10 Things You Need to Stop Now if You Want to Retire in Canada

You’re probably going to need more money saved up for a comfortable retirement than you think you do. Simply putting aside a bit of money every month isn’t enough: you need to know how much you’ll need to have saved up by the time you retire. You need to take into account factors like inflation too.

To get you started, you can use the Government of Canada’s handy retirement income calculator, which will give you a ballpark figure of how much money you’ll need in retirement.

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One of the first signs that you’re going to retire broke is living beyond your means. If your lifestyle costs more than you can afford, you won’t be able to save for retirement. So, scale down and start living more frugally.

Once you’ve retired, you won’t have the regular income of a paycheque to rely on. You need to have a good retirement nest egg to finance your post-retirement life. The sooner you start putting away money into a retirement savings plan, the more you’ll have saved up by the time you retire.

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As your income grows, you’ll be tempted to buy a bigger house, a more expensive car, designer clothes — resist the temptation. You don’t need to give up all luxuries but don’t spend money on things you don’t really need. Learn from the world’s thriftiest millionaires and billionaires and live frugally so that you have more to save for retirement and will more easily adjust to a simpler post-retirement lifestyle.

Many Canadian employers match your contributions to your RRSP, sometimes even 100% or more. So, if you contribute the maximum amount to your RRSP, your employer will contribute more money too. If you don’t maximize this and let your employer help you save for retirement, it’s free money you’re missing out on.

A serious health issue in retirement can gobble up a big chunk of your retirement savings. Of course aches and pains are almost inevitable as you get older but if you start taking care of your health now, you can reduce your risk of having to deal with some of the most common health concerns in Canada later in life.

No matter how much you’ve saved for retirement; if you keep bailing out your children financially, it will eat into your savings. There are 20 secrets self-made millionaires teach their kids. Teach your kids these and let them learn how to be financially responsible from a young age. By the time they’re grown up, they will be financially independent and you can use your retirement nest egg for yourself.

You can stay in that dead-end job until retirement or you can strive for bigger things. A higher-paying job will leave you with more to save for retirement. So, keep learning. Make time for reading and look for a mentor who can help guide you on your career path. Take some easy courses that will look amazing on your resumé. Go after that promotion. The great thing about always trying to learn is that it will also help keep those brain cells active into old age.

Once you give up the regular income of a monthly paycheque, you’ll need other ways to earn an income and add to your retirement nest egg. Start looking now for ways to earn an extra income. Take up a hobby that you could turn into a business. Invest your money. Develop skills that you could use in a part-time job.

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Investing your money in the stock market can be a great way to increase your income. It can also be a good way to lose your retirement nest egg when things go wrong. Educate yourself on how to find the best mutual funds in Canada and learn how to play the stock market wisely. Most importantly, don’t put all your money into high-risk investments. Instead, spread it out over different kinds of investment options.

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