Retirement · Book
Winding Down
Joanne, 61. Am I going to be okay?
Joanne can see the finish line, and it worries her more than she lets on. Turning a lifetime of saving into a paycheque you don't outlive is its own skill. A story about leaving work without leaving life behind.
Chapters
The Question That Keeps Her Up
Thirty years of putting money in, and no one ever taught her how to take it out.
Counting What's Already There
Simon helps Joanne add up what a year of retirement really costs, then work backward to the number she actually needs, replacing dread with arithmetic.
The Cheque That Grows If You Wait
Joanne weighs taking CPP early against waiting, and learns that delaying buys her a bigger, inflation-protected cheque that lasts the rest of her life.
The One That Can Be Clawed Back
Joanne loses three nights to the clawback before she adds up what she'll actually be living on in retirement. It isn't close to the line.
The Help She Didn't Know to Ask About
Because she is single and her income is modest, Joanne may qualify for the GIS, a monthly top-up she had never heard of and almost left unclaimed.
When the Savings Become a Salary
Joanne learns her RRSP cannot stay an RRSP forever. Simon walks her through converting it to a RRIF and the minimum it must start paying her each year.
Which Pocket First
With money in a RRIF, a TFSA, and a regular account, the order Joanne draws from matters. The right sequence can save her years of tax.
Spending It Without Running Out
Simon explains a sustainable spending rate and why a bad market in the first few years is the real danger, so Joanne can spend without fear of the well running dry.
A Paycheque You Can't Outlive
To cover her essentials no matter how long she lives, Joanne considers turning part of her savings into a guaranteed income with an annuity.
Leaving Work, Not Life
With the money settled, Joanne faces the part nobody warned her about: health, time, and purpose. A good plan, she sees, funds a life, not just a balance.