Retirement Planning

Retirement Planner in Toronto

We help you navigate pre-retirement and retirement. Retirement planning is basically planning to replace your income once you stop working. We help you answer the two main retirement questions:

  1. How much guaranteed lifetime income do I have or need?
  2. Have I removed or addressed the key retirement risks?
Retirement Glossary

When it Comes to Your Retirement Planning...

How much income will you need to live on comfortably once you retire?

This is key as you'll have to replace your working income or salary.

What will your sources of income be? Will you need to work longer or work during retirement?

Besides work pensions, CPP & OAS, how do you plan to maximize retirement savings?

Are you saving enough and are your investments keeping up?

The biggest challenge before and after retirement is inflation or the cost of living. Your plan has to factor this.

In what order and when should you should take money to spend in retirement?

Tax planning is very important to your planning and minimizing taxes by the order you withdraw your funds is essential!

What is the best time to take CPP and OAS and how to avoid tax clawbacks?

The longer you wait to take CPP the higher per month you get when you start. OAS has to be taken by age 70 or you lose it.

Do you need a retirement planner to help you run scenarios and help you navigate so you feel secure?

A retirement planner can help you determine the best strategy and answer your questions. Learn key terms from our glossary.

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What is Retirement Planning?

The success of your retirement planning will NOT depend on your assets or how big your nest-egg is. Your assets can be lost, stolen, sued, swindled, divorced or crushed in a market meltdown. 

Most people think of investing and the stock market when they think about retirement planning. As a result, the focus becomes accumulation without an eye on what you will do once you stop receiving a regular paycheque from your workplace.  Or they might envision travel and all the fun things we think about when we no longer have to work.

Keys to Successful Retirement Planning

  • Retirement planning is basically replacing your income/salary once you retire. This could be for 30 or more years.
  • You will need sustainable income to support your basic expenses and lifestyle. The trouble with focusing on accumulation is that the stock market is volatile and depending on that is risky.
  • There are 4 steps to a successful retirement and working with a retirement planner.

Retirement Planning Cornerstones

As a retirement planner we understand the anxiety that comes with retirement planning and managing your investments to help fund your retirement. Over the years we can simplify what retirement planning comes down to in four key cornerstones. If you can cover these, even as best as you can and not perfectly, you'll be way ahead than most people who don't account for all these factors.

Retirement Glossary

Cover Basic Lifetime Expenses

Most people don't plan for their basic expenses when you consider you may have a 30+ year retirement. Using guaranteed lifetime income which can be done through work pension or purchasing an annuity using a portion of your nest-egg, is still the most effective and secure way to do this. Decide how much money you need to lead your normal retirement short of CPP and OAS payments.

Protect Against Inflation

Inflation runs anywhere between 2.5% and 3%. Once you've taken care of your basic expenses, you want to optimize your investment portfolio for inflation. Many folks, because they worry about running out of or losing money in the stock market, tend to buy "safe" investments like GICs or savings accounts. If you've taken care of basic expenses this isn't a major worry.

Have a Plan for Health Care

If you're living longer and for 30 years in retirement, chances are your health may eventually be affected leading to unintended costs. Or in most cases you get to a point where you need assistance with living and not having to worry about maintaining a home. No retirement plan is complete without considering healthcare.  As a retirement planner, Blue Alpha Wealth can help you understand your options.

Permanent Life Insurance 

If you're worried about taxes or leaving an inheritance without sacrificing your retirement, life insurance is the most efficient tool to accomplish that. Pass wealth to your children or charities without having to live a "just-in-case retirement". Just in case the roof leaks or there's not enough to leave my grandchildren, you don't spend your money or do things you love. Don't leave your kids any money, spend it all...leave them life insurance!

Retirement Planning Number Example

By way of example, assume you determine that you require $70,000 in annual income (your "retirement number") to support your whole retirement. The example image below gives you a high-level guide on how to calculate what you will need to cover in terms of shortfall so you don't run out of money.

  1. Calculate what you'll get from CPP/OAS and employer pensions.
  2. Determine if there is a shortfall to cover your basic expenses based on what your retirement number is i.e. $70,000 minus shortfall (if there is one)
  3. Use a portion of your nest-egg to buy some form of guaranteed income for the amount of shortfall for guaranteed income.
  4. We focus on guaranteed income because these are expenses like housing, food, healthcare etc. that will last you whole retirement. Your other "discretionary expenses" like travel etc. are optional and not for your whole retirement.
Retirement Planner Toronto
Retirement Number

When should I start collecting CPP payments?

retirement planning for cpp/oas

This is a common question retirement planners get from individuals in their mid 50's going to age 60. In general, you can start collecting CPP payments anywhere between your 60th birthday and 70th birthday. Some might consider taking CPP past age 70 for taxable income purposes. You qualify for CPP as long as you made at least one payment after age 18. You can apply for the start of payments the month after you turn 59 years old OR up to one year in advance before you know you're going to take it. Here are some of the key questions to ask yourself:

Are you still employed and do you need the income?
Do you have an employer sponsored pension plan?
Are you single or married?
Have you considered taxes and how adding to your income could mean a higher tax bill?
What is the value of your RRSPs and other retirement accounts?
CPP/OAS Guide
Canada Pension Plan

Canada Pension Plan for Retirement Planning

Note: It's always important to determine what age and option works for you and to discuss with a retirement planner like Blue Alpha Wealth. The mistake many people make is basing this decision on what a friend or neighbor did. This is why it's important to understand why you should be taking it at certain ages depending on your situation.

  • 01 - CPP vs OAS

  • 02 - How much CPP can I expect?

  • 03 - Do I automatically start getting payments?

  • 04 - Penalty for taking CPP before age 65?

Keep in mind that CPP and Old Age Security (OAS) are two separate payments you receive from the government. OAS is eligible from age 65 to age 70. The most important point is that if you apply for CPP at age 65 you aren't obliged to apply for OAS at the same time and the opposite is true. Each one is separate and you should apply as you see fit for your situation.

Government Benefits

How much do I need to save for retirement?

This is a very personal number but a lot comes down to how much before-tax income you think you'll need on an annual basis. For example, in the above diagram we assumed someone needed $70,000. We then:


  • Calculate what you'll get from CPP/OAS and employer pensions.
  • Calculate what amount you will require for basic expenses. In this example you need $50,000 annually
  • See if there is a shortfall between the $50,000 and what you'll be getting from CPP/OAS and employer pensions
  • For the shortfall, let's say you need an additional $17,000 for your basic expense
  • Use your retirement portfolio like RRSP to buy an annuity that will give you $17,000 a year in guaranteed lifetime income
  • The remainder of your nest-egg or portfolio can now be used for discretionary expenses like travel etc.
How Much RRSP?

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Retirement planner Toronto, Ontario
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Run Scenarios For Retirement Plan
  • When to Take CPP and OAS
  • Guaranteed Retirement Income
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  • Run Scenarios For Retirement Plan
  • Review My Portfolio & Financial Plan
  • Create a Retirement & Financial Plan
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Key Retirement Planning Risks


There are five risk that could derail your retirement planning. Market Risk, Longevity Risk, Withdrawal Rate Risk, Deflation Risk and Order of Returns Risk. Addressing these risks is key to a successful retirement plan!

Have You Covered Your Retirement Risks?

Market Risk

This is the risk that you lose your money and investments to adverse shocks in the stock or real estate market. What would you d if you depend on your investments and the market drops 20%, 40%? How long can you wait for it to recover?

Longevity Risk

This is the risk that you live too long and outlive your investments and retirement income. Longevity risk is a "multiplier" risk because it opens up the door to other risks the longer you live e.g. health, market risk, long term car etc. Especially if you're a couple, your life expectancy is longer.

Withdrawal Rate Risk

This is the risk that you withdraw from your investments faster than is sustainable in the long term. In the past the "rule of thumb" was to withdraw at 4%. That has changed as the economy and markets have changed. 4% may not be adequate for you and your life and if you take more you might run out of money quickly.

Deflation Risk

This is the risk that the general price levels in Canada start falling—as opposed to inflation when prices rise. The risk to you is the contraction is the economy and lower demand leading to such things as asset bubbles that affect the value of your investments and ultimately the value of your retirement income.

Order of Returns Risk

In retirement, you have no control over what years you get negative returns and what years you get positive returns. This is called “sequence of returns”. The problem is those negative returns, especially if you’ve set a specific withdrawal rate for your retirement spending like 5%. Even if you average 10% in the first 10 years of your retirement, you don’t know when the negative returns will come. So at 5% withdrawal rate you run out of money fast.

Healthcare Risk

This is the risk that at some point in your life you will no longer be able to care for yourself without substantial assistance from somebody else. What usually ends up happening is that your family/friends take on this role of informal caregivers and have to put their lives on hold to do that. It's sudden and unexpected. In addition, it will require you to draw rapidly from your retirement savings which will deplete them much faster than your financial plan had bargained for. Long term care insurance can help mitigate this risk.

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