Family Finance asked Derek Moran, head of Smarter Financial Planning Ltd. in Kelowna, B.C., to work with Leo and Rose.
“Do we have enough for a long, comfortable retirement?” Leo asks. It is every retiree’s fundamental question.Leo and Rose have a choice about whether to keep the mortgage or pay it off, Moran says. If they pay it off, they could then borrow the sum back and invest it, deducting any interest on the loan. But is it worth it?
In full retirement, the couple will have two defined-benefit pensions, neither indexed, $6,540 per year for Leo and $10,200 for Rose. At 65, Leo will have $12,000 annual CPP, Rose $9,800 per year. Each will get full Old Age Security, $7,707 per year, and proceeds from their investments. Their taxable investments, $305,000, growing with the same four per cent average annual returns for 35 years would generate $15,713 per year.Assuming that Rose quits her job ASAP, they would have $90,700 RRIF income, $10,046 TFSA cash flow, and $15,713 taxable income. That adds up to $116,459. Assuming splits of eligible income, they would pay 15 per cent average tax on all but TFSA income and would have $100,500 to spend per year.