52 Ways to Wreck Your Retirement

Introduction 1
<p>PART 1: STARTING TO PLAN FOR RETIREMENT 5</p>
<p>1. Thinking You Have a Retirement Plan When You Don′t 7</p>
<p>2. Being Fooled by Feeling and Looking Younger than You Are 12</p>
<p>3. Not Using Your Common Sense 16</p>
<p>4. Living for Today Rather than Saving for Tomorrow 20</p>
<p>5. Not Paying Attention to What′s in All Your Statements 24</p>
<p>6. Not Knowing Where You Stand 29</p>
<p>7. Not Knowing Where Your Money Is Going 33</p>
<p>PART 2: MISTAKES AROUND INVESTING 39</p>
<p>8. Not Knowing How Your Money Is Invested 41</p>
<p>9. Not Knowing How Much Risk You Can Tolerate 48</p>
<p>10. Th inking You′d Rather Be Safe than Sorry 52</p>
<p>11. Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket 57</p>
<p>12. Th inking That Retiring Means You Stop Investing 61</p>
<p>13. Watching Your Investments Too Closely 64</p>
<p>14. Looking for Th at Magic Pill to Boost Your Savings 68</p>
<p>PART 3: MISTAKES AROUND DEBT 73</p>
<p>15. Th inking Th at All Debt Is Created Equal 75</p>
<p>16. Taking Too Long to Pay Off Your Mortgage 82</p>
<p>17. Misuse of Credit Cards 89</p>
<p>PART 4: SAVING FOR RETIREMENT 95</p>
<p>18. Leaving Too Much Free Money on the Table 97</p>
<p>19. Ignoring the Eff ects of Infl ation 102</p>
<p>20. Feeling Th at There′ s No Way You Can Ever Save Enough 108</p>
<p>PART 5: PENSIONS 113</p>
<p>21. Overestimating CPP/QPP Pensions 115</p>
<p>22. Th inking You′re Entitled to the Maximum Old Age Security (OAS) Pension 122</p>
<p>23. Relying Too Heavily on Your Company Pension 126</p>
<p>24. Making the Wrong Choices with Your Defined Benefi t Pension on Retirement 132</p>
<p>25. Not Considering All the Maturity Options for a Registered Retirement Savings Plan 138</p>
<p>PART 6: LIVING IN RETIREMENT 147</p>
<p>26. Making Too Many Big Changes to Your Life as Soon as You Retire 149</p>
<p>27. Fearing Retirement 154</p>
<p>28. Failing to Talk to Your Partner or Others About Retirement 159</p>
<p>29. Retiring Outside the Country Without First Doing Your Homework 163</p>
<p>30. Downsizing the Family Home Too Late 169</p>
<p>31. Not Doing Some Research Before Starting a Business in Retirement 174</p>
<p>PART 7: SPENDING IN RETIREMENT 179</p>
<p>32. Spending Too Much Money Too Early in Retirement 181</p>
<p>33. Giving Away Too Much Money During Your Life 185</p>
<p>34. Being Afraid to Spend Your Savings 189</p>
<p>PART 8: PAYING TOO MUCH TAX 195</p>
<p>35. Wanting to Keep the Money All to Yourself 197</p>
<p>36. Giving Back Your OAS 205</p>
<p>37. Not Taking Advantage of Tax Gift s Such As the Tax Free Savings Account 210</p>
<p>38. Failing to Plan for U.S. Estate Taxes 215</p>
<p>39. Paying Too Much Tax on Investments 220</p>
<p>PART 9: NEW REALITIES ABOUT RETIREMENT 225</p>
<p>40. Not Being Prepared to Be Single in Retirement 227</p>
<p>41. Believing in Freedom 55 232</p>
<p>42. Believing Th at You Have Only One Retirement Date 236</p>
<p>43. Th inking Retirement Is All About You 241</p>
<p>PART 10: PROTECTION PLANNING 247</p>
<p>44. Not Protecting Your Most Important Asset You! 249</p>
<p>45. Bad Decisions Around Joint Accounts 254</p>
<p>46. Th inking Your Family Can Automatically Make Decisions for You When You Can′t 258</p>
<p>47. Avoiding Estate Planning 262</p>
<p>48. Choosing the Wrong Benefi ciary for Your RRSP, RRIF, or TFSA 267</p>
<p>49. Sharing Too Much Personal and Financial Information 274</p>
<p>PART 11: NOT ASKING FOR HELP 279</p>
<p>50. Not Doing the Math: Mortgage Versus RRSP Versus TFSA 281</p>
<p>51. Wanting to Do It All Yourself 285</p>
<p>52. Substituting a Retirement Calculator for Retirement Advice 292</p>
<p>Acknowledgements 297</p>
<p>About the Author 299</p>
<p>Index 301</p>