Rhonda's Financial Blog

By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Retirement Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, mortgage, real estate

One way you can free up some much-needed cash to fund a comfortable retirement is to sell your house. This may make good financial sense on paper, but the decision is not as simple as simply calling a real estate agent and putting a sign on the lawn. Your home holds many memories of times spent with loved ones. If you are thinking of selling the place where you raised your family or lived with a beloved spouse who has passed on, it can be very difficult to move on.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Estate Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, investing, real estate

Holding assets in a joint tenancy is very common, and it can make sense in some circumstances. When bank accounts, mutual funds, bonds, securities, and real estate are owned by a couple, the title is passed to the survivor automatically if one of them dies. (Often, the only legal documentation which must be produced is a death certificate.) When the two (or more) people who will be joint tenants are parents or grandparents and children, the situation can become much more complicated.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Financial Planning, Retirement Planning
Post Tags: mortgage, real estate, RRSP

If you are like a number of Canadians who are at or close to retirement age, a significant portion of your net worth is tied to your home. For many of us, owning our own home is a symbol of success. We remember the first house we bought, the years of forced saving which come with paying down the mortgage, and the increased cash flow when we don’t have that expense in our budget any more. Now that you have finally got the mortgage monkey off your back, does it make sense to sell your biggest asset?

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Retirement Planning
Post Tags: health care, inflation, investing, retirement

If you are at or close to the age where you are planning to retire, one of the concerns you likely have is whether you will be able to generate the level of income to give you the lifestyle you want. Being aware of the 5 key risks to retirement income and making sure that you are protecting yourself will go a long way toward helping you to have the type of retirement that you want.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Adult kids and your money, Financial Planning
Post Tags: budget, emergency fund, health care, insurance

Have you had the “other” talk with your children or grandchildren yet? Like the one about the birds and the bees, money is not something you can cover in one chat or one afternoon. Instead, you’ll need to make sure that your children and grandchildren have their financial bases covered by discussing these financial ideas with them – early and often.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Financial Planning
Post Tags: debt, health care, investing, RRSP

We’ve all heard so much about debt that it can almost be considered another four-letter word, but are there circumstances when it can make sense to carry some debt? The good news is that debt is not all bad.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Adult kids and your money, Retirement Planning
Post Tags: health care, retirement, savings

Retirement is not just something that, “older” people need to be concerned with. While retirement may not be at be the forefront of someone who is in the 18-34 age group, it is not too early for them to be thinking about. People in this age group will be living longer, healthier lives and will need to plan for 20, 30, or even 40 years of life in retirement.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Retirement Planning
Post Tags: RRSP, travel

The decision about when to take your Canadian Pension Plan is really a personal choice based on our unique needs or wants and our longevity. That being said, we really need to assess our own personal circumstances beforehand to ensure the decision we make is right for our situation.

The Argument for Taking CPP Early

If we take CPP at age 60, we will have five more years of cash flow than if we waited until age 65. Under the previous rules, you would have been penalized five percent per year or 30 percent of the amount you would ordinarily have been entitled to if you chose to collect your CPP at age 60 (the Federal government has introduced new rule changes which will increase this amount to six percent annually. This will be phased in over the coming years).

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Adult kids and your money, Estate Planning, Retirement Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, health care

Even though we live in a more open society where many subjects which were previously considered off limits are now part of everyday conversation, finances are still something that many of us find awkward to address, even with our adult children. If you have established a relationship with a financial advisor, have you made a point of introducing him or her to your kids, too? If not, you really should.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Retirement Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, health care, retirement

Did you know that the idea of retirement is a relatively new one? In Canada, the first old-age pension plans paid out a maximum of $20.00 per month and benefits were limited to people who earned less than $350.00 per year. Many people worked until they could no longer do so. The average life expectancy in 1920 was 59 for males and 61 for females, which is much lower than what Canadians currently enjoy (78 years for males and 84 years for females).

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Financial Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, health care

When you think about retirement, it’s only natural to focus on having the time to rest after many years of hard work. If you are currently enjoying good health (and long may that continue for you and your spouse or partner), it can be difficult to picture the situation changing. In some cases, the health issues are relatively minor ones. In other situations, you or a loved one will be faced with living with a chronic illness or the sudden trauma of an accident.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Estate Planning
Post Tags: estate planning

Do you know who will take care of your pet if you should die? Most people just assume that a family member or friend will step in and will continue on with their care. The reality is that many animals end up in shelters once their owners pass on. The stress of shelter life on an animal, especially for animals who have just lost their owners is tremendous. Many times, they end up not finding homes and meet their own tragic ending. You can prevent this from happening to your pet by pre-planning. Regardless of your age, if you have a pet you should have a formal plan in place to care for their needs should you become unable to look after them.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Financial Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, health care, mortgage, RRSP

How do you picture your retirement? If you are like most people, your focus is on having time to spend on activities you enjoy and the people you care for the most. The last thing on your mind is how to pay for health care services if you, your spouse, or partner becomes disabled. While the ideal scenario is to live a long, healthy life, most people have some level of disability during their retirement years. Does it make sense to use a reverse mortgage to pay for home care or living expenses to keep other retirement savings intact as long as possible?

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Financial Planning
Post Tags: family, financial planning, health care

If you think about the things you cherish the most, what comes to mind? Next to your family, your pets and closest friends, I bet that your home is probably near the top of your list. It’s a place where you store your most cherished possessions, and no doubt you have many wonderful memories of time spent with your nearest and dearest within its four walls.

So when you think about your senior years, the idea of giving up your home and having to move into a retirement residence is probably not something you’re looking forward to at all. Your preference, I’m sure, would be to stay in your own place as long as possible. Elder care is available, both on a government-subsidized and private basis and the right option for you will depend on your financial situation and the resources you have available at the time.

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By Rhonda Sherwood

Posted Under: Estate Planning
Post Tags: financial planning, health care

When you think about end-of-life issues, what kinds of things come to mind? I bet one of them is what kinds of medical treatment you want to receive. Most of us have specific ideas about the kinds of treatment we do and do not want, and whether we want doctors to use extraordinary measures to preserve our lives. What would happen if we were no longer able to make our own wishes known about our personal and healthcare decisions? A Representation Agreement (RA) allows another person to make decisions for us when we are not able to do so due to illness or injury.

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