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Last week we touched on three things you should do when markets drop. This week is the flip side: the one mistake that does more damage than all the rest put together. If you get this wrong, it can quietly undo years of good planning in a single scared afternoon. Joe is recording this while things are calm, on purpose, so it is ready for you when markets eventually get bumpy. The flight to safety - getting scared and abandoning your plan to run to cash the moment things look bad - is completely natural. It is wired right into us. And it never feels like a mistake when you are doing it. It feels smart, responsible, and prudent. Joe walks through three true stories from COVID, the years after 2008, and 2022, to show how the same mistake shows up in different "clothing" every time, and what it actually costs the people who make it.   In This Episode On any single day, the stock market is roughly a coin flip. But historically there has never been a 20-year period where it finished negative. The longer you stay invested, the more the odds climb in your favour. History has been very kind to the people who simply stayed in their seat. Down markets are not a maybe. They are a certainty. And if downturns are coming no matter what, the answer was never to dodge them. The answer is to have a plan you can actually stick with through ugly stretches, so that when the fear shows up, you do not have to make a decision at all. You just follow the plan. In COVID, people who pulled everything out in March 2020 waiting for good news were sitting in cash by June while the market had already fully recovered. The vaccine announcement did not come until December. The market did not wait for better news, and neither did the loss for anyone who bailed. After 2008, some advisors started shifting client money to cash whenever they calculated another bear market was statistically due. The logic sounded reasonable. But from 2009 onward, clients who followed that approach missed one of the longest market runs on record, sitting in cash waiting for a crash that took years to arrive. In 2022, people sold portfolios that were down 10 to 20% and locked in a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) rate of around 5%. That locked in the loss, made it permanent, and left them on the sidelines while global stocks returned more than 24% in 2023, over 19% in 2024, and more than 21% in 2025. The guaranteed rate felt like a smart deal. The opportunity cost was enormous.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

Right now, markets are calm. And that is exactly the right time to talk about what to do when they are not. When markets drop, almost everything your gut is telling you to do is the exact opposite of what you should actually do. This episode is your fire drill - so you know where the exits are long before the building fills with smoke. A market downturn hits differently when you are retired or close to it. You are not just watching a number drop on a screen - you might be pulling income out of that same portfolio at the same time it is going down. That fear is real, and scared is exactly when people make their worst decisions with money. Joe walks through three specific, ordered steps to take when markets fall, so your calm clear-headed self can write the instructions your scared future self will actually follow.   In This Episode Before you touch a single thing, go back to the plan and ask one question: has my life changed, or has just the market changed? A proper retirement plan already assumed downturns would happen. If your goals have not changed, your plan has not either, and the plan is the circuit breaker standing between you and an emotional decision made at the worst possible time. When markets fall, do not run for safety. Rebalance back to your target instead. If your portfolio was built around the right mix of offense and defense for your situation, your job in a downturn is to get back to that mix, not change it. That means moving money from the safe side of your portfolio and buying more of what just dropped. It feels completely wrong. That feeling is usually the sign you are doing it right. Down markets are not something to endure. They are a window to make moves your plan already called for, at a much lower tax cost. If you have been sitting on an old holding you wanted to exit, or you have been meaning to move money from your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) into your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), a market drop can dramatically reduce what you pay to do it. When moving money between accounts to harvest a loss, watch for the superficial loss rule. If you sell an investment at a loss and you or an affiliated person repurchases the same or an identical investment within 30 days before or after the sale and you are still holding it 30 days after, the capital loss can be denied. If the repurchase happens inside your RRSP or TFSA, the loss may be gone for good. The big idea underneath all three steps is the same: when markets drop, the goal is not to do something new and clever. It is to calmly do the thing you already planned on doing, just at a better price.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

Most people have one date circled for their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) - the year they turn 71. The year when it has to convert to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF). The plan is simple - just don't touch it until you have to. But there is a move available at 65 that most people walk right past. And missing it can mean paying more tax than necessary every year between 65 and 71. When money comes out of a RRIF, it becomes eligible pension income. That unlocks two things your RRSP cannot offer: income splitting with your spouse, and the pension income tax credit. You don't have to move your whole RRSP, and the decision is flexible and reversible up until the end of the year you turn 71. Joe walks through why 65 is the date that matters, how this applies to couples bridging the gap before Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) kick in, what the pension credit actually does and does not do, and who this move does not make sense for.   In This Episode At 65, RRIF withdrawals become eligible pension income, which can be split with a lower-income spouse and earns the pension income tax credit. Your RRSP cannot do either. If you are over 65 and pulling money out of your RRSP, you are missing both tools. You do not have to move your entire RRSP. You can convert as little or as much as you like at any point before 71, and it is not a one-way door. Money can generally go back into the RRSP until the end of the year you turn 71. Moving just a slice keeps required minimums small and manageable. For couples bridging the years before CPP and OAS, the withdrawal is happening anyway. The only question is which account it comes from. Moving it from the RRSP to a RRIF means that same money can be split across two tax returns, reducing the household tax bill without changing how much you actually need to spend. The pension credit is a bonus, not the reason to do this. As of 2026, it is a credit on the first $2,000 of eligible pension income per person - worth a few hundred dollars federally, plus a provincial amount. Over a long retirement for a couple, it adds up. But the income splitting is where the real value is for most households. This move is not for everyone. If you already have a defined benefit workplace pension, you may already be getting these benefits and adding RRIF income on top could work against you. If your income is already balanced with your spouse, splitting does not help. And if you are in a very high tax bracket, tax deferral inside the RRSP may still be the better choice.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

"My pension pays $4,000 a month for life." "I've got a million and a half in GICs and I'll live on $100,000 a year for the next 20 years." Both statements are said with real relief - and both people might be taking on a lot more risk than they realize. Today Joe explains why guaranteed is not the same as protected, and what to check so your income still holds up at 85. Most people plan retirement in today's dollars. They look at what they spend now, match it to money that feels secure, and call it done. It looks great at 65. But prices go up every year, and if you are retired for 30 or 40 years, the gap between what your income guarantees and what it actually buys can be enormous. Joe walks through how each common income source handles inflation, what a GIC really guarantees, why retirement lasts longer than most people plan for, and what your portfolio needs to do to fill the rest.   In This Episode At 3% inflation, $4,000 a month has roughly half the buying power after 20 years. The same deposit lands in your account, but it buys a lot less life. And a $100,000-a-year lifestyle costs about $180,000 a year in 20 years at that same rate. It never feels like a big hit in any single year, which is exactly what makes it so easy to miss. Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is adjusted every January based on the consumer price index. Old Age Security (OAS) is reviewed four times a year and does not go down if prices fall. Both earn a check mark. Workplace pensions are different. Some are fully indexed, some partly, some only when the plan decides it can afford it, and some not at all. Check your plan booklet or administrator to find out which one you have. A GIC guarantees your principal and the interest rate over the term you locked in. It does not guarantee the rate you will get at renewal, and it does not guarantee what that money can buy. Over the last 20 years in Canada, GIC rates have averaged roughly 2% while inflation averaged about 2.2%. Before tax, GIC money has essentially been standing still or losing purchasing power slowly. After tax, in a non-registered account, the gap is wider. A couple with a million and a half in GICs who need $100,000 a year might feel the math works for 20 years - and on a flat spending assumption it almost does. But if their costs rise 3% a year with inflation, that same million and a half runs out in about 15 years. And for a couple retiring in their early 60s, there is a real chance at least one of them lives well into their 90s. Your portfolio needs to fill the gap, and it needs to be built for rising costs. That means a defense bucket for shorter-term spending so a bad market never forces you to sell at the wrong time, and a growth component for longer-term money so it has a chance to stay ahead of inflation for the next 20, 30, or 40 years. A portfolio that only keeps your principal safe does not address inflation risk, interest rate risk, or longevity risk - and in that sense, GICs carry more risk than they feel like they do.   Your one action this week: List every income source you will have in retirement and mark beside each one whether it keeps up with inflation. If you built your retirement income timeline you created (from Episode 212), you can add a note beside each line. If you do not know the answer for a source, find out! You cannot build a proper plan without it.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Step: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

For 40 years, your paycheque just showed up. Then you retire, and suddenly you are sitting on the biggest amount of money you have ever had with no paycheque coming in. A lot of good savers freeze. They are scared to touch it, and they end up living much smaller than they can afford in the exact years they were saving for. There is one thing that fixes this, and you can start building it this week. The retirement income timeline is a single page that shows you exactly where your paycheque is going to come from in retirement, year by year, and whether it is going to hold up. Joe walks through what it looks like, how to build one, and why the process of mapping it out is often the moment the fear finally has somewhere to go, not because the numbers changed, but because you can finally see them.   In This Episode A retirement income timeline lists your income sources down one side and the next ten years across the top: your portfolio accounts, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for each spouse, Old Age Security (OAS) for each spouse, any defined benefit pension, and any other income. You fill in where each dollar of your target monthly income comes from, year by year, watching CPP and OAS step in over time and the portfolio withdrawal adjust accordingly. You already know how to do this - just pointed the other way. For 40 years you divided income between the mortgage, groceries, and savings. Building a retirement paycheque is the same skill in reverse: taking savings and turning them back into income. The security you felt while working did not come from the size of your bank balance. It came from knowing the next paycheque was coming. The timeline rebuilds that exact rhythm, so security comes from a paycheque you can count on rather than from watching a balance move up and down. Without a timeline, every month brings a low-grade decision: can we afford this, should I take more out, are we going to be okay? Once the timeline is built, that stops. Your only job is to fine-tune it a couple of times a year, ideally with a planner watching the whole picture alongside you. You trade a hundred small worries for one calm check-in. A couple that Joe worked with who were both retired with savings well intact, were living off a few thousand dollars a month because they were afraid to get it wrong. They had earned well over $100,000 a year while working and had more than enough to continue that lifestyle. The real cost of never mapping it out was not running out of money. It was shrinking their own life to avoid a problem they did not actually have.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

When Joe asks couples in retirement planning whether they would ever be open to freeing up equity in their home, the reaction is almost always the same: "I don't want to leave my house" or "if I have to do that, I don't think I can retire." But nobody is asking you to sell your house this year. That is the whole point of this episode. Your home is one of the only assets you own that does not come with a decision date. Your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) eventually forces your hand. Your house sits there quietly as a reserve you already own. Joe walks through how to think about home equity in retirement, who the downsizing conversation actually applies to, how a home equity line of credit (HELOC) earns its place in a retirement plan, and the one part of the home question that genuinely does have a deadline.   In This Episode The question is never whether you will sell this year. It is whether you would be willing to free up equity later, if it meant a better retirement the whole way through. For most people, once they sit with that, the answer is yes. The downsizing conversation is really for homes worth close to a million dollars or more. For homes worth less, land transfer tax, realtor fees, moving costs, and getting the property ready to sell can eat up far more of the proceeds than people expect. Run the real numbers before assuming there is a large pot of money waiting. A HELOC set up while you are still working gives you a backstop for the moments when life does not wait for good markets. A furnace, a car, or any large unexpected expense in a down year does not have to force you into selling investments low. The line of credit buys you options. Most people who set one up never draw a dollar from it. Think of it as flexibility insurance. Set up the HELOC before you retire, not after. Lenders qualify you on income, and retirement income looks thinner on paper than an employment paycheque even when your actual financial position is strong. An unused line arranged at 62 is a much easier conversation than an urgent application at 71 with markets down. The renovation is the one part of the home question that does not wait. If you are planning to stay and there is work the house genuinely needs, get it done while employment income is still coming in. And do not over-renovate to sell - buyers will want to put their own stamp on the place, and a major renovation rarely comes back out in the sale price.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

You sign your will, feel a wave of relief, and put it in the drawer. Done, handled, the kids are taken care of. But a will mostly records what you decided. It does not explain why. And if your children have never heard your reasoning while you are still here to explain it, you can leave them with a division of assets and very little context. That gap is often where grief turns into conflict.   Episode Summary Equal and fair are often the same thing - but not always. And the places where they come apart are usually where families run into trouble. Joe walks through two detailed real-world examples, a cottage with a quiet tax problem and a family business handled the right way, to show how good intentions can go sideways when the planning is done in silos and never revisited. The lesson underneath all of it is the same: the family conversation you should have, before the document has to speak for you, is just as important as the document itself.   In This Episode A will records what you decided, not why. If your children find out for the first time at the worst possible moment - while grieving, reading a legal document - they are left to piece together your reasoning on their own. That is where misunderstanding and resentment take hold. Equal does not always finish fair. A real example: a $100,000 life insurance policy set up decades ago to equalize a cottage inheritance made perfect sense at the time. By the time both parents had passed, the cottage had grown to over a million dollars in value, the capital gain ran with the estate, and the sibling who never received any part of the cottage ended up funding a third of the tax bill on an asset that was not theirs. Fair does not always mean equal on paper, and that can work - but only when everyone understands why. A family business handled well involved one child inheriting the business, taking on the associated tax liability, and receiving life insurance to cover it, while the other child inherited liquid assets worth less on paper but carrying no business risk. Both children were in the room when the plan was explained. Nobody was blindsided. Early gifts quietly become fairness data points. The down payment you helped one child with, the wedding gift, the seed money for a business - in the moment, that was just parenting. But the other kids remember. Whatever you decided at the time, write down whether it was a gift, a loan, or an advance on inheritance, while everyone remembers it clearly. A lot of this comes down not to a better document but to a conversation - ideally one you have on purpose while you are still here to explain yourself. You do not have to cover every dollar. Naming the why behind the big decisions, who the executor is and why, where the cottage is going and why, who the powers of attorney are and why, is often enough to prevent the problems that show up later.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

More than half of Canadians say they are afraid of making the wrong financial decision, and half say they have lost sleep over money. Your first instinct is probably that this is about people who do not have enough. But some of the most financially stressed people Joe sits down with have more than enough, and they still lie awake. This episode is for them. A big account balance is not the same thing as a clear plan. For people with healthy savings, financial stress in retirement almost never comes from scarcity. It comes from uncertainty. And the instinct that made them such good savers - the discipline to hold back, not touch the pile, worry about spending too much - is the exact muscle that now works against them. Joe walks through why this happens, what it actually costs, and what a real plan can show you that willpower alone never will.   In This Episode Money is still the number one source of stress for Canadians by a wide margin, more than twice as much as health, relationships, or work, according to the FP Canada 2026 Financial Stress Ind,. And that stress does not switch off at a certain account balance. For people with healthy savings, the stress almost never comes from not having enough. It comes from not being sure. And your brain treats uncertainty as a threat regardless of what the account statement says. The best savers often have the hardest time spending in retirement, and that is not a flaw. The instinct to hold back and not touch the pile kept them safe for decades. You cannot ask someone to switch that off on the day they retire. It takes a real plan, not willpower, to move past it. A couple Joe recently worked with thought they could safely draw between $1,500 and $2,000 a month from their portfolio. Once their pension, government benefits, accounts, and tax picture were all mapped together, the sustainable monthly withdrawal was closer to $8,000 - rising with inflation, throughout retirement. Gaining that awareness of the gap between what they thought was safe and what was actually possible is the whole point. A good plan does not just confirm your fears. Sometimes it tells you to pull back. But just as often, it gives you permission to live - to take the trip, to help your kids now instead of leaving it all behind, to actually enjoy the money you were disciplined enough to save.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Resources FP Canada 2026 Financial Stress Index (current as of 2026): https://fpcanada.ca/findaplanner/financial-stress-index   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or see.

If something happened to you tomorrow, do you know who would actually receive each of your accounts? Not who you think it is - but who is actually named on the paperwork right now. For a lot of people, the honest answer is they set it up years ago and have not looked at it since. That is exactly the situation this episode addresses. Beneficiary designations drift in two ways: things change, or mistakes happen. A designation that was perfectly right at 45 can be quietly wrong at 65. Joe walks through why a regular beneficiary audit matters, what to look for when you do one, which assets flow directly to named beneficiaries versus through your estate, and why the last step - making sure everything lines up with your will - is the one most people skip entirely.   In This Episode Life changes silently turn good designations into the wrong ones. Kids grow up and no longer need trust arrangements. Beneficiaries pass away. People remarry or separate. The form does not update itself, and none of this shows up as a problem until it is too late to fix. Sometimes naming your estate as the beneficiary of a registered account - your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) - is actually the right move. It ensures there is money available to cover the tax bill before assets are distributed. But that setup can also become the wrong one over time, which is why the audit needs to happen on a regular schedule. When you audit, pay close attention to anything that would look unusual to an outsider. If only one of three children is named on an account, and there is a good reason for it, write that reason down. A simple note explaining your thinking can prevent a great deal of hurt and conflict among the people you leave behind. Registered accounts, Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), and segregated funds can all name a beneficiary directly, and that money flows straight to the person, outside your estate and your will. Most non-registered accounts, real estate, and other everyday assets flow through the estate and are handled by the will. Confirming the beneficiary designations on your accounts is not the finish line. The last step is making sure every designation lines up with your will. If the beneficiary forms say one thing and the will says another, that contradiction is what creates confusion, delay, and in the worst cases, a legal challenge after you are gone.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

Most retirement checklists cover the big pieces: your income plan, when to take CPP and OAS, stress testing, consolidating your accounts. But today Joe talks about a different set of moves - the ones the standard lists tend to skip. They all have one thing in common: they either get harder once your paycheque stops, or you cannot undo them later if you get them wrong. The real cost of missing any one of these five moves is not just the move itself. It is that a big unexpected expense quietly forces a sacrifice somewhere else in your life that you never intended to make - your travel budget, your plan to help the kids, your sense of security. Joe walks through five practical steps to take while you are still earning, each one designed to protect one retirement goal from silently eating another.   In This Episode Set up a home equity line of credit (HELOC) while you are still working, not to use it, just to have it. Employment income makes qualifying straightforward. Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) withdrawals do not work the same way with lenders. The HELOC sits there as a backstop for speed, for spreading out a tax hit, or for avoiding forced investment sales during a market drop. Finish your big renovation or home project while you still have income coming in to absorb a cost overrun. These projects run over budget, and once the paycheque stops, there is no extra income to cover the gap. The number in your plan and the number you will actually pay are rarely the same. Clear your high interest consumer debt before you retire, and put your mortgage plan in writing. If the consumer debt will not clear on your current income while you are working, that is a readiness signal, not just a to-do item. The mortgage does not have to be gone before you retire, but how you will carry and handle it needs to be written into the plan on purpose. If you plan to help your kids financially - a down payment, a wedding gift, anything - set that money aside outside your core retirement funds before you retire. Because it is a generous and emotional moment, it often does not get run through the plan first, and the money quietly comes out of the same pool you need to live on for the next 30 years. Build a real home maintenance line into your budget, starting at a minimum of 1% of your home's value each year. It is never the same expense twice, but something is almost always coming. Without a line item for it, the cost does not disappear, it just comes out of somewhere else, usually the fun money. About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter   Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

In almost every episode of this series, the money was actually fine. The math worked. So what held people back? In this wrap-up episode, Joe names the thing that sits underneath the numbers, and explains why the final decision to retire is rarely just a financial one. The plan comes first, always. But here is what happens for a lot of people: the math says yes, and they still do not move. At that point, the real question was never whether they could afford to retire. It was whether they were allowed to stop, and who they would be when they did. Joe wraps up this unofficial series by walking through the emotional work that has to happen alongside the financial work, with real client examples that show just how many different paths there are to finally making the move.   In This Episode When the numbers work but you still will not pull the trigger, it is worth being honest about why. The one more year crowd, the business owner worried about clients and staff, the person who does not know what they would do with themselves - these are emotional questions, not financial ones, and they deserve the same serious attention as the spreadsheet. A useful framework: you can only have three true priorities at any one time. If work has been one of yours and suddenly it is gone, you have an empty slot. Part of getting ready to retire is deciding on purpose what fills it - before you get there, not after. There is no single right path. One client keeps working because the work genuinely fits his life. Another needed a succession plan in place before she could let go. Another just needed to see the numbers to give herself permission to even imagine what else was possible. Plenty land somewhere in between, doing part-time consulting that funds the bigger trips without touching the core plan. The question worth sitting with is not just what you are retiring from, but what you are retiring to. A plan can hand you the financial freedom, but only you can decide what you do with it. The order matters: get the plan right first so you know the numbers work, then do the second piece of work with equal seriousness. Get honest about whether you like what you are doing. Figure out your new priorities. And give the emotional preparation the same attention you gave the saving.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

The go-go years are real. But does that mean you should spend everything early and hope for the best? Not quite. In this episode, Joe adds the honest counterweight to the last few weeks of conversation, because building a plan around a fixed timeline is its own kind of risk. The go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases of retirement show up on average. But that phrase - on average - is doing a lot of work. Some people stay active and adventurous well into their 80s. Others slow down earlier than expected. Spending in later years does not always drop; sometimes it just changes shape, moving from active travel to river cruises, or from personal spending to helping family. And health costs can push spending right back up at the end. Joe explains why flexibility beats trying to predict the future, and how to build a plan that holds up no matter which version of retirement you actually get.   In This Episode The go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases are a pattern, not a schedule. Nobody gets a warning when one phase turns into the next, and your own timeline may surprise you in either direction. The retirement spending smile means spending often rises again near the end of life, driven by health and care costs. A plan that assumes spending just falls off a cliff halfway through retirement is planning for a curve most people do not actually follow. Later spending does not always shrink, it often shifts. Travel moves from active itineraries to river cruises. Gifts and support to children and grandchildren step in where other spending steps back. The budget changes shape more than it disappears. A guaranteed income floor lets you take bigger trips or make larger purchases with confidence, because you know the essentials are covered no matter what. For people who lean toward the income protection retirement income style, this floor is what finally makes spending feel safe. The guardrails approach builds in room to adjust without requiring you to rethink your spending every year. When things are going well, you live fully. If the long-term picture shifts in a meaningful way, you make a small correction. That flexibility protects you in both directions.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

Two people can have the exact same amount of money and the exact same retirement, and one spends comfortably while the other can barely bring themselves to touch it. A big part of what separates them comes down to where the money comes from, not how much. In this episode, Joe explains why guaranteed income changes the spending experience entirely, and how to build more of it into your plan. Drawing from a portfolio feels different than receiving a paycheck, even when the plan says you are completely fine. One feels like income. The other feels almost like a loss. Joe walks through why this matters so much, how your retirement income style shapes the experience you will have in retirement, and what the practical options are for building a guaranteed income floor that finally gives you permission to spend.   In This Episode Guaranteed income feels like a paycheck, and a paycheck is something you have been comfortable with your entire working life. Drawing from a portfolio, by contrast, means watching your balance tick down every time you spend. Even if the plan says you are fine, it just feels different. Understanding your retirement income style matters before you build anything - and so does knowing your spouse's style, because the careful saver who still cannot loosen up in retirement is not just making a decision for themselves. There is a partner who has been patient for a very long time. Delaying Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) is often mathematically optimal, but for someone who cannot spend comfortably until guaranteed income is flowing, waiting until 70 might mean sitting on your hands through your entire go-go window. The mathematically perfect answer is not always the right answer. For people in the income protection retirement income style, an annuity can build the guaranteed floor they need - either as a bridge to larger CPP and OAS payments later, or as a lifetime income stream. Almost everyone says they wish they had a defined benefit pension, but very few will take the option to effectively buy one. The payoff from good income planning is not a bigger return. It is permission backed by a plan: not stressed about money, finally doing the things you always talked about, with the evidence to support that spending the money is going to be okay.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

If the best years of retirement are front-loaded, why do most retirement income plans hand you the same inflation-adjusted number every single year for 30 years? It doesn't match how anyone actually lives. In this episode, Joe walks through a better approach; One that spends more when you can enjoy it, eases off when you naturally slow down, and still holds up when life throws a curveball. The 4% rule is a useful starting point for a conversation, but it is not a plan. Neither is any flat withdrawal number. They assume your spending climbs in a straight line for three decades, which ignores the real shape of retirement entirely. Joe introduces the guardrails approach: a way to build a retirement income plan that matches how life actually unfolds, gives you clear signals for when to pull back and when you have room to spend more, and handles the moving pieces most real retirements have.   In This Episode A projection draws a straight line and gives you a number. A real plan tells you what you can spend right now, and exactly how to adjust if your situation shifts in either direction. The guardrails approach works like guardrails on a road: as long as you stay between them, keep going. If your spending or portfolio drifts toward one edge, that is a signal to make a small correction before things go off course. If you drift past the top, that is a signal you have more room than you need. This approach front-loads spending into the go-go years on purpose. The plan does not pretend you will be taking the same trips at 85 that you are taking at 65. When your retirement has moving parts - a delayed Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Old Age Security (OAS), a rental property you plan to sell, a travel budget that will wind down - a flat withdrawal number has no idea what to do with any of that. A guardrails plan handles it because it is always looking at the whole picture. The whole thing can fit on a single page: where you stand, when you would adjust, and in which direction. That is what turns something abstract into something you can actually hold on to.   About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement.   Next Steps: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl   Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.

"One more year." It sounds responsible. But after a lot of these conversations, Joe has come to believe it usually has very little to do with money. In this episode, he pulls this apart and explains why the timing of your retirement matters more than most people realize. Most people picture retirement as one long, even stretch. But the research and the real client stories tell a different story: retirement comes in phases, and the best years tend to be front-loaded. When someone says they'll work just one more year, the question worth asking is what is really behind that thinking. Sometimes one more year is exactly the right call. But more often, it is fear wearing a money costume. Fear of the unknown, fear of drawing down what you have built, or fear of who you will be without the job. None of those fears get solved by working longer. Joe walks through how to tell the difference, and what to do about it.   In This Episode Retirement spending tends to come in three phases: the go-go years, the slow-go years, and the no-go years. Most of the living gets front-loaded into the first five to ten years, which means timing genuinely matters. Sometimes one more year is the right move, and the only way to know is to do the actual planning so you can see where you stand rather than guess. More often, one more year is a way to avoid looking at the numbers altogether. If you never do the plan, you never have to face the answer. The cost of an unnecessary extra year is not just the year. It is a year out of your go-go window - health, energy, and time you are not going to get back. Before you decide on one more year, you need to know what you are retiring to. If retirement feels like a cliff, the answer is not to keep working indefinitely. It is to figure out what gives your days meaning on the other side. About: Your Retirement Planning Simplified is a weekly Canadian retirement planning podcast hosted by Joe Curry, CFP, CEPA, of Matthews and Associates, an independent wealth management firm. Each week, Joe breaks down retirement income, tax, and estate decisions in plain language for Canadians who are near or in retirement. Newsletter: Want tips like this in your inbox? Sign up for the Retirement Planning Simplified Newsletter and get updates plus our popular 60-Second Retirement Tip: https://bit.ly/RPSNewsletter Next Step: Ready to take the next step in your retirement planning? Watch a short overview of our True Wealth Roadmap and see if our process is a fit for you: https://www.matthewsandassociates.ca/vsl Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of Joseph Curry, a registrant of Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI), and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. This podcast is for informational purposes only and not intended to be personalized investment advice. The views expressed are opinions of Joseph Curry and may not necessarily be those of ACPI. Content is prepared for general circulation and information contained does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment fund, security or other product or service.