retirement planning

A person organizing savings jars and a notebook, illustrating an emergency fund as a cushion you control
Emergency Fund

When One Promise Feels Shaky, Build a Cushion You Control

Imagine your household budget as a house with a single support beam. If that beam is Social Security — or any one paycheck, one job, one benefit — the whole structure sways whenever someone questions whether the beam will hold. That’s exactly what happened when real estate investor Grant Cardone warned that Social Security “may disappear” and urged people to build their own retirement income instead. Whatever you think of his solution, the underlying worry he’s tapping into is worth taking seriously: what happens to your finances if you lean on just one source of support?

A couple reviewing a retirement budget to estimate their retirement savings target based on monthly expenses and income
Savings

Why “$1.5 Million to Retire” Is the Wrong Question to Ask

If you’ve seen headlines claiming you need $1.5 million saved by age 65, you’ve probably felt a jolt of anxiety — followed by a nagging suspicion that the number can’t possibly apply to everyone. That instinct is correct. A retiree in Honolulu and a retiree in rural West Virginia can live comfortably on wildly different amounts, because the cost of housing, healthcare, and everyday life varies enormously by place and by person. The real work of retirement planning isn’t hunting for a magic figure — it’s building a budget that reflects your own life.

Retiree reviewing retirement big purchases and the tax cost with financial paperwork and calculator
Planning

Big Purchases in Retirement: Why the Real Cost Isn’t the Price Tag

A new car, a kitchen renovation, a long-awaited trip, a second home near the grandkids — these are the purchases many people save for their whole working lives to finally enjoy in retirement. But once the paycheck stops, a big purchase stops being a simple math problem of “can I afford this today” and becomes something more layered: a decision that touches your taxes, your monthly income, and the cushion you’ll have left if something goes wrong next year.

A retirement planning worksheet beside coins, a calculator, and labeled savings envelopes for cash and investments
Planning

Retirement Money, Sorted by Job: Cash, Investments, and the Accounts That Hold Them

A retired blogger who tracks every dividend and every trim of his portfolio recently updated his readers on how he and his wife hold their money: a mix of a defined-benefit pension he’s still deciding whether to keep, locked-in accounts, a corporation, non-registered stocks, RRSPs, and TFSAs, with roughly 90% in equities and 10% in cash across most buckets. It’s a detailed, personal snapshot — and it’s also a useful excuse to step back and ask a much simpler question: not “what should I own,” but “what job is each dollar doing?”

A senior reviewing retirement paperwork and a budget notebook, illustrating a solo retirement plan for one household
Planning

Rebuilding Your Retirement Plan for a Household of One

Retirement plans are usually drawn up with two names on the account statements — two incomes, two Social Security checks, two sets of shoulders to carry the what-ifs. When that changes, whether through divorce, the death of a spouse, or simply a life that unfolded differently than expected, the plan built for two people doesn’t automatically resize itself. About 28% of Americans age 65 and older live alone, and that number climbs with age, especially for women. If you’re joining that group, the smartest move isn’t just saving more. It’s rethinking the whole structure — budget, income, housing, paperwork, and support — so it fits one household instead of two.

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