How much do you need for retirement?

On January 14, 2019, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) released the 2019 RBC Financial Independence in Retirement Poll, which uses findings from a poll conducted by Ipsos of over 2,000 Canadians online for RBC in November.

There are problems with online polling but we can assume that the figures they use are fairly good, but they are not definitive. 
How much do you need for retirement? Many experts claim that a person should have between 50 and 70% of their current income a year in retirement. In Canada, if a person is working, they can expect that the Canada Pension Plan will replace between 25 to 30% of their working income. If you add the Old Age Security Benefit most Canadians can expect to have about 35 to 40% of their income covered by our government programs. This means that if you want to follow the guidelines by the experts you need to come up with a saving strategy or work for a company that has a pension plan that will replace between 15 to 35% of your current yearly income. 

 According to the survey, Canadians believe that they need $1 million to fund a comfortable financial future. As Canadians look to retirement, we hope to amass this amount in private savings held in TFSAs, RRSPs and other un-registered investment accounts. 

In the survey, Canadians have identified their top four motivators to accumulating such a nest egg. These motivators are 
1. being debt-free
2. having things to make life more comfortable
3. having money to take part in desired experiences
4. having enough to travel wherever you want.

However in Canada that million dollars is not a goal for all of us, in British Columbia, we need a little more than a million, we need about $1.07 million. Albertans think they need $916,000, those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba cite $907, 000 and Ontarians just $872,000. Quebecers need just $427,000. The figures are interesting when we compare them to the national average of $787,000. Men believe they’ll need $942,000, compared to women at just $650,000. I wonder why this is so as women tend to outlive men so should need more.

Canadians are prepared, according to the poll to take four actions to achieve the financial independence we want. These actions are: 
1. spend less on non-essentials [74%] 
2. eat out less [59%]
3. postpone major purchases [45%]
4. cut back on travel [34%]. 

Our goals as Canadians this year appears to be to delay gratification, live within our means, eliminate debt, and then grow our retirement income.

If you retire with debt, the debt can cause you some worry, but the good news is Canadians said clearly that they don’t want to live with debt and certainly don’t want to carry debt into retirement and if we are able to achieve our goals then we as a country are in good shape for the future.

Do you talk about?

I was out with a friend and he said, so now we have talked about our obligatory review of our health maybe we can talk about other things, so we did. Later I was out with some other friends and we were out talking about how people react when they are given bad medical news. I had a member of my family who had Cancer and did not tell anyone except her/his parents. One of the parents told me but I was sworn to secrecy and I held the secret until another parent brought it up in discussion over dinner. The assumption made was that I would tell my wife the news. My wife was upset when she found out and more upset that I knew and she did not, as it was a member of her side of the family. 

As we started the new conversation our friend said, "It is interesting that when some people get Cancer they don't want anyone to know." and she looked directly at her partner. I being curious and sometimes rude, turned to her partner and I asked if he had Cancer. He said "No." and while he was saying "No" she was shaking her head "Yes". So I looked at my wife and said to our friends, "What is going on, one of you is saying no and the other is saying yes, both can't be correct."

He was silent for a while his partner stared at him but he finally admitted that he had Cancer. He went on at great length to explain that he was not worried and that he was sure that next week they would cut it out and he would be fine. He made us promise not to tell his children. We agreed as we never see the children anyway, so it was an easy promise to make and keep.

I wonder why there is a reluctance to talk about ourselves if we are unfortunate enough to become victim to a serious illness or a chronic disease. I know there is a reluctance to talk about mental illness or drug addiction for some people, but I had not realized that this reluctance also applied to serious illnesses, such as Cancer, Dementia or other Chronic illness. Maybe it is the circle that I travel in at this point in my life.

Ever thought about this

We want many things but need far less. The funny thing is that the less you think about how you can get something, like money, love, or laughter... the faster it will come.

Walkin' on sunshine, life is strange

Intergalactic Phone Book listing

For all those who write and publish blogs, I found your new Intergalactic Phone Book listing!!

It wasn't easy. At first, I looked under Illuminated, but you weren't there. Then I looked under Faith Healer, Magician, and Wild Thing; not there either. You weren't even under Funny Bones. I started to worry. 

Then I had an "ah-ha" moment. I looked you up under people who have their own blog, and who will very, very soon travel... Eureka! 

You make time and space look easy so thank you for your words and thoughts.