Retirement Goals To Consider Before Retiring
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes
Common retirement goals are to have a mortgage-free home and money to travel the world.
Unfortunately, many obstacles can come between you and your vision.
If you’re nearing retirement and feel unprepared, you’re not alone.
The goal to retire young and rich doesn’t always happen, although optimism keeps the dream alive.
What we consider young and rich differs from person to person.
Today I’m discussing how we created our retirement goals plan for yearly milestones until we retire.
The goal is to motivate everyone to think about today and tomorrow by setting realistic goals.
Retirement Goals With Purpose
Retire purposefully by creating a retirement checklist that outlines everything you want or needs during your retirement years.
You should do this well before you retire so you can set retirement goals ahead of time.
It would be best to be realistic with your retirement goals, which must serve your purpose.
Don’t just say you want to travel the world if it doesn’t bring you joy and you hate airplanes.
How To Set Retirement Goals
Setting retirement goals allows someone to have somewhat of an idea of the path they are planning ahead of time.
Costs Of Retirement
Retirement costs are based on whether you still have a mortgage or pay rent.
Perhaps you drive and must include gas and maintenance as you do with a home.
If you can’t do the maintenance yourself, consider the costs of hiring someone to do it for you.
When you need no health coverage, this may cost you out of pocket.
Consider the cost of transporting to hospitals out of town using a van service is $400-$1000.
Dental can get costly as well, based on what your needs are.
What about getting glasses replaced?
As you can see, most of your retirement costs will be based on your personal needs.
Create a retirement checklist and ensure that you include the expenses you know you will have.
Create A Backup Plan Just In Case
Backup Plans are and should be a part of everyone’s financial plan, not just for retirees.
The reason for a backup plan is that you could;
- Leave your job because of a critical illness
- Get Fired
- Go to Jail with a spouse and kids at home or single
- You get sued for whatever reason
- Move to a new job with lower pay
- Changes to government funding for retirees
- Get divorced or separated
- Investments go in the wrong direction when you plan to retire
- You pay your mortgage off early (although this is great, the extra cash needs a place to live)
I’m sure there are millions of reasons why a backup plan is essential at all stages before retirement.
Whatever you do, consider this critical even if you think about what you might do.
Your best bet is to brainstorm ideas and keep them in your retirement file folder.
Invest Early To Reach Retirement Goals
When you’re young, investing doesn’t always come to mind; however, utilizing the power of compounding is golden.
Plus, if you’re younger, you have more time to be risky with your investments than someone near retirement.
As we both did, saving for retirement in your 20s was probably one of the smartest investments we made.
Although we weren’t budgeting as we do today, we knew that investing young meant we were thinking about our future.
We both think our upbringing motivated us to save our money and invest it wisely.
I invested in buying homes, and Mrs. CBB invested in her registered retirement savings portfolio.
Mrs. CBB can distinctly remember when she was chatting about money with her best friend.
They were both in their early 20s, and her friend said her grandfather had bought her stocks in the Coca-Cola company.
She was jealous in a good way because she had someone to talk to about financial planning, whereas she didn’t.
The only thing Mrs. CBB did at that point was saved her money in a T.D. Bank Savings Account.
Employer Pension Plan
When she turned 24 and earned $21.00/hr, her employer offered a pension plan called a LIRA or locked-in retirement account.
It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
She went to a meeting with her employer and a financial advisor to explain what a LIRA was.
At that point, she had no investments, so she jumped at the opportunity, especially since her employer matched up to 3%.
That is when she began thinking about investment goals and went on to invest with a company called Primerica.
Manulife Retirement Investments
After I moved to Canada, we both concluded the guy had little experience, so we moved to Manulife, Canada.
He didn’t give me the feeling that he knew what he was talking about.
We are still with our Manulife advisor today and have built a great relationship with him.
Not everyone knows how to invest in the financial side of their retirement goals, so having a trusted advisor is critical.
Health Care For Retirees In Canada
The other day, I sent him a blog post from my buddy Mark at My Own Advisor and Brian So, a life insurance agent in Vancouver, Canada, to read and get feedback.
The post is titled “Healthcare Insurance Benefits For Retirees In Canada,” he sent back an email the following day.
He agreed that the post was well written, researched, and clearly outlined the options for retirees.
However, since we are in our 40s, we won’t need to worry about this.
Since I have an excellent benefits plan and am adequately covered by my employer, we could explore the option when I retire.
Out Of Country/Province Healthcare Insurance For Retirees
His final remarks were that the most valuable provision in Healthcare insurance plans at retirement is the 30 days of out-of-country/province coverage that you can add as an optional benefit.
If you want to travel when you retire and are reasonably healthy, obtaining a travel insurance is the biggest obstacle.
Every time you travel, you must provide medical evidence, and there’s no guarantee that you will be offered coverage without an exclusion.
On the other hand, if your health insurance policy has 30 days of Travel Insurance baked into the procedure, you don’t have to worry as you are covered for emergency medical insurance while out of Ontario.
Even traveling to a different Province means you may be subject to significant medical bills during an emergency. Travel insurance included in your health insurance ensures that you are covered.
Dental Coverage For Retirees In Canada
The second is dental coverage, his client’s most valued feature, and I agreed.
My mother-in-law pays out of pocket for her dental, which adds up quickly, especially for dentures and check-ups or emergency dental.
If older people cannot get to the dentist for health reasons, some hygienists visit long-term care homes, retirement homes, or private homes.
This is the service we get for my mother-in-law; she does a fantastic job caring for her teeth.
Typically, this visit costs around $150, but she must pay the total amount with no dental coverage.
Dental Care For Low-Income Seniors
For older people over 65, check out the Dental Care For Low-Income Seniors
The new Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program is a government-funded dental care program. It provides free, routine dental services for low-income seniors 65 or older.
Coverage includes:
- check-ups, including scaling, fluoride, and polishing
- repairing broken teeth and cavities
- x-rays
- removing teeth or abnormal tissue (oral surgery)
- anesthesia
- treating infection and pain (endodontic services)
- treating gum conditions and diseases (periodontal services)
Dentures
Dental prosthetics (prosthodontic services), including dentures, will be partially covered. Please speak to your local public health unit for more information.
Set A Retirement Goals Timeline
When it comes to retirement, it’s all about planning and your vision for the future.
Having a portfolio today is a dream for many people because it’s just not within the budget.
I can honestly say that I don’t think I’d have as much invested as we do so young had I not moved to Canada.
My pension back in the U.K. from my employer is around 14,000 pounds, and that’s similar to what Mrs. CBB did with her employer with her LIRA.
The most significant contributions came after we paid our mortgage, so it has undoubtedly been a big help.
In setting a retirement goals timeline, we set expectations of how much money we wanted to be saved at each milestone.
As you will notice, our retirement goals are primary as we want to live a simple life as we do now.
Balance Retirement Goals For Today and Tomorrow
We also planned on traveling while we were young just in case something were to happen.
My dad and mum won’t be coming to Canada again because of the high costs of travel insurance.
This is why it’s essential to consider your health if you travel after retirement.
For all you know, mental or physical health declines can put everything in the back seat for good.
Setting retirement goals has to balance living for today and saving enough for tomorrow.
You get the best of both worlds when you do what you want now, in case it’s impossible.
Besides, they are in their 70s, and getting on airplanes for long periods doesn’t appeal to them.
Retirement Goals By Age Milestones
When we wrote our retirement savings goals, we noticed that they got more prominent as the next milestone came around.
This is normal as life changes, we get older, and we have more experience with a better understanding of retirement.
20’s Retirement Savings Goals
20’s retirement goals are setting up investment portfolios and saving for a house and car. Talk about starting a family and the impact on our savings and retirement.
30’s Retirement Savings Goals
30s retirement goals to buy a house and invest with the employer and financial advisor. Also, to get life insurance.
Discuss health care, illness, and death to see if we want extra coverage.
Discuss what we want to do after we retire.
- Travel
- Road Trips
- Blogging on CBB
- Reading
- Visiting family
Another consideration is how much money we would receive from the government upon retirement.
There’s also nothing wrong with discussing the possibility of a loss of independence now. It could happen anytime, so that’s what we’ve done.
Discuss your last wishes, where you would like to be buried, long-term care homes, illness possibilities, etc.
This will give you a better vision of what retirement could look like.
It’s not always wine, traveling, and fun. It can be the complete opposite.
Related; Retirement Income Sources You Should Know About
- Old Age Security (OAS) Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP)
- Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, Annuity, Pooled Retirement Pension Plan PRPP)
40’s Retirement Savings Goals
40’s retirement goals were to pay off our mortgage, although we completed that in our 30s.
Ramp up our investments with Tax-Free Savings Accounts, Registered Retirement Savings, Life Insurance, and Non-Registered investment portfolio.
Convert our term life insurance into whole life insurance with investments.
We later added creating a Will and Power of Attorney, which we completed.
Anyone legally living in Canada between 18-74 can receive a quote and apply for coverage in as little as ten minutes.
Besides Manulife, I also recommend Sun Life for my work benefits and Policy Me.
Get the advice that’s right for you. Making sound financial choices is difficult with so much
conflicting information, a Sun Life Financial advisor will help you to make informed decisions with professional advice.
• An advisor will take the time to listen to your financial goals and learn what’s most important to you and your family.
• With a Sun Life Financial advisor you get confidence your money is invested in products you understand and your assets are protected.Connect with a Sun Life Advisor today.
Sun Life Canada
Anything after our 40s is subject to change based on current life circumstances, so be aware that not everything is set in stone.
50’s Retirement Savings Goals
50s retirement goals are to continue monitoring our investments, invest more, visit estate planning, and will to see if any changes need to be made.
Ensure we are on track financially according to our financial plan with our advisor.
Downsize our belongings and buy a small country home away from the city so we can raise chickens and live happily ever after.
If you’re someone with a cottage, consider selling it if you don’t use it or move into it permanently.
The idea is to take a clean break from the fast life and settle into something comfortable and peaceful.
No rules, no rush, and leaving less for your children or power of attorney to sell if you have lots of stuff is helpful.
60’s Retirement Goals
60s retirement goals I believe you will see me continue working until 63 and then go in part-time.
This would get me over $125/hr based on the year and possible benefits, but I plan to discuss that with my employer.
As some do, I also want to find out if my health benefits continue after retirement. (fingers crossed).
If all goes well, this blog will be running, and I get to come back and read this post to update it to let you know how things unraveled for us.
Retirement is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of path you should take.
Don’t be that person who thinks everything will be good at the end when you could die today.
You have to follow up yearly, at a minimum, with your investors to make sure they are handling your money the way you want them to.
Estate Planning And Revisiting It Often
Lastly, I want to talk about estate planning and its importance. I’ve discussed it before on the blog, but it fits this blog topic.
You don’t need to spend $1000 as we did to have a lawyer sit with us to build our Will and Power of Attorney. That was our choice.
There are two online resources that I recommend, and they are Legal Wills and Epilogue Wills for Canadians.
Canadian Legal Wills allows people to create standard legal documents in a straightforward, convenient, private, secure, and cost-effective manner without paying a lawyer’s high expenses.
LegalWills.ca – Write your Will from the comfort of your home (click here to get 15% off)
Custom-made for your Province and lawyer approved, at one-tenth the cost.
Epilogue is a simple, fast, and affordable way for Canadians to create their Will and Powers of Attorney online.
All you do is answer a series of straightforward questions.
A legally binding Will can be made in 20 minutes at home.
You won’t need to visit a lawyer’s office either, as Epilogue was founded by two estate planning lawyers who know what they are doing.
Discussion: When did you start planning your retirement goals? Have they changed over the years?
\If you have not considered retirement, why not?
Share your comments below, as I’d love your feedback on this topic.
Mr. CBB
Net Worth Losses and Gains
Where our money went in April.
Up and down the markets go, as do our investment portfolios; however, that’s how it is.
We’re in this for the long haul, so fingers crossed that when we retire and need the money, it’s a good year for us.
We also spent $3000 on hair removal services which I will discuss in a later blog post.
I also spent a chunk of money on landscaping materials and gardening.
We have a new kitten that set us back $300 to purchase, plus all the extras, but it was worth it.
P.S. A house like ours just sold for $900,000 this week! Incredible.
I left our house price in the chart above at $345,000.
Who knows what it will be when we decide to sell?
How was your net worth for April? Let me know in the comments.
Calculating Net Worth 101
Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth?
We like calculating our monthly net worth to know if we are still on track.
Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly, but it’s up to you and how informed you want to stay.
Net Worth is only an estimate, and not everyone uses the same type of figures to tally it up.
Some of you may not include vehicles as we do or leave out assets inside the home as we have.
You might be that person that believes that your house should be excluded.
It depends on what you want to calculate or what you can sell today and make money for tomorrow.
Determining your net worth is relatively easy as you know your monthly financial numbers.
Net Worth is adding up all your assets (what you own) and then taking away your liabilities (what you owe), giving you a net worth number.
Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track to meeting or beating your personal financial goals.
It doesn’t get any easier than that.
Determining Your Net Worth
Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities
Why not go ahead and calculate your own using our Free Money saving Tool, Net Worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)
Financial Numbers
When budgeting, anything is possible; we are proof of that, although we still have a long way to go in our journey.
These are our numbers and goals, not a means of comparing your plans to others’ target goals.
We don’t care how much money others earn if they have a high net worth or lower than ours, as it’s not a competition.
I hope our experiences will help guide you along your financial path, working towards debt freedom.
Not Everyone Follows The Same Path
Some of you may have had to start over as I did or go to school again and now have OSAP loans to pay back.
Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill, or injured, but you can’t let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.
You may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, education, or other perks that give you a financial kick-start, and that’s OK too.
Earn It, Save It, Invest It, Build It
Remember what I said, “It’s not about how much money you make; it’s how you save it.”
People accumulate wealth because they know how to save or invest, even if inherited or a lottery win.
The minor improvements should mean significant strides in reaching your goals.
Sometimes we have to fail to learn, and we’ve all been there.
Money can be evil for some people, especially those with a negative attitude toward their financial situation.
Be optimistic and, little by little, with determination; you, too, should see improvements if you want that to happen.
Canadian Budget Binder Net Worth Updates 2021
Click the links below to read our net worth updates for 2021.
That’s all for this month’s net worth update, but please check in the middle of June 2021 to see how we made out in May 2021 with our financial portfolio.
~Mr.CBB
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