You have finally reached that magic age when you can retire from work and concentrate on your “Bucket List”. Before you start trekking around the world or pick up a new hobby, you need a plan and a budget to make sure the “Golden Years” are truly the golden years. Let`s take a look at some of the things you might be considering at this stage in your life:
- What are my passions and how can I pursue them?
- How can I stay healthy and active through a long retirement?
- What will my income be and where will it come from?
- How much income tax will I pay? Can this be reduced?
- Does my home suit my new lifestyle? Do I have a mortgage and how can I pay it down?
- Do I have any other debts?
- Do I want to help my family (children, grandchildren, siblings) financially? Can I?
- How can I make sure my loved ones are taken care of after I’m gone?
Have fun with the process and enjoy finding a plan which fits your ongoing needs. It will provide you with a sense of accomplishment and peace of mind.
Preserving Wealth
Time to review all RRSP, TFSA, Pension, life insurance beneficiaries and successor holder options to ensure they are up to date and represent current estate goals and to develop joint ownership options for all asset classes. Time to also ensure all living benefits programs (Disability, LTD, CI, LTC) are up to date and properly funded. Utilize our financial calculators, and work with us to understand the role of inflation and the need to have multiple asset classes in your total net worth.
Debt Strategies
There is good debt and bad debt. Have you structured your debts in the most tax effective way possible? When was the last time you reviewed how your debt worked for you? Do you have the best type and term of mortgage for your financial plan?
Working with you, we can create a plan to handle your current debt in the most efficient way and nurture the focus and discipline to have only ‘good debt’ moving forward.
Mortgages in Retirement
Financial Planning
Financial planning is a process. At Arbutus Financial, we use a six step process to take stock of where you are today and identify strategies to help you accomplish your current and future goals. By working together to help you discover and define your values and goals, we will clearly understand your vision and assure your financial plan fits. We answer questions about retirement forecasting and planning. What contingency planning has been done? How much money do you need to keep your current lifestyle in retirement? By identifying the challenges to accomplishing your vision, we can build a plan addressing the barriers to achieving your goals. We will help you to implement recommendations and complete the steps paramount to your success. Finally, we will meet annually to update the plan and assure life’s changes are addressed in your plan.
Client Resources
Insurance Planning
Insurance provides peace of mind and, in some cases, efficient tax planning. Does your insurance do that for you? Do you have the right types of coverage? Do you know the appropriate amount of life insurance to cover your needs? Your largest asset is your ability to earn an income. Is it protected properly? If a loved one gets sick or is injured, will you be able to take time away from work to look after them?
Work with us to understand the coverage you have and to create a plan to protect your current and future assets.
Insurance made easy
Charitable Giving
Time to consider giving to causes that matter to you, while reducing your personal tax burden. Planned giving can provide so much more value than simply giving cash to worthy causes. Creative uses of life insurance, annuities, property or investment portfolios expand and multiply your donation to have a greater impact on the world.
Will & Estate Planning
Your will is the last planning document you have to legally outline your intentions after death. Have you updated it recently? Does it address your current situation and your intentions? Having an up-to-date legally binding will is a key element of your estate planning. At Arbutus Financial, we work with allied professionals to assure this area of your planning is in order and will do what you intend.