{"id":473519,"date":"2026-02-14T01:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/473519\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T01:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:47:09","slug":"with-nearly-2-million-can-tatiana-64-stop-worrying-about-money-and-help-her-kids-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/473519\/","title":{"rendered":"With nearly $2-million, can Tatiana, 64, stop worrying about money and help her kids now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Tatiana has two adult children from her first marriage, a mortgage-free condo and a cottage in a Prairie province.Shannon VanRaes\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Tatiana is 64 years old and on her own again. For the past decade, she\u2019s been collecting workplace disability benefits and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits as the result of an injury at work. In addition, she gets her late husband\u2019s work pension and the CPP survivor benefit.<\/p>\n

This spring, when Tatiana turns 65, her disability benefits will cease. They will be replaced by her work pension and the CPP retirement benefit \u2013 amounts she says will be lower than what she is getting now.<\/p>\n

She is worried about the drop in income. Any decline would likely be partly or entirely offset if she begins taking Old Age Security (OAS) at 65. <\/p>\n

Tatiana has two adult children from her first marriage, a mortgage-free condo and a cottage in a Prairie province. Her real estate and financial assets total $1,877,000.<\/p>\n

How should Edmundo, 68, chart a new financial path after losing his spouse?<\/a><\/p>\n

Her short-term goals are to \u201cstop worrying about money,\u201d travel more and help her family. She also wants to give an advance inheritance to her two children.<\/p>\n

Her retirement spending goal is $72,000 a year after tax, compared with about $39,500 now. <\/p>\n

We asked Warren MacKenzie, an independent Toronto-based financial planner, to look at Tatiana\u2019s situation. Mr. MacKenzie holds the chartered professional accountant designation.<\/p>\n

What the Expert Says<\/p>\n

Tatiana has faced financial hardship in the past, and it has left a lasting impression, Mr. MacKenzie says. \u201cAt age 24, she was divorced and raising two children with no financial support from her ex-husband.\u201d She remarried later but is now widowed.<\/p>\n

Tatiana has more than enough savings and investments to achieve all her financial goals, but she still worries about running out of money.<\/p>\n

In preparing his forecast, the planner has increased Tatiana\u2019s lifestyle spending to $75,000 a year after tax.<\/p>\n

At 65, Tatiana will begin collecting OAS benefits of about $740 a month and combined CPP benefits of $1,410 a month. She will receive her work pension of $1,660 a month and her late husband\u2019s pension of about $3,000 a month, for a total of $6,810 a month or $81,720 a year, all of which is indexed to inflation.<\/p>\n

In 2027, her first full year of retirement, Tatiana\u2019s revised cash outflow is projected to have risen to $76,500 a year after inflation for basic lifestyle expenses, $11,300 for income tax, and $7,000 for a tax-free savings account (TFSA) contribution, for a total cash outflow of about $95,000. Her pension income will have risen as well.<\/p>\n

Darren and Merella want to spend $180,000 a year in retirement. Should they sell their properties?<\/a><\/p>\n

Any cash-flow shortfall will come from her non-registered investment portfolio.<\/p>\n

When she files her tax return in 2027, Tatiana will be eligible for both the disability tax credit and the age credit, the planner says. With her tax credits and her pension and investment income, her tax liability will be about $11,300, he says.<\/p>\n

Tatiana wonders if she should make an additional registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contribution to use up some of her unused contribution room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not recommended because she does not have all that many years for the contribution to compound on a tax-deferred basis,\u201d Mr. MacKenzie says. After she starts collecting CPP, OAS and later, RRIF [registered retirement income fund] withdrawals, she will be in a higher income tax bracket than she is now.<\/p>\n

Each year, Tatiana should use funds from her high-interest savings account to contribute to her TFSA.<\/p>\n

If Tatiana expects to live well into her 80s, it might make sense to delay CPP until age 70 to take advantage of the 42-per-cent higher benefit. \u201cBut if her life expectancy is lower because of her disability, it may be better to take CPP at 65, as she plans to do,\u201d the planner says.<\/p>\n

Tatiana is dissatisfied with her condo and would prefer to buy a small house that could cost more than $600,000. She estimates the operating costs would be about the same.<\/p>\n

The move would not have a meaningful effect on her financial forecast, the planner says.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of whether she stays or moves, if Tatiana lives to be 100 years old, the size of her estate will be about the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatiana may eventually decide to sell her home and move to a retirement home. The sale proceeds, along with her pension income, \u201cwill be more than sufficient to fund a nice retirement home,\u201d Mr. MacKenzie says.<\/p>\n

Assuming a 2-per-cent inflation rate, a 2.5-per-cent return on her savings accounts and a 5-per-cent rate of return on her investments, she\u2019d still be on track to leave more than $1-million (in today\u2019s dollars) to each of her two children, he says.<\/p>\n

Tatiana has a cottage valued at $325,000 that one of her children is interested in owning. \u201cShe wonders how she can pass the cottage on to one of her children while not seeming to be unfair to her other one,\u201d the planner says. \u201cSince she also has a substantial sum in cash and savings accounts, one way to be fair to both children would be to ask each of them what value they place on the cottage,\u201d he says. \u201cShe could explain that the child who places the highest value on the cottage gets it, and the other child will get an equal amount of cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatiana does not consider herself knowledgeable about investing, Mr. MacKenzie says. \u201cShe is concerned about the possibility of a severe market downturn.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than half of Tatiana\u2019s investments are in high-interest savings accounts earning about 2.5 per cent a year at current rates. She also has about $475,000 in mutual funds that hold 85 per cent in equities and the remainder in balanced funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe does not know if her financial adviser is delivering value because she does not receive a report that shows her performance compared to the proper benchmark.\u201d She should ask for one, he says.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Tatiana\u2019s financial situation will continue to change, Mr. MacKenzie says. \u201cFor her to enjoy retirement, she will need to keep her financial plan updated to confirm that she still is on track to achieve her goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Client Situation<\/p>\n

(Income, expense, asset and liability numbers are provided by the applicant)<\/p>\n

The People: Tatiana, almost 65, and her two children, 40 and 46.<\/p>\n

The Problem: Some of her income sources will drop when her disability benefits cease, and she is worried about running out of money.<\/p>\n

The Plan: Get a better understanding of her assets and how she can use them to meet her goals.<\/p>\n

The Payoff: Peace of mind.<\/p>\n

Monthly after-tax income, all sources, at 65: $6,315, including investment income.<\/p>\n

Assets: Savings accounts $400,000; cash $176,000; RRSP $252,000; tax-free savings account $224,000; residence $500,000; cottage $325,000. Total: $1,877,000.<\/p>\n

Estimated present value of her two DB pensions: $1,100,000 (planner\u2019s estimate based on a 5-per-cent investment return.) This is what someone with no pension would have to save to generate the same income.<\/p>\n

Monthly outlays: Condo fee $400; property tax $400; water, sewer, garbage $100; home insurance $110; electricity, heat $190; security, maintenance $45; transportation $370; groceries $400; clothing $20; gifts $50; vacation, travel $300; dining, drinks, entertainment $230; personal care $50; pets $50; health care $55; life insurance $260; phones, TV, internet $255. Total: $3,285. Surplus: $3,030<\/p>\n

Liabilities: None.<\/p>\n

Want a free financial facelift? E-mail finfacelift@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the people profiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Tatiana has two adult children from her first marriage, a mortgage-free condo and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,7325,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-473519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-financialfacelift","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}