How do you figure out your retirement needs???

[Barbie]

Oh man I must be getting old, because I am finally thinking of my retirement... Really only have 10 more good yrs left of working.... or god I am hoping anyhow.
But... being self employed all these yrs.... I sure won't get much cpp ..
Dbf has a pension... which I don't think it that huge either, as he has been with the company 10 yrs and $200 per month goes to his pension...
but he has paid into cpp since he was 15.....he has rsps but not alot, has a life insurance that will be cashed in ... again not alot but.. as he says every little bit helps...

My worry is... we will not have our house paid off by the time we retire....so we most likely will have to sell the house and pray we make money from it, and either rent or buy a condo or town house or???
But how do you figure out how much money you will need?? How much will it cost to live in 15 yrs???
I just worry about it... I need to buckle down and start putting alot of money away per month.....which is do able..
I just want to figure out how much you need and how to figure it all out?
I know most of you are still pretty young but I am 45 and hmm just now thinking about it.

[curious1]

NOT an expert by any measure...

I have been told that 60-70% of your current gross income will keep your current life style if you are saving now. Some people can live on a lot less, others need more for travel, expensive hobbies, etc.

You can request a pension estimate from CPP once a year.
Also Dbf should be able to ask for an estimate (or how to calculate one) for his company pension.
I ignored the value in my condo as I assumed that would cover any additional expense for a retirement home when I need it.

Here is a calculator you can play with (press enter after you enter each number)

https://www.citizensbank.ca/Personal/Ca ... ntPlanner/

[ChipperMommy]

I hate to be a bummer here but I wouldn't look onto dbf's retirement to help support yours. What you need to do is look at what you can do for yourself. I like the calculator that's a great tool. What about talking to an investment manager at your bank? Basically, I'd be spending the next 10 years paying off debt, mortgages because the amount you do "need" to live on depends on what you have to pay every month. I do like the 60-70% of your current income as a high end figure especially if you like to travel.

[Barbie]

Thanks for the caculator but too complicated for me to figure it all out. lol

That is one of my big questions, should I concentrate on paying down the mortgage or concentrate on saving money???
I am putting 400 per month into rsps now... and then just saving a little for stuff .... but next yr I will have about 1,000 to add to those savings.... but not sure whether to add it to the mortgage or into savings or both????
I want to see numbers .... we do have an investment guy... so guess I should ask him......
thanks ladies.

[TimAyres]

If you'd like, I can put you in touch with a really good, down-to-earth financial planner. He can put some scenarios together and look at the big picture, and make recommendations.

E-mail or direct message me if you want the contact info.

[tiptoetulip]

What we did was borrow to invest. For us, it made sense because, like you, we won't have CPP to call back on and DH will likely remain self-employed/contractor for the rest of his livelong days, so ... we borrowed, which we get a tax cut on, and the payments are taken care of each month by the money that is made (well, not so much right now - LOL). In the first month that we had invested we had made nearly $500 in just three weeks.

If you'd like more info on what we've done, I can email you.

[tiptoetulip]

I just want to figure out how much you need and how to figure it all out?

Our financial planner walked through this with us. Yours should be doing the same!

Basically, are you comfortable at the annual income you have **right now**? Is it enough to support you? Tack on more if it isn't. Tack on money to travel, etc.