What is your magic number

In Canada, retirees have an important foundation through the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) on which to start their retirement savings programs.

Still, CPP and OAS won’t pay for everything and it would be a mistake to assume that Canada’s national pension plan will cover all your costs.

How much you really need to retire depends on a lot of things: the extent to which you plan to travel, whether you’re planning upgrades to make your house more comfortable, costs for prescription medications, non-covered medical expenses, and so much more.

Financial planners and pension experts frequently use the term ‘Magic Number’, based on a percentage of your current income, to come up with an idea of how much you should expect to spend each year after you retire.

Many experts cite a need for retirees to have 70 percent of their working income in order to retire comfortably. So, if you made $50,000 a year (The average wage in Canada in 2018) when you were working, the math says you’ll need $35,000 a year once you retire.

These so-called Magic Numbers also come with several assumptions on the planner’s part: you have paid off the mortgage on your principal residence; your children are through university, have moved out and you are no longer supporting them financially; you aren’t making support payments to a former spouse or common-law partner; you are either single, or if you are married are not planning to get divorced; you are in generally good health and are taking sufficient care of yourself to ensure you’ll stay that way for 15 to 20 years and you aren’t anticipating any major expenses, like having to buy a new vehicle or a cottage.

Choose your multiplier

Once you determine how much you’ll actually need each year, multiply that number by the number of years you expect to live in retirement.

So, if you expect to be retired for 20 years (which brings you to age 85 if you retire at 65--85 is five years longer than the average life expectancy for men and one year longer than the average life expectancy for women in Canada in 2018), then using our simple example, multiply $35,000 x 20 and the math will tell you that you need $700,000 saved for retirement.

Sounds hard, and it is. But here’s some good news: if you contribute enough to CPP to collect $10,000 annually, then you only have to save enough to have an extra $25,000 for each year in retirement.

Suddenly, the math looks like this: $25,000 x 20 = $500,000 in needed savings. And that’s before you factor in OAS, which for most Canadians comes in around $7,040 a year. So once you factor in OAS the amount is you need to save for an extra $17,960 a year. The math now looks like this.
$17,630 X 20 = $359,200 is what you need to save for your retirement.  To achieve that goal, if you invest and earn the average rate of return of 5.89% a year then from you need to invest

At age 25  $ 185.69 a month
At age 35  $ 365.40 a month
At age 40  $ 527.70 a month
At age 45  $ 788.65 a month

As you get older you have to invest more to make the amount of money needed, so start investing earlier or start now and many Canadians are now opting to work a little longer – to 67 and 70, which can shave a few years off your savings needs so you will need less money.

And, keep in mind, these estimates assume that all the cash is in place on the day you retire. If you leave a portion of your savings invested and they earn an average 5 to 7 percent annual return, your nest egg will continue to grow during retirement.

For anyone who hasn’t started saving, those numbers should be sound motivation to start exploring the various options to line up your finances for a comfortable retirement.

A qualified financial advisor can provide specific insights about how much you need to save, and how to get that process started.

Myths about the Canada Pension Plan

The Canada Pension Plan has a website that debunks the myths many of us have about the plan. To read more go to the link and check the sources. Back in the late 1990s, there were serious concerns about how long the CPP would be able to continue paying benefits. Indeed, the Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada projects the CPP Fund is sustainable for the next 75 years.

Hard work was done to fix this, including the creation of the CPP Investment Board to invest contributions. But 20 years later, a majority of Canadians still believe the CPP Fund is running out of money and won’t be there for them.

Public trust has stayed low and people’s perceptions remain 20 years behind the times.

That’s troubling and CPP Investment Board’s public awareness effort, which includes this website as well as some digital and television advertising,   aims to help demystify some common misconceptions.

So, let’s look at a few of those more common myths:

Myth – CPP is bankrupt, or will be soon.

Reality – Two decades ago, the CPP was unsustainable. But federal and provincial governments made changes, including creating CPP Investment Board, to fix that. Today, the CPP is sustainable and secure for future generations.

Myth – The government tells the CPP Investment Board how to invest.

Reality – In fact, CPP Investment Board operates independently of government on an arms-length basis. Our investment teams make decisions about what goes in our portfolio based on the CPP Investment Board’s statutory mandate, which requires us to invest in the best interest of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.

Myth – CPP contributions can be used by the government for purposes other than CPP.

Reality – The money you pay into CPP can only be used to fund the CPP and pay CPP benefits. It cannot be used for any other purpose, such as building roads or funding cultural programs.

Myth – CPP will pay for my whole retirement.

Reality – Right now, CPP pays up to about one-quarter of an average worker’s salary – and in coming years, that will increase to one-third. In 2016, federal and provincial governments decided to enhance the CPP to create a stronger foundation for Canadians’ retirements. 

As the investment manager of the CPP Fund, the CPP Investment Board is responsible for prudently investing the additional contribution amounts arising from the enhancement to the CPP. Other government pension sources include Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement. Personal savings, including Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Tax-Free Savings Accounts, as well as workplace pensions, are the other most common sources of retirement income.

Does drinking water before bed prevent heart attacks?

My cousin sent me this post via Facebook and I thought I should check it out, to see if it was true.  I checked with Hoax Slayer and their information is in italics. 

My name is Alexander, I am a cardiologist and a paramedic.
The supposed cardiologist is not named and the message contains no references. And the information did not come from the Mayo Clinic as claimed in some versions of the message. 
 A very important warning for those who wake up at night to go to the bathroom...You must be careful with the " One-and-a-Half-minute law " that is scientifically proven " by waking up suddenly " to make your physiological needs normally, you hear that someone " was well in health and died suddenly during the night without Reason ". the most likely reason is that when that person woke up to go to the bathroom, she got up from bed in a hurry, right now, the brain needs greater blood flow, for having rested, causing a state of fainting there The stroke happens...

In this case, it is recommended to learn the " One-and-a-Half-minute law " which is:

When you wake up to go to the bathroom, you must first: " lie down for 30 seconds after waking up " and then " sit in bed for 30 more seconds ", lower your legs quietly and " sit on the End of bed for another 30 seconds " and only then get up to go to the bathroom.

With these steps, the chances are gigantic to survive a sudden stroke, regardless of age...

This is an old viral message, yet it came recently once again in social media. There is no information to support the claim or there are no incidents to provide truth to the message that rising from bed too quickly result in a stroke or sudden death. However many people though feel dizzy some times when they wake up suddenly from a place where they are sitting or sleeping.

As per mayoclinic, Orthostatic hypotension — also called postural hypotension — is a form of low blood pressure that happens when you stand up from sitting or lying down. Orthostatic hypotension can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded, and maybe even faint.

Orthostatic hypotension may be mild and last for less than a few minutes. However, long-lasting orthostatic hypotension can signal more serious problems, so it's important to see a doctor if you frequently feel lightheaded when standing up.

So this is just a myth that drinking water before and after bed can prevent heart attack

Water effect About the body. We know that water is important but you never knew the right time to drink!

Did you know?
Drinking water in the correct time maximizes the effectiveness of the human body  
However, there is no credible evidence to suggest that drinking water at certain times of the day will provide the particular health benefits specified in this message. Staying well hydrated can help maintain overall health and may thereby help avoid serious health outcomes such as heart attacks and stroke. But, this is true at any time of the day. The supposed cardiologist is not named and the message contains no references

A glass of water after waking up helps activate internal organs...This claim is virtually meaningless. What specific internal organs is it referring to? And one would hope that our organs continue to be active even when we sleep. If not, then a glass of water is unlikely to help us. Given that, after waking, we might not have had liquids for several hours, drinking water early in the morning may help rehydrate us and make us feel better

A glass of water 30 minutes before a meal helps digestion.
Drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before a meal is unlikely to have much effect at all on digestion. Water passes through your system quite quickly, so it is doubtful that one glass of water 30 minutes before eating would still be around in enough quantities and at the required point in the food digestion process to be of any significant help. In fact, even when water is taken with the meal itself, its impact on digestion is not likely to be very significant. Moreover, unless you have specific health problems or have a very poor diet, your body is likely to do a terrific job of digesting your food without any water at all. An article about the issue on boston.com notes:

Dr. Braden Kuo, director of the GI Motility Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, says that drinking water is not necessary for digesting food, because the body is very efficient at secreting and reabsorbing its own fluids. At the first stage of digestion, drinking water can simply make it easier to swallow food, since most of us have difficulty swallowing when our food is not sufficiently moistened with saliva.


When the food reaches the stomach, water “may help to some degree, but its impact is moderate to minimal,’’ he says. He adds that having some extra fluid in the mix may help smooth the digestive process for those with constipation

A glass of water before showering helps lower blood pressure.
Drinking water before a bath – or at any other time for that matter – does NOT lower blood pressure. Biomedical researcher Judith Airey, Ph.D. notes:
"So the bottom line is that, generally, increasing the amount of water that is consumed will not increase the amount of sodium lost by the blood, so blood pressure will not be lowered."

In fact, drinking water can actually cause a very short term increase in blood pressure in some people, particularly those with some types of very low blood pressure. This is only temporary and has no long term impact on blood pressure.

Keeping hydrated is good for health, but overhydration has no benefit for lowering blood pressure.

Other medical sources also concur that water can raise rather than lower blood pressure. A Vanderbilt University Medical Center newsletter article explains:

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown that ordinary water — without any additives — does more than just quench thirst. It has some other unexpected, physiological effects. It increases the activity of the sympathetic — fight or flight — nervous system, which raises alertness, blood pressure and energy expenditure.

David Robertson, M.D., and colleagues first observed water’s curious ability to increase blood pressure about 10 years ago, in patients who had lost their baroreflexes — the system that keeps blood pressure within a normal range.

Moreover, unless you have significant problems with hypertension, why would it be necessary to lower your blood pressure before having an ordinary bath? In fact, soaking in a hot tub may actually lower the blood pressure of healthy people. So, it is difficult to see any health benefit at all in lowering your blood pressure before having a bath. Given that a hot bath might lower your pressure anyway, taking steps that cause your blood pressure to go even lower might actually have negative health impacts for some people. And, in an article titled “Hot Tub and Sauna Use and High Blood Pressure”, the American Heart Association notes:


"Hot tubs and saunas pose no risk to healthy people as long as they are not misused. People with high blood pressure should tolerate saunas well as long as they are not experiencing a hypertensive crisis."

A glass of water before sleeping avoids stroke or heart attack

Ah, if only life was so simple. Of all the claims in the message, this is the most nonsensical. If preventing strokes and heart attacks were as simple as drinking water before bed, those duel killers and maimers would be pretty much a thing of the past. The supposed remedy is not listed on any credible heart or stroke prevention website. The claim is inaccurate and misleading. Drinking a glass of water before going to bed certainly will not prevent a heart attack or stroke.

But, again, drinking water and staying well hydrated throughout the day can help keep you healthier and perhaps make it a little less likely that you will have a heart attack or stroke. The American Heart Association notes:

Keeping the body hydrated helps the heart more easily pump blood through the blood vessels to the muscles. And, it helps the muscles remove waste so that they can work efficiently.

“If you’re well hydrated, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard,” said John Batson, M.D, a sports medicine physician with Lowcountry Spine & Sport in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and an American Heart Association volunteer.


Dehydration can be a serious condition that can lead to problems ranging from swollen feet or a headache to life-threatening illnesses such as heat stroke.

The message claims that the information comes from a cardiac specialist. However, the alleged specialist is not identified. Nor does the message reference any credible medical sources to support its claims. The message is reminiscent of other spurious health tips that circulate via email 

Do you maximize the use of your Pharmacy?

Pharmacists can do so much more than simply dispense and provide education on your medications, so get them involved in the management of your condition. Here are some tips: 

Make sure your pharmacy always has an up-to-date, complete list of your medications (both prescription and non-prescription, including herbs, vitamins, supplements, etc.). 

Schedule an annual medication review to ensure that: If issues are identified that need follow-up, be sure to schedule follow-up medication reviews with your pharmacist. 

Keep your pharmacy updated on any changes in your health. 

Make sure your doctor knows what pharmacy you use and that your pharmacy knows who your doctor is – this will establish them as your health care team and enable them to work together along with you to help you achieve your goals.