From a piece about retirement planning for Yahoo! Finance.

“In the first five years of retirement, everyone should be paying close attention to how much they’re actually spending,” said Sandi Martin, a CFP and retirement expert. “First, because how much you need to spend to be comfortable and secure is one of the most important pieces of information you need to avoid running out of money, and second, because spending patterns might change a little — or a lot — after a big life change like retirement.

“Everyone needs a way to check how much they’re spending, compare it to how much they thought they’d spend when they were planning to retire, and put boundaries in place to control spending in areas where it might get out of control.”

Read the rest here.

From a piece in NerdWallet about how often to check your credit card statements (and why):

Martin suggests starting with the simple stuff, which can include returns that didn’t happen, duplicate charges or subscriptions that didn’t get cancelled. “Finding these usually means getting money back, and who doesn’t like that?” she said. 

Read the rest here.

Originally Posted in Canadian MoneySaver
By Sandi Martin
September, 2021

A Registered Education Savings Plan is a multi-purpose, somewhat complex, tool that is useful for many different kinds of people in many different kinds of circumstances. Perhaps you have low income and little ability to save, have moderate income and want to get the most bang for your buck, or have high income and/or strong values around paying for all the costs of post-secondary. Regardless of where you land, opening and investing in a solid RESP is always the right choice if you have beneficiaries who will one day be in need of post-secondary financial resources. 

Originally published in Canadian MoneySaver, I detail the differences between each income bracket and outline why RESPs are more than a single-use tool. By breaking down the math, I effectively refresh our understanding of how RESPs are a useful and wise investment regardless of your current economic status. 

“Along with whatever investment income the amount earned along the way, you've given the beneficiary a tremendous leg up on the cost of post-secondary schooling and should be incredibly proud.”

Subscribers to Canadian MoneySaver can read the full article in the September issue to learn more about how RESPs are applicable to any situation.

Originally Posted on The Just Word Podcast, July 2021

What matters to you and how you live your life are important things to think about and discuss with your financial advisor. Finding an advisor that encourages you to approach your own financial plan with a more individualistic and personalized structure will help to set you up for success with your investments.

Sandi explains that not everyone uses money as a scorecard for financial success. She encourages individuals to really take a look at what they value in life and how they spend their time to gain what truly matters to them.

“If financial planning is done well, then the result will have the client feeling more organized when risk occurs. Financial planners should be professional and have ethics so that they live up to the spirit of that standard to benefit the people we serve.”

– Sandi Martin

Listen to the full episode on The Just Word Podcast

In case you've been missing Because Money (on hiatus as we plan for Season Three), I just did an interview with Kornel Szrejber on retirement income planning, and we managed to squeeze a few laughs out of what is traditionally a less-than-hilarious topic. 

Some of the questions he asked (and I tried to answer without going too far down any one rabbit hole) were:

• How does earning income in retirement affect planning?

• What is “sequence of returns risk” and how can we protect ourselves from it?

• What is an RPP, a LIRA, and  LIF, and how are they connected?

• What are “defined benefit plans” vs “defined contribution plans”?

• What numbers do you like to use when forecasting returns for stocks and bonds? What are real vs nominal returns?

• Can you talk about annuities and how they might fit into a retirement income strategy?

Spoiler alert: There was no way I was going to be able to answer every question as deeply as I'd like to. 

The episode is live on the Build Wealth Canada website, as well as a list of resources for those who want to dig deeper into sprawling topic. 

I had a chance to meet with Rob Carrick at the Globe and Mail in February and record three Carrick Talks Money segments. Our goal was to demystify financial planning for regular people and to demonstrate that it's not an exclusive exercise for the wealthy.

Carrick Talks Money: How a financial planner can lighten your load

Rob asks what financial planning for average families looks like and we discuss the difference between financial planning and investment advice.

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Carrick Talks Money: How much does a financial planner charge?

Rob asks what the cost of financial planning would be for a family with young kids or a couple close to retirement, and we laugh the kind of financial plans that are really just huge reports that go in a drawer and no one ever reads.

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The biggest financial planning mistakes people make

Rob asks me what kind of mistakes I see people making often. Spoiler alert: I talk about cash flow.

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