
96. 2:59year
97. 3:00to review your retirement plan to the
98. 3:02actual account balance that you have in
99. 3:04your each of your accounts.
100. 3:06Are they close? If they're within 10 to
101. 3:0815, maybe even 20% if we've had some,
102. 3:10you know, big markets one way or the
103. 3:11other, I would say your plan's probably
104. 3:14on track. Again, confirm that with your
105. 3:15retirement planner, but it's probably on
106. 3:17track. If it gets over that 20% mark,
107. 3:19you may need to have your plan redone. I
108. 3:21call those goal posts, right? Those are
109. 3:23the goal posts. Call it 20%.
110. 3:25My account value is outside of that 20%.
111. 3:28I may need to revisit. I either have an
112. 3:30income problem or a tax problem. And
113. 3:32this is what we do. We tell our clients
114. 3:33on the fee-for-service side, come and
115. 3:35get your plan done. And they always say,
116. 3:36well, when do I know if I need to get my
117. 3:38plan updated? And we always say, when
118. 3:40you follow to that 15 to 20%, those are
119. 3:42your goal posts. Fall outside of that,
120. 3:44you have an income or tax problem. You
121. 3:45need to come back, get it back on track
122. 3:47and then move forward. Again, markets
123. 3:49could be good, markets could be bad, you
124. 3:50could spend more, spend less. There's a
125. 3:51lot of variables in a retirement plan,
126. 3:53but what you want to do is know what you
127. 3:55can do and start moving forward in that
128. 3:56and then make those adjustments as you
129. 3:58go, right? It's like going on a trip.
130. 4:01GPS, you got to go on, shoot, hit a
131. 4:03roadblock. Okay, we need to go this way
132. 4:04now, right? It's going to take a little
133. 4:06bit longer, going to take short,
134. 4:07whatever it is, but there's these
135. 4:08detours. And your retirement will have
136. 4:10detours. Your retirement plan will have
137. 4:12detours. And you need to kind of adjust
138. 4:15as those come forward. The next one is
139. 4:17consider tax loss harvesting. And if
140. 4:19you've never heard of that term, well,
141. 4:20talk to your investment advisor about
142. 4:22that. And if you're DIY never heard of
143. 4:23it, maybe you should not be doing DIY
144. 4:25investing anymore. But tax loss
145. 4:26harvesting is at the end of the year
146. 4:28taking advantage of
147. 4:30loss positions or even gain positions
148. 4:32sometimes to create a better tax
149. 4:34position for 2026. And I'm not going to
150. 4:37dig into tax loss harvesting here, but
151. 4:39if you have a non-registered investment
152. 4:41account and you've had some gains or
153. 4:43you've had some losses or you are
154. 4:45sitting on some gains or losses, you may
155. 4:47want to trigger some of those. So again,
156. 4:48talk to your investment professional
157. 4:50about that to figure out if that could
158. 4:52be a solution for you to end 2026. If
159. 4:55you're retiring at the end of 2026 or
160. 4:57planning to early 2027, you might want
161. 4:59to set up your income accounts. And I
162. 5:01mean a RIF, a LIF. So if you have these
163. 5:04RSPs, a LIRA, any registered account
164. 5:07that you need to draw from in 2027,
165. 5:10it's probably going to make sense to set
166. 5:12up those income accounts before the end
167. 5:14of the year. And most investment firms
168. 5:16will have a deadline, maybe in November
169. 5:17or early to mid-December. So make sure
170. 5:20to get on that right away. Now the
171. 5:21benefit of setting up the income
172. 5:23accounts now to have those in 2027 is
173. 5:26that you can roll money into there and
174. 5:28then you have that minimum payment. And
175. 5:31that minimum payment's going to have no
176. 5:32withholding tax. So as an example, let's
177. 5:35say you have an RSP, you can set up your
178. 5:37RIF before the end of the year, move
179. 5:38money into the RIF before the end of the
180. 5:40year. It's not just setting up
181. 5:40necessarily, but it's moving money in.
182. 5:43Now you have a minimum payment that
183. 5:44there's no withholding tax. Still
184. 5:45taxable income, but no withholding tax.
185. 5:47So just more money's coming back into
186. 5:49your pocket every single week or month
187. 5:51or however you pay yourself
188. 5:53out of that account. So again, sit down
189. 5:55with your retirement planner, figure out
190. 5:56what makes the most sense for you and
191. 5:58then make those transition and account
192. 6:00setups as necessary. But a lot of people
193. 6:02forget, I I to set up those accounts
194. 6:04beforehand. Get those set up before the
195. 6:05end of the year, and it might create
196. 6:07some simplicity for you as you walk into
197. 6:092027. Number six is review your estate
198. 6:12documents and beneficiaries. And again,
199. 6:14this is something that people don't
200. 6:15think about or look at, and I get it.
201. 6:17It's boring. It's kind of, you know,
202. 6:19back of the cupboard type thing, but
203. 6:20it's really important to understand if I
204. 6:22die tomorrow, who actually gets my
205. 6:24money? Where does it go? How have I laid
206. 6:26that out? Do I have the right
207. 6:27beneficiaries? Do the beneficiaries on
208. 6:29my investment accounts actually line up
209. 6:31with my will? Do I have a will? It's
210. 6:33mind-blowing how many people don't have
211. 6:35updated wills. Get your will updated.
212. 6:38Costs 1,000 or 1,500 bucks. It's not
213. 6:41super expensive, it's but it's super
214. 6:43important. Great time at the end of the
215. 6:45year to say, hey, are we set up going
216. 6:47forward? Do we have a will? Do we have
217. 6:49power of attorney? Are our beneficiaries
218. 6:51up to date? Our successor holders up to
219. 6:52date? Like if I pass away, is my wife
220. 6:55going to be okay? Is my spouse going to
221. 6:56be okay? Is my husband going to be okay?
222. 6:58Like those are important things. So
223. 7:00don't just go on living life forgetting
224. 7:02about that stuff. We you hear the horror
225. 7:04stories. Just Google search, you know,
226. 7:06horror stories, no will in Canada. And
227. 7:08you can see the story after story after
228. 7:11story. And again, it's an easy, simple
229. 7:14solution.
230. 7:15Especially more and more now we're
231. 7:16seeing, you know, blended families,
232. 7:19second, third, fourth marriages. This
233. 7:21creates a lot of complexity when it
234. 7:22comes to estate planning. Have you
235. 7:24planned for that? Do you have the right
236. 7:25documents in place?
237. 7:27Is your money going to the people you
238. 7:29wanted to go to?
239. 7:31Right? For most of you, the answer is
240. 7:32no. And you might think, well, no, Adam,
241. 7:34I I have it planned. But have you
242. 7:36reviewed it? And so now's a great time
243. 7:38to sit down, review your documents, make
244. 7:40sure everything's in order before you
245. 7:42walk into 2027. Tip number seven moves
246. 7:44away from the financial side, more the
247. 7:45psychological side, is review how you're
248. 7:48spending your time, right? We talk about
249. 7:50this a lot. As you go into retirement,
250. 7:51you want to know like, do I have a
251. 7:53routine? What's my social life? And it's
252. 7:55good to actually take a step back and
253. 7:57review that. Like am I enjoying it? Like
254. 7:59I retired last year, you know, my social
255. 8:01life was work. I now have this new
256. 8:02social life. Do I actually enjoy it? Is
257. 8:04it healthy for me? Has Has a good
258. 8:06solution for me?
259. 8:08Do I want to change anything?
260. 8:10And if you do, set those goals as you
261. 8:12ramp up for 2027. Again, now is a great
262. 8:14time. A lot of people sit down in
263. 8:16January or even February it's like
264. 8:18here's my goals for next year.
265. 8:20Write those goals out now in November,
266. 8:22October, November, December, so you're
267. 8:24ready to go for January 1st, right? It's
268. 8:27all great. Like start a new year, set
269. 8:28goals, set those ambition things that
270. 8:30you want to do, but in retirement one of
271. 8:32those is how are you spending your time?
272. 8:34Who are you spending your time with? How
273. 8:35are you doing your energy? You know, how
274. 8:37are you keeping healthy? All these
275. 8:38things,
276. 8:39right? But how often do we actually
277. 8:41review that?
278. 8:43Right? My Steph my wife and I talk about
279. 8:45that all the time like who are we
280. 8:47spending our time with? Who do we want
281. 8:48to spend our time with? And do we need
282. 8:50to kind of reallocate that? And there's
283. 8:51been people in our lives that we've kind
284. 8:53of not cut out, but we just don't spend
285. 8:55time with purposefully now, right? They
286. 8:57just they weren't great for us. They
287. 9:00didn't add value to our life. We didn't
288. 9:01add value to their life. It just wasn't
289. 9:03a good friendship or relationship. So
290. 9:05we've kind of cut ties with some. And
291. 9:06that's great. I think we put up more of
292. 9:08our energy into the ones that really
293. 9:09matter.
294. 9:10And so as you walk into and through
295. 9:12retirement, it's really important to
296. 9:14assess
297. 9:16are we spending our time in the right
298. 9:18places? Number eight and a touching on
299. 9:20already is sit down and set your goals.
300. 9:21Don't wait for January or February. Sit
301. 9:23down and set your goals now. What are
302. 9:25your goals for 2027? And I encourage
303. 9:27you, look back. What did you do in 2026
304. 9:30that you enjoyed? Maybe that's another
305. 9:31goal that you carry forward. Hey, my
306. 9:33goal is to do this again.
307. 9:35But my challenge to each and every one
308. 9:37of you, whether you're in retirement or
309. 9:38planning for retirement, I want you to
310. 9:40write down two or three goals that
311. 9:41you've never done before that are maybe
312. 9:43pushing the limits a little bit.
313. 9:46As you get close to retirement or in
314. 9:48retirement, it's really important to
315. 9:49keep pushing your limit.
316. 9:51Don't become stagnant in the nature,
317. 9:53right? Keep pushing yourself.
318. 9:55What are two or three things that you
319. 9:56can do in 2027 that you've never done or
320. 9:59you haven't done in a decade or more
321. 10:01that really push you out of your comfort
322. 10:03zone?
323. 10:04Write those on a piece of paper. How are
324. 10:05you going to do it? Like what is it? How
325. 10:07are you going to do it? How are you
326. 10:08going to pay for it if a financial cost
327. 10:10to it.
328. 10:11And when? When's your deadline for that?
329. 10:13Don't leave it to December 31st. When is
330. 10:15your deadline in 2027
331. 10:18to accomplish that? So again, write down
332. 10:19your goals.
333. 10:20Write them down. Share them with people,
334. 10:22right? There's a lot of data out there.
335. 10:24I've said this before. I don't just
336. 10:25write down my goals. I share them with
337. 10:27people. And then the other layer you can
338. 10:29have is post them up. Put them on your
339. 10:31mirror in your bathroom so every day you
340. 10:32see, hey, yeah, I haven't done this yet
341. 10:34this year. I want to accomplish that.
342. 10:36So again, make goals, write down goals,
343. 10:39share your goals, and post your goals.
344. 10:41Those will help you accomplish them as
345. 10:43you go through 2027. Number nine as you
346. 10:45wrap up 2026 is review your government
347. 10:47benefits. For a lot of you, you have a
348. 10:49retirement plan and maybe you're pushing
349. 10:51off your Canada Pension Plan and your
350. 10:52Old Age Security. Maybe you're turning
351. 10:5465 next year. Maybe your plan says, hey,
352. 10:57I'm not taking my CPP right away, but my
353. 10:58Old Age Security, had my plan taken at
354. 11:0165. I'll start that next year.
355. 11:03But maybe it was more of a psychological
356. 11:05play, right? Talk to your financial
357. 11:07planner. At Parallel Wealth, often we
358. 11:09will start your Old Age Security and
359. 11:11your plan at 65. And it's more of a
360. 11:13psychological reason saying, hey, you
361. 11:15might get the itch to start one if
362. 11:16you're going to start your Old Age
363. 11:18Security, not your CPP.
364. 11:20But again, a great time to loop back and
365. 11:21say, okay, I don't feel like I need it.
366. 11:23I have enough money from my other
367. 11:24sources. It makes more sense to delay
368. 11:26this. I'm okay delaying it. Okay, let's
369. 11:28kind of readjust the plan and and delay
370. 11:30it then. Maybe you're starting your
371. 11:31retirement in 2027 and you're planning
372. 11:34to take your CPP early.
373. 11:36Right? Does that make the most sense? It
374. 11:37might. It might not.
375. 11:39So again, really understand how do
376. 11:40government benefits work and when is the
377. 11:42right time for you to take your
378. 11:44government benefits. And again, if your
379. 11:45plan has it taking it maybe at the end
380. 11:47of 2026 or early in 2027,
381. 11:50just go back and review it. Does this
382. 11:52still make sense in my plan? It's like
383. 11:53reviewing all your investment accounts,
384. 11:54right? Your government benefits, your
385. 11:56CPP and your OAS are two income sources
386. 11:59in retirement of many for most clients.
387. 12:02So most Canadians have many income
388. 12:03sources. Those are two of them.
389. 12:06Just make sure you're taking it at the
390. 12:07right time because it can be very
391. 12:08impactful to your plan. And tip number
392. 12:1010 is know exactly what you should be
393. 12:12pulling out for next year, how much, and
394. 12:14where does it come from? Now, how do you
395. 12:16know how much and where does it come
396. 12:18from? Well, a good retirement plan will
397. 12:20show you that. And if you're uncertain
398. 12:21like what does a retirement plan
399. 12:23actually look like, we have a full video
400. 12:25and you can watch that video here and it
401. 12:26will outline exactly how we build
402. 12:29retirement plans and how your retirement
403. 12:31plan should look as well, showing you
404. 12:32exactly where, how, and when your income
405. 12:35should be pulled. We'll see you in the
406. 12:37next video.