Peace Peace Arch Arch News News Thursday, February 23, 2012
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lifestyles There’s plenty of financial considerations for retirees to consider
Having less is so much more
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Stroll on the beach… it’s of us who are considering retirement years, I suggest we free. Have a conversation with taking their Canadian Pension consume less. a stranger… no cost involved. Try doing without for a Plan benefits early will be a stash. Check out books from the while. Spend less. Use less. penalized more than before. Money, money, money! library instead of buying We might as well collectively Downsizing is sexy. My mother died after a very long That’s all anyone talks about, react like lemmings and head There is no need to keep up them. Join a book club and marriage to my father in which both as it is February and with the Jones any longer, as to the nearest cliff. share them. of them worked and sacriÀced to build The Fear Factor is the Jones are also feeling the We are doomed. Invite a friend over for April Lewis up a signiÀcant fortune. My dad was very upon us. pinch. Or are we? a meal instead depressed for several years but he then I am not referring to Now I am not As baby boomers of going to a Pay no heed to met a woman who made him happy, and that banal television suggesting you – who grew up in restaurant where he married her. After he married he made those financial program where greed go out and buy the “me generation” the bill is inflated a new will which gave his new wife the income from his fear-mongers. Just due to the wine trumps common your entire spring – we had a sense of estate and directed that she may encroach on the capital of sense in the hopes of entitlement. We never wardrobe at the do the best you consumed. his estate for such sums that she in her sole discretion deems scoring an easy buck. really wanted for thrift store or live Give up drinking can. necessary for her proper care and maintenance. The will I am referring to the on water and gruel. anything or had to go wine… states that when she dies the capital goes to my sisters and onslaught of advice Recycle an without. If we desired Just kidding! Just me. Several years later, my father died. My father’s widow from financial experts old outfit and add newer something, by golly, drink it less often! has developed very extravagant spending habits, and my during RRSP season accessories. But please we would have it. So pay no heed to those sisters and I are worried that there will be nothing left for us who are telling us we Buy, buy, buy. don’t get carried away by financial fear-mongers. Just do when she dies. Is there anything that we can do? can’t possibly afford resurrecting your padded More. Bigger. the best you can. to retire if we don’t shoulders and leisure suits. Better. Endless and You can always go back to No. The will gives her the power to spend the have at least a zillion dollars Listen to Pink Floyd on mindless consumerism. An work. whole of the capital because there is no limit to her tucked away. vinyl. accumulation of possessions, I hear Jimmy Pattison is discretion to encroach on the capital of your father’s estate. Their sales pitch is relentless objects and things we didn’t Do you really need that hiring. If there is nothing left when she dies, you and your sisters and unnerving. overpriced double-whip latte? always need. April Lewis is the local are out of luck. NEW CLIENTS WELCOME They are urging us to pay Drive your car less often. I say, enough already. communications director ourselves first and maximize Walk! Rather than worry ourselves for CARP, a national group 101–15261 Russell Ave. our RRSP contributions. And into an apoplectic fit that Or, God forbid, you might committed to a ‘New Vision of White Rock to top up our TFSAs while consider public transit. Or we are heading for a frugal Aging for Canada.’ She writes Barrister & Solicitor we’re at it. carpool. life of abject poverty in our monthly. www.jlorneginther.com Don’t forget to eliminate our consumer debts and pay off the mortgage. And we must save, save, save. presents the Because Zoomers are not saving enough for their retirement. One bank tells us that one in three expect to retire comfortably and taunts us with a “let’s figure it out.” Only one-third of Canadians have a defined pension, onethird have investments which have been hit hard by the economic downturn and one third campaign in support of Breakfast Clubs of Canada have nothing at all. And for many of us who were working but were laid off or downsized during the recent recession, it has made it even more difficult to save for retirement. Courtesy of: And then there is Mr. Harper’s government, OVER which is determined to raise the age at which we $18,000 Zoomers can apply for IN PRIZES! our old-age pension. And this year, those
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