I haven’t looked at the statistics but I have looked around me and I’ve concluded that most Canadians will be facing a low income in retirement. I know far more people that rent apartments than that own homes, and that work in retail than that work in high-paying corporate jobs. Our own income will take a serious nose dive in retirement, if we actually stop working. As a consequence, I usually read articles I find on low income living in retirement. Sometimes I write them, too.
Previous articles I have written about the Guaranteed Income Supplement include:
- What is the Guaranteed Income Supplement, GIS, and Will I Get It?
- What Will I Live On When I Retire if I Have No Savings and Don’t Own a Home?
Reading around the internet I have found other interesting articles as well.
The Marilyn Denis show offers sound succinct “Advice on TFSAs vs RRSPs for low income earners.”
Michael James on Money helps a older couple decide how to best collapse their RRIF to minimize the loss of the GIS in “Handling RRSPs and RRIFs for Low-Income Seniors.”
An older article on CBCnews explains why TFSAs were needed not just wanted. Low income earners should generally be saving for retirement in a TFSA rather than a RRSP to prevent harsh claw backs of benefits including health benefits and the GIS in retirement. See: “Clawbacks: How governments give and take”
Some other benefits of TFSAs are explored more recently in: “Tax-free savings accounts are flexible, convenient but underused.”
Solving the Money Puzzle explores a likely low income retirement in How To Budget For Big Expenses In Low Income Retirement?
The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) website has some useful information for those facing a low income in retirement. You may wish to start with Retiring on a low income – A Helpful Toolkit by John Stapleton
It includes links to valuable articles such as “Determining OAS and GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement) eligibility for people who come to Canada as adults: A toolkit”
Join In
Do you or does someone you know receive the GIS? Do you have any tips to share with others? If so, please leave a comment.