Friday, February 23, 2024 3Brooklin Town Crier In a 2022 study conducted by Edward Jones and Age Wave, 54% of retirees and pre-retirees over 45 said they viewed retirement as an exciting new chapter of life. However, without a sound financial strategy and adequate preparation, retirement can present significant challenges. Canadians today are facing two significant new retirement realities. First, retirement timespans are much longer than before -- 27 years on average, according to Statistics Canada. While the current average retirement age of 641 hasn't changed much, life expectancy certainly has increased by more than two decades2 in the last hundred years. Today, the joint life expectancy for a male/female couple of average retirement age is 94.2 - at least one spouse is, on average, expected to live in retirement for 30 years. Second, only 9.2% of Canadians had an employer-sponsored pension plan in 2017, down from almost 22% in 1997.3 Many companies have shifted away from defined benefit pensions to either defined contribution plans, group RRSPs, or simply no retirement plan at all.4 We can no longer rely on the government, the union, or our employers to take care of us when our working days are done. We must take charge of our own retirement. Unique risks threatening retirement While there are many different investment and financial risks to guard against, a healthy retirement income can be threatened by a couple of key risks in particular: longevity risk and inflation risk. Longevity risk is the risk of outliving your retirement savings. Although females, on average, live longer than males, the average life expectancy for males and females combined is currently about 82 years.5 However, that figure is somewhat misleading since it represents life expectancy from birth, and the life expectancy of a 64-year-old retiree is markedly different than that of a newborn. As indicated previously, the joint life expectancy of a 64-year-old male/female couple is age 94. To protect against longevity risk, we must plan for an income that sustains at least 30 years of retirement. Inflation risk is the erosion of your purchasing power over time. As of May 2022, the inflation rate in Canada topped a 40-year high at a whopping 7.7 per cent.6 While that's significantly higher than it has been in recent years, inflation in Canada has averaged 3.8 per cent per year since 1960.7 Although 3.8 per cent may not seem too threatening, it means the cost of living will more than triple over a 30-year retirement. To help protect against this risk, retirement income should include strategies designed to help grow with the cost of living. Yet, when approaching retirement, investors tend to become more conservative with their investment portfolios. If I could turn back time In 2022, Edward Jones and Age Wave conducted a study of over 9,000 people to assess retirement trends across North America. The study indicated that "retirees started saving at an average age of 37 but wish they had started saving nearly a decade earlier, at 28." When it comes to saving for retirement, it's never too late to start, and no amount is too small. But the math shows -- the sooner the better. A financial professional can help ensure you consider your retirement objectives at retirement, determine the financial requirements to meet those objectives and develop and implement a strategy to help achieve your retirement goals. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Retirement: What every Investor Needs to know by Brian Evans, Financial Advisor THIS ARTICLE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT 20 Broadleaf Avenue, Unit B108, Whitby Office: 905-620-1439 Cell: 905-431-1898 brian.r.evans@edwardjones.com www.edwardjones.ca Brooklin's Community Newspaper Proud to be a Brooklinite Since 2000. Published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com • Circulation 8000 • Delivery via Canada Post Locally owned and operated. A publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: Email: mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, March 8, 2024 Deadline: Friday, March 1, 2024 Brooklin TOWN CRIER.com Statistics are a wonderful way to make you depressed. For instance, if you're of a certain age and can balance on one leg for 30 seconds, you will live longer than someone who can do it for only 10 seconds. Evidently, a keen researcher found a link between balance and longevity and has sent an entire generation of adults into a tizzy over it. However, the research says nothing about whether you're holding a bag of groceries, standing in a windstorm, or doing a yoga pose. It's not the only research that's bothersome. If I drink two cups of coffee daily, the likelihood of making it to an 80th birthday is good. Three or four cups? Not so much. Similarly with alcohol where, to my shock, abstinence was determined to be healthier than any number of drinks per week. Then I read about centenarians someplace who claimed that daily spurts of, say, whisky or brandy, were the ticket to their longevity. I don't know if they drank while standing on one leg, or even if they can. All of which is to say that the litany of numbers being flung about to support the hospital we should have are sending me reeling. On the horizon are more homes, more older people, more growth, longer wait times without it, fewer beds per capita etcetera etcetera etcetera. It's enough to make you want to be healthy and stay that way. Odds are - check the tsunami of sports betting sites for confirmation - we will each get something before we expire. Personally, I voted to avoid such issues yet lost three times. First it was prostate cancer then two hip replacements. In the dressing room of the guys I play hockey with, there's a fulsome array of ailments, scars, injuries, braces and medical appointments. We are all of the same generation, the one in which joking about all these serves as ghoulish entertainment. Then Premier Ford recently spat out - in Whitby, no less - that he plans to release the $3 million capital planning grant for the new hospital. I wonder if he's read Robert Munsch's A Promise is a Promise. But here's a news bulletin if you don't trust his word: You readers will one day need treatment, too, if you haven't already. To wit, one miserable winter night, a tiny kidney stone doubled me over. The ambulance drove a meandering bumpy ride to Lakeridge Oshawa emergency, which really isn't far. One paramedic held onto my gurney with two hands. "Fun ride, eh?" I snapped. A Lakeridge Whitby though? A darn sight (site?) closer, whether you can balance on one leg or two. We should hold him to what Munsch wrote. Make the point. Sign in: whitby.ca/ NewHospital Less than half the picture: A Promise... By Richard Bercuson