So you’re thinking about the day you will retire or maybe you are already retired; either way, if you do a number of the following, you may find that your retirement isn’t the carefree life of luxury you envisioned.
Retiring too early – you are fed up with the job and jump off at the first opportunity. Consider carefully, maybe you really only need a break away from the job. What will you do for the next 20 or more years? Take a holiday if you have some holiday time left, maybe cut back your hours to part-time, or take a sabbatical. Many employers will allow you to leave for a year to explore other opportunities, and your job is waiting for you when you return.
If you are not yet retired, try not to draw out retirement savings prior to retirement, when you will probably be in a lower income bracket. If you are already retired, don’t spend your money too fast. You don’t want to out-live your savings and have your lifestyle suffer in later years.
Don’t lose too much of your portfolio earnings in fees. Get a second opinion, you should know how your portfolio stacks up in terms of fees and performance to options offered by other advisors. 4) Pay attention to tax implications of your actions – what will be will be, if you pay taxes, you must have made money. That may be, but not minimizing your taxes where you are able to is just throwing more money at Canada Revenue Agency. Be in control!