Planning for retirement means having realistic expectations about how much you’ll earn and spend.
Checklist: Retirement Income and Expenses
3 min readBrought to you by Sound Choices - AGF Education for Investors and Advisors
To achieve the retirement you want, you’ll need to arrive at an accurate estimate of how much you will earn - and how much you will spend. Use this simple checklist to figure out which income sources and expenses apply to you.
Retirement income sources
- Group or individual Registered Retirement Savings Plan
- Registered Pension Plan
- Registered Retirement Income Fund
- Tax-Free Savings Account
- Non-registered investments (e.g., mutual funds, guaranteed investment certificates, Canada Savings Bonds)
- Savings or chequing account
- Money invested in your home (if you plan to sell before you retire)
- Government sources (e.g., Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan, Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement)
- Company pension plan
- Post-retirement income (if you plan to work in retirement, earn rental income, etc.)
Post-retirement expenses
- Mortgage/rent
- Property taxes
- Utilities (e.g., gas, hydro, water/sewage)
- Home services (e.g., phone, cable/satellite/streaming, internet)
- Home maintenance
- Home insurance
- Groceries
- Car payments, including gas
- Car insurance
- Car maintenance
- Other transportation costs
- Health and dental insurance
- Life insurance
- Health care costs not covered by insurance (e.g., certain prescriptions, orthotics, eyeglasses)
- Travel and leisure
- Entertainment (e.g., dining out, books, magazines, movies, sporting events)
- Income taxes
- Charitable donations
- Miscellaneous (e.g., clothing, personal care products, gifts)
- Debt payments (including credit cards)
Once you’ve filled in this checklist, start thinking about how much you’re likely to earn or spend in each relevant category. Once you’ve done that, you can create an annual or monthly post-retirement budget.
You may spend 25 or more years in retirement, so remember to think about inflation, too. At an annual inflation rate of 3%, prices will double in 25 years.
This checklist may not cover all of your income sources or expenses. For more information, talk to your financial advisor.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
The contents of this website are provided for informational and educational purposes and are not intended to provide specific individual advice including, without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting, or tax. Please consult with your own professional advisor on your particular circumstances.
® ™ The “AGF” logo and all associated trademarks are registered trademarks or trademarks of AGF Management Limited and used under licence.
RO 2770496
March 7, 2023